A thought about freedom and education
We all know that our freedom depends only on ourselves. We are the ones who must fight to conquer it and keep it, and no one will do it for us. The truth is that we live in a wild society, where a mere informal contract is not worthy of full confidence.
As if that were not enough, we are daily indoctrinated that we do indeed have freedom, that we live in a free country with many benefits and goods, and that these benefits are achievements guaranteed by the state that maintains them through public policies and laws made for the benefit of all.
And the indoctrination is brought to us in schools, and this makes us realize why the government loves to control education, from the school curriculum to the workload and even the methodology that will be adopted by the institution.
In terms of political strategy, there is nothing more precious and desired by power holders than educational control. Any child who is successfully indoctrinated within a classroom will not be a threat to the state apparatus; on the contrary, it will grow up believing that government acts on behalf of the population, that its populist measures and public policies are really “free” and that without it, the poor would be left to their own luck.
Murray Rothbard in his book "Education: Free and Compulsory" wrote and detailed how the educational system really works, telling us that the true purpose of this form of educational organization is to instill in the people’s minds that government is necessary and benevolent, making the population to enter into a hypnotic state plunged into submission and lying.
We give our children to the government to educate them without considering the serious consequences of these actions. We deliver them without regard to homeschooling, which is the true way to prepare children for the future, and a terrifying idea to the power holders.
Lets imagine the amount of money that is put into public schools, and what it would be like if the schools were all private and guided by the free market, and how some taxes could be extinguished since the expenses with the public and “free” system no longer exist.
That is the vision I want to go through with this article. Let us suppose that a particular state of the country decides to abolish all public schools and all educational regulations, letting any entrepreneur decide what the functioning and structure of his college will be. Let us also imagine that this state government has managed to pass through any constitutional problem that this measure could generate.
With absolute certainty, after this measure is approved at the state and municipal level, we would see a hysteria on the part of the alienated population, who believes that such a measure will destroy everything good that has been granted us by the kind government in the matter of education.
The fact is that this change will occur in two stages. The first will be the worst, it will be a time where things will seemingly get worse. For example, what will happen to the physical facilities of schools? The jobs of the teachers, the students? Certainly the market could not immediately absorb all these demands. What will the poor do, as they can not afford a private school? How much will tuition increase, since demand has risen sharply?
It is possible to perceive that the situation would be very complicated, and not easy to resolve, mainly because people want a quick solution to everything, and they would not see another solution, at a time like this, but to resort to the ever ready State.
But then we will reach the second stage of transition, where things will start to improve and take another form. As regulations were abolished and demand for new schools grew, many investors and entrepreneurs would see great business opportunities in that state, and would begin to bring new solutions and possibilities to that community.
In the beginning it is likely that most would offer options much like the traditional model, but with time and demand alternatives would arise. Schools with varying grades of hours, physical organization and students, teaching proposals and methodologies would be increasingly common, giving parents the possibility to choose what they consider most appropriate for their children.
If you want to learn cinema and arts, you can choose a specialized school in this. If you prefer math and chemistry, there are also options. If you want an embracing education, with several subjects given in a playful way, it is also possible, as well as a traditional and conservative methodology, all this would be possible thanks to the freedom of choice.
Just as it is in the world of cryptocurrency, where freedom makes innovations and improvements arise at every moment, education can also follow the same path.