The Case Against Public Schools
Public education is widely held to be a key tenet of any successful nation, a key factor to the development of a nation’s young minds. Without some form of public education, many argue, literacy levels and college readiness would decline sharply.
Wrong.
Education is what is needed, and it matters little whether it is public or private in terms of quality. Indeed, private schools often deliver a higher quality education without many of the major drawbacks of public education – those caused by the government intervention into the system, local and federal.
One need look no further than the recent debacle in Kansas regarding what should be taught in science classes, natural selection or the intelligent design “theory” (more on that later). Private schools would completely avoid such a mess… if you want little Johnny and little Susie to be taught one or the other, enroll them in a school that shares your views.
No government intervention, big brother interference, or clash of ideologies.
What, you may ask, about those families who cannot afford private education? How can you forget them? I haven’t.
Right now, we all pay taxes to support public education, whether we use it or not. Perhaps what could be done is a “pay to use” system, in which parents choosing to continue to use public schools pay the tax to support them, and those choosing to enroll in private education do not. More private schools in use will increase competition among them and drive down prices.
Win win.
Our government is increasingly socialist. Cradle to grave welfare, subsidies, and intervention have seen to that. We fought so hard in the Cold War to stop Communism, and here we are complacently allowing the next best thing to creep up on us. Free market, the key to free societies, begin with free educational choice.
Don’t you want your kid to be taught what you want, not what Uncle Sam wants?
Welfare, social security, subsidized housing… they are the shovels that are digging the hole for America’s grave. Public schools are the grim reaper… unseen and unheralded yet ultimately the most powerful thing in the land. Indoctrination has been the key for any regime, to influence the minds of the most fallible members of society. The Nazis had Hitler’s Youth. America has public education.
The government wants power. It wants influence. What better way to get it than to tell kids from age 6 that it is okay for the government to dictate personal lives? Teach them to follow complacently rather than experience the harsh raw winds of independent thought? Mind control; subliminal conditioning.
Chew on that.
29 September, 2006
26 September, 2006
What Price Gouging?
What The Heck Do They Mean, Price Gouging?
It was in our paper here in Idaho this morning. Similar articles have appeared, I’m sure, in almost any state, county, and municipality across the United States of America, and it makes me shake my head and question where our country is headed.
It was an article about “price gouging” at the gasoline pump.
Gas prices are high. They have been high. Some places have had their gas prices go down as of late, and some places (like Idaho) are still high. People living in high-price places (again, like Idaho) immediately have a knee jerk reaction where they scream, “We need to pass a law to ban this extortionate pricing!” Some have even gone so far as to sue gasoline companies for “price gouging.”
This is ridiculous.
One of the beautiful things about this country is that businesses can charge what they will for their products. If they can make more money, why shouldn’t they? If you owned a grocery store, and people were willing to pay $10 per apple, you would charge $10 per apple, wouldn’t you? Well, if you were smart you would. If the government came along and put a cap on what you could charge for apples, it could hurt your business quite a bit.
This type of legislation is counterproductive, and seeks to solve a long term issue with a short term solution. Inflation would soon render any arbitrary price cap obsolete and even more ridiculous than it is now.
Gas companies have the right to charge whatever they want for gas. If they wanted to charge $5 a gallon, then they could. However, if they did, then fewer people would buy their gas, which hurts business. Therefore, the consumer’s right to choose keeps prices down from what they could be.
Lets extend this out, and extrapolate for a minute. If everyone decided to buy gas only at the gas station with the cheapest gas in town, then every other gas station would begin to lose business. They would have to lower their prices to stay competitive. This lowers gas prices citywide without any federal intervention at all.
Consumer responsibility is key. If people educate themselves and make intelligent decisions, then many of today’s cumbersome legislation becomes superfluous. Consumers have the right to choose to take their business wherever they want, and this power holds great sway over company policies, especially pricing.
Don’t like how a clothing company makes clothes in sweatshops? Buy other clothes. Don’t like customer service at a restaurant? Eat somewhere else. Hate high gas prices? Buy a fuel efficient car, a car with an alternative energy source, conserve energy, and/or shop where gas is cheap. These send a serious message to the corporations… they have lost business. Encourage others to do the same, and that power is doubled.
All without government intervention.
It was in our paper here in Idaho this morning. Similar articles have appeared, I’m sure, in almost any state, county, and municipality across the United States of America, and it makes me shake my head and question where our country is headed.
It was an article about “price gouging” at the gasoline pump.
Gas prices are high. They have been high. Some places have had their gas prices go down as of late, and some places (like Idaho) are still high. People living in high-price places (again, like Idaho) immediately have a knee jerk reaction where they scream, “We need to pass a law to ban this extortionate pricing!” Some have even gone so far as to sue gasoline companies for “price gouging.”
This is ridiculous.
One of the beautiful things about this country is that businesses can charge what they will for their products. If they can make more money, why shouldn’t they? If you owned a grocery store, and people were willing to pay $10 per apple, you would charge $10 per apple, wouldn’t you? Well, if you were smart you would. If the government came along and put a cap on what you could charge for apples, it could hurt your business quite a bit.
