No, most people are not basically good, not really. It is an illusion of goodnes that they give off, due to their indifference, and their going with the flow. If the flow is good, the illusion is maintained, and all is well. But when push come to shove, they will show how little they really care.
And this is the crux of it right here. The author is confusing the two goals of making a point, and having that point heard. Surely there are better ways to market yourself than by spewing ad hominems, which just go to diminish your supposedly more important goal of actually making a solid point.
I figured school and I weren't a right fit some time in high school, so I
dropped out then. Never even heard of unschooling at the time, I just
considered myself an autodidact. That was now more than two years ago, and I
still haven't started "unschooling" myself.
It was a problem when my parents threw me out soon after my 18th birthday, for
dropping out of school. I had to get a miserable job, coding PHP for about the
same amount of money my friend got stacking boxes in a warehouse. That was
nothing unexpected, it just shows how much programmers are valued in my
country.
The job made me depressed, unable to do anything. Not learn, nothing.
Now I'm working with a friend on a startup company, poised to solve all our
problems, but I wouldn't say that's going so great either.
But I don't regret anything. School wasn't a good way of learning for me, and
I will continue my education on my own, as soon as this company gets of the
ground and I have some time.