From: rbuchanan@vitalink.com (Rick Buchanan)
Subject: Re: Libertrians and the environment, info
Reply-To: rbuchanan@vitalink.com (Rick Buchanan)
Organization: Vitalink Communications Corp.  (Standard disclaimer of course)
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 17:10:42 GMT

In article <l6od01INNa0@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM>, tmhoff@oogoody.Corp.Sun.COM 
(Todd Hoff) writes:
> 
> >No. I didn't call you a socialist. I called the school system
> >socialist. Tell me, given that the school system operates with
> >government money and government cirriculum selection, what other
> >definition of it would fit?
> > 
> As are the courts, police, and defense?

It never ceases to amaze me how otherwise intelligent people can fail
to grasp as simple an economic concept as "public goods".  That is,
things which cannot practically be provided to some people without
incidentally providing them to others.   For instance, there is no practical
way to defend the country for me and not for you.   However, there is
no reason why the government needs to be involved in running the school 
system.   You are comparing green and tuesday.

I'm a little less hard-core on this issue than many libertarians, 
though.   I will grant that there may be some merit (at present) to 
the argument that everyone benefits from an educated society, and
that government _funding_ of education from tax revenues may be
justifiable.   But the State has proven to be incompetent at _running_
the schools.   

My suggestion is to count up all the money currently spent of education
(call it X) and count the number of school-age kids (call it Y) and send
parents a voucher for each kid in the amount of X/Y.   This voucher
can be spent as tuition at a private school.   This plan differs from the
current voucher systems because it also involves totally shutting down
(or selling individually) all public schools.

If this plan were adopted, I'd immediately quit my job, liquidate all
my assets and leverage myself nose-deep in debt to buy and run a
school.   Why?   For profit, of course.    And I would not be alone.
The competition would probably be pretty fierce -- and that always
leads to better product at lower prices with greater diversity.  The
poor would no longer be forced to send the kids to the inferior school
that the State decrees simply because they live in an impoverished
area.   The middle-class would no longer have to pay taxes for the 
schools, and then have to scrape up the money for a private school 
where junior won't be in fear of his life.  The rich will no longer have
automatic free access to the superior public schools in their neighbor-
hoods which they get as a result of the high property taxes funding the 
local school system. If they want, they can fork over some dough and 
supplement the voucher to send their brats to ritzy prep schools.

We would be able to finally end the ridiculous, eternal arguments and
bitterness over whether the State's monopoly schools should allow or
forbid prayer.   No more bitterness about whether the State's monopoly
schools should teach creationism along with evolution or not.   If one
parent doesn't want her kid to be given condoms at school, she can choose
one that doesn't do so.   Parents who do, will choose one that does.

There would invariably be a demand for schools for gifted students, as
well as schools for challenged kids;  some for the college-bound, others
with more trade-skills orientation.   There could even be schools run like
prison-camps for the violent little bastards who terrorize the serious
students in today's public school nightmare.   Where there's a demand, 
there's a profit opportunity.   As a capitalist, I'd want to provide as good
a product as possible in order to continue getting lots of those vouchers.
Can anyone claim that the government administrators or the teacher's
unions have any comparable incentive?   When they fail to provide decent
education, the result is that they are given more money!

Finally, can we really do much _worse_ than the current mess?

   ---   Rick

       *** Smash the State!  (and have a _nice_ day!) ***
Newsgroups: alt.individualism