Love it or Leave it

[guesswest]

That's interesting reading. But not, as far as I can tell, an example of public education being orchestrated as a means of bolstering statism. Rather it's arguing that the state is the best means of providing an education for children, on subjects the authors feel will be most beneficial to them. Which is not a 'conspiracy' in any sense of the word, it's exactly what public education claims to do.

[bearly]

well, a dialogue like the above will sure clear the sinuses..........pretty high-powered stuff.........good work all the way around................b

[TuNeCedeMalis]

[ QUOTE ]
That's interesting reading. But not, as far as I can tell, an example of public education being orchestrated as a means of bolstering statism. Rather it's arguing that the state is the best means of providing an education for children, on subjects the authors feel will be most beneficial to them. Which is not a 'conspiracy' in any sense of the word, it's exactly what public education claims to do.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem is in defining what makes education "best."

From the state's perspective, the best education is the one that produces the most cooperative citizens. From the people's perspective, there are many qualities which make educaitonal opportunities better or worse and the importance of each varies from family to family and person to person depending on their subjective preferences. This is a very different definition of quality in education than the state's.

I am not married to the word conspiracy. What I do believe is that most people simply accept public education as a fact of life and also as something "good." Because education is "good" and it seems fair that everyone should have a chance to learn.

I think most people fail to consider the degree to which allowing the state control of the schools necesssarially means forming the nation's youth into a common mold designed to bolster support for the state. I think they fail to consider the degree to which diversity in education is lost when the government takes control.

I guess my point is that when the government aims to provided education it is because of the state's desire to mold the populace in a paricular fashion....it is not to give consumers whatever type of learning opportunities they feel will be most beneficial.

So, for example, you will never see Murray Rothbard on the required reading list to be an accredited learning institution. As Boro said, this has a lot to do with why more people don't advocate AC.

[Misfire]

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Borodog, I believe, works as a professor at a state funded university. Explain to me why he doesn't just start his own uni? After all it's the solution that ACists recommend.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm guessing because his goal is to be a professor, not the owner of a university. As long as there is a state funded university, he has just as much right as (actually more right than) the most strident statist to take advantage of it for his own self-interest.

[guesswest]

[ QUOTE ]
From the state's perspective, the best education is the one that produces the most cooperative citizens. From the people's perspective, there are many qualities which make educaitonal opportunities better or worse and the importance of each varies from family to family and person to person depending on their subjective preferences. This is a very different definition of quality in education than the state's.

[/ QUOTE ]

As I said earlier, it may be that public education supports statism (it may not, I can imagine a counter-argument). But I'd claim that if it does so it does so inadvertently or at least by internal evolution. I've never seen any evidence that public education was initiated as a means of supporting statism - the individuals you quote merely thought the state was the most effective means of providing kids with an education they viewed as desirable for the individual, not for the state. They may be wrong on that count, both in premise and the curriculum they envisioned, but that's neither here nor there.

And btw, Rothbard does show up on college-level reading lists. He doesn't figure before that but his writing is pretty advanced so it's hardly surprising.