re: Public schools would be so much better if we could still hand out corporal punishment

America's educated and wealthy are having kids at almost an alarming, descending rate. The rising cost of raising a child along with more modern ideals that having kids isn't something you "have to do" should it feel like a burden, are accelerating this process. That, plus the the way healthcare is structured - allowing those who have proper insurance/means to use a contraceptive, curb unnecessary/unwanted child birth.

Fact of the matter is, at our core, all humans are the same. We like the same shite. We like to socialize, partake in some inhibitors, and screw. Based on our social circumstance, how we do that changes.

Rich people get on boats in South Beach with their hedge fund friends, drink champagne and high end spirits, and bang models. These men almost assuredly, have contraception on their mind. Poor folks in the west bank likely do similar activities, at a different level. They'll pack up the trucks, head to a field/shitty bar, drink some moonshine (or meth, whatever), and hit a blonde/black haired girl name Haleigh-Jean in the back of their pick-up, with no regard to contraception, or sometimes, means to do it. They have a kid, struggle to pay for it, struggle to get it the right education, and the cycle continues.

I think we are seeing more of a class divide (and school inequality) due to this. As rich, educated families produce less children, the wealth becomes more concentrated per head. This allows for compound interest to grow on higher levels of capital, accelerating the amount of money grown over a shorter period of time. The same pool of money flowing around gets concentrated, the price of "desirable basics," such as secondary education and prime real estate go up, further driving a wall between the haves and have nots.

Look at Dallas, Texas. You go to Highland Park, and they've got the best public school system in the nation. Drive across the street south, and ISD is among the worst.

Hitting kids won't do anything. Empowering their families and giving them the right resources will.