This type of legislation is counterproductive, and seeks to solve a long term issue with a short term solution. Inflation would soon render any arbitrary price cap obsolete and even more ridiculous than it is now.
Gas companies have the right to charge whatever they want for gas. If they wanted to charge $5 a gallon, then they could. However, if they did, then fewer people would buy their gas, which hurts business. Therefore, the consumer’s right to choose keeps prices down from what they could be.
Lets extend this out, and extrapolate for a minute. If everyone decided to buy gas only at the gas station with the cheapest gas in town, then every other gas station would begin to lose business. They would have to lower their prices to stay competitive. This lowers gas prices citywide without any federal intervention at all.
Consumer responsibility is key. If people educate themselves and make intelligent decisions, then many of today’s cumbersome legislation becomes superfluous. Consumers have the right to choose to take their business wherever they want, and this power holds great sway over company policies, especially pricing.
Don’t like how a clothing company makes clothes in sweatshops? Buy other clothes. Don’t like customer service at a restaurant? Eat somewhere else. Hate high gas prices? Buy a fuel efficient car, a car with an alternative energy source, conserve energy, and/or shop where gas is cheap. These send a serious message to the corporations… they have lost business. Encourage others to do the same, and that power is doubled.
All without government intervention.
22 September, 2006
Are you a Libertarian?
Are You A Libertarian?
Many people in the United States are politically brainwashed, in a rut, stuck between the two major parties and unable to flex their opinion muscles because they have become completely concreted into their mindset by years of the media’s almost exclusive focus on the two major parties.
No third party ever makes it in a major election. This is not simply because people don’t agree with the smaller political parties, indeed, the opposite is true. The smaller parties are more responsive to individual needs. The smaller parties are less centralized, and have more variety than only two major parties. They just have less money; and money is time (on the television).
You can always find a party that fits your opinions exactly. Sometimes, it’s the Republicans or the Democrats. More likely, it is a minor party. In this article, I will tell you the views of one of America’s great minor parties, the Libertarian party. Maybe this will detail your own opinions!
A Libertarian believes in a small central government that has much less power than the one we have today. A government should not be able to interfere into daily activities of its citizens. This means that we are socially liberal… no laws on homosexuality, abortion, et cetera. No laws prohibiting, no laws requiring. Individual choice!
Along with the small government, we feel that programs such as welfare and social security should be eliminated (phased out, in my case), placing emphasis on individual responsibility. Take the taxes you would have paid to social security, and invest it in a savings account or the stock market for your own retirement. This makes us fiscally conservative… you pay much less in tax and what you pay essentially goes to the basics of government, military, public goods. If you want to help the disadvantaged (as many of us do), donate to them directly, or to organizations who assist the disadvantaged directly.
In short, Libertarians feel that it is up to the individual to self-govern… in the words of James Madison (heard of him!?) “We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self government; upon the capacity of each of us to govern ourselves and sustain ourselves.”
So, then. Are you ready? To step up to the plate and be a responsible citizen? To regulate yourself? Let others do the same? Then you, my friend, are ready to be a Libertarian! Visit lp.org for more information.
Like what I have to say? Hate it? Disagree? Tell me! Post a comment and refer this site to your friends.
Many people in the United States are politically brainwashed, in a rut, stuck between the two major parties and unable to flex their opinion muscles because they have become completely concreted into their mindset by years of the media’s almost exclusive focus on the two major parties.
No third party ever makes it in a major election. This is not simply because people don’t agree with the smaller political parties, indeed, the opposite is true. The smaller parties are more responsive to individual needs. The smaller parties are less centralized, and have more variety than only two major parties. They just have less money; and money is time (on the television).
You can always find a party that fits your opinions exactly. Sometimes, it’s the Republicans or the Democrats. More likely, it is a minor party. In this article, I will tell you the views of one of America’s great minor parties, the Libertarian party. Maybe this will detail your own opinions!
A Libertarian believes in a small central government that has much less power than the one we have today. A government should not be able to interfere into daily activities of its citizens. This means that we are socially liberal… no laws on homosexuality, abortion, et cetera. No laws prohibiting, no laws requiring. Individual choice!
Along with the small government, we feel that programs such as welfare and social security should be eliminated (phased out, in my case), placing emphasis on individual responsibility. Take the taxes you would have paid to social security, and invest it in a savings account or the stock market for your own retirement. This makes us fiscally conservative… you pay much less in tax and what you pay essentially goes to the basics of government, military, public goods. If you want to help the disadvantaged (as many of us do), donate to them directly, or to organizations who assist the disadvantaged directly.
In short, Libertarians feel that it is up to the individual to self-govern… in the words of James Madison (heard of him!?) “We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self government; upon the capacity of each of us to govern ourselves and sustain ourselves.”
So, then. Are you ready? To step up to the plate and be a responsible citizen? To regulate yourself? Let others do the same? Then you, my friend, are ready to be a Libertarian! Visit lp.org for more information.
Like what I have to say? Hate it? Disagree? Tell me! Post a comment and refer this site to your friends.
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