That’s the traditional argument for hazing rituals, sure.

That’s a strawman’s argument. There are benefits to college that go beyond passing a test. Part of it is gaining leadership skills be practicing being a leader.

But stack-ranking isn’t an ordeal to overcome.

No, but the threat of failure is. I agree that there should be more medical school slots, but there still is value in having failure being an option. Those who remain gain skills in the process of staying in college and schools can take a risk on more marginal candidates.

Similarly, larding people up with student debt before pushing them into the deep end of the career pool isn’t about improving one’s moral fiber.

Yeah, student debt is absurd.

One of the worst parts about that policy was that some states had both a “meets standards” and “exceeds standards” results and the high school graduation test was offered five times, starting in sophomore year.

So, you would have students getting “meets standards” on sophomore year and blowing off the test in later attempts because they passed. You would then have school administrators punishing students for doing this since their metrics included the number of students who got “exceeds standards”.

Except I find that the value of college isn’t just the formal education, but as an ordeal to overcome which causes growth in more than just knowledge.

Bon jour. Je suis un grand Muzzy!

Different parts of the USA have different expectations for small talk, but it is generally higher than I’ve seen for parts of Europe.

That said, being outgoing is a muscle for some people and, because of cultural differences, Americans tend to work out this muscle more than other countries.

I highlight IRC because being an open protocol doesn’t mean it gets adopted.

There are tons of open messaging protocols that have been replaced by closed ones. For instance, Discord shouldn’t be a thing since IRC exists, but Discord exists and is very successful.

For some reason, likely tied to how it is used, email survived as an open protocol.

Yeah, but because the inflation makes him look bad.

Yeah. He’s more effective now.

What are you, American Dream?

Or am I dancer?

Probably bisexual, but you’ve got a type.

The problem with $10 million homes is that people who buy them can afford to build their own $10 million homes. Because of that, they are worth less than people think.

There are three things occurring with this new facility:

1. Construction - Generally, the cost of construction is far larger than the tax for the construction project. The county may build the jail in a few years, but the taxes to pay for it usually take over a decade to pay back.

2. Operation - Once you open the facility, you have to use it. That generally requires some form of operations budget. Facilities cost money to run and intelligent governments try to plan that into building a new facility.

3. Maintenance - The building isn’t going to last forever, and a lot of modern buildings need more effort to maintain them then older buildings. It is common for facilities to need significant maintenance work every 15 years. If you’re going to bond to build a facility, why not include maintenance as part of the total cost of life for the facility?

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit Ketrecel White.

Sure thing, O’Brien.

I find it depends on how they get compensated.

It depends. I’m playing at a table where it isn’t any of the players’ first game and several players have wargaming experience. I can easily see the DM doing something like this and I wouldn’t fault them for doing so.

To add to it, I wouldn’t put “Internet” as a subculture since that is way too broad of a definition of place.

Most constitutional monarchies got that way due to incremental change generally caused by political crises. Switching from a monarchy to a republic usually done as a response to one of these crises; no crisis usually means the monarch keeps the crown.

You also have an issue of what to replace the monarch with. Most constitutional monarchies have parliamentary systems of government where the legislature has supremacy. However, you still need a supreme executive to run a government when the legislature fails. The process of picking that person is very politically important and had inherent risks to it. For some countries, keeping the monarch as the on/off switch is easier than dealing with the headache of choosing a President.