General

Re: High School student needs answers!!

Black Market — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:05:35 GMT

Morty:

As for book suggestions, Rothbard's Education: Free and Compulsory makes some excellent points regarding the public schools debate that you can use in future discussions.

Man is that book freakin' scary! It's a definite must read for anyone interested in homeschooling and public education. ~shivers~

Re: High School student needs answers!!

banned — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:48:06 GMT

Eric:
We should make a group on facebook for high school students like us. It would be helpful because we could easily give advice and discuss topics that relate to school. Also, it would be really encouraging to find at least a few people my age who are not complete idiots.

Go ahead and make a group, but you should know that the libertarian groups on facebook are pretty inactive. The Mises Institute network gets a few members and maybe a post or two a day, on a good day. It's easier just to discuss things on these forums.

Re: High School student needs answers!!

Asian Austrian — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:54:23 GMT

I would read Economics In One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt; it was the first economics text I read and provides definitive arguments against state intervention in all types. Then I read Capitalism and Freedom by Friedman but I wouldn't really recommend that; I would however recommend the Road to Serfdom by Hayek (although it seems people here don't like Hayek too much, at least thats what I've noticed), but I haven't read that much. I'm hoping to get Prices and Production for christmas though :D

As a high school student (Well, we don't call it that in Britain) I can understand how frustrating it can be to hear idiots rant on about the 'credit crunch' being about 'omg greed' and such. If you argue with anyone be sure to smash them completely... to do this you should read alot. On this website especially.

There is already a facebook group; http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204459400

By the way, presuming you live in the States, heres a piece of advice for you from a disarmed country: get a rifle, get it fast, learn how to use it, and never let anyone take it away from you.

Good luck being in the smallest political minority ever to exist in education.

Re: High School student needs answers!!

Eric — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:38:24 GMT

Alrighty, I ordered some of the books you guys mentioned. I will be reading and playing Gears of War 2 all weekend. Thanks again.

We should make a group on facebook for high school students like us. It would be helpful because we could easily give advice and discuss topics that relate to school. Also, it would be really encouraging to find at least a few people my age who are not complete idiots. Plus, facebook is used by so many students every day, our group would be viewed by other students. It would be cool because it would basically be a group of people who believe in Austrian Economics, but can have discussions about other topics as well. Sound like a good idea?

Re: High School student needs answers!!

Danno — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:21:29 GMT

Eric:

I will be a senior in high school very soon, and every year, my socialist teachers spoon feed lies to the students. {...} I would like to know if stuff like this is normal in public schools?

It's regrettably typical. The colleges of 'education' that the teachers are required to attend have a remarkably statist, socialist agenda, and it trickles down to your classroom.

I would also like to know why so many teachers are against private schools, and schools competing?

The teacher's union likes things just the way they are, thanks.

By the way, does anyone have any book recommendations? I recently read "What has Government Done to our Money"(Murray Rothbard), and "Human Action"(Ludwig von Mises). I am trying to find a book less difficult than Human Action, but still interesting and informative. Thx.

I've been feeding Thomas Sowell to my highschooler - solid ideas, well-presented. He's a Chicago-school economist, but there's not a lot in there that the folks here will disagree with, and he hits on topics that you may not have considered yet. His collections of essays are good food for thought, as are his Basic Economics and Black Rednecks and White Liberals. I don't agree with everything the man says, but it's almost always worth reading.

Bastiat's _The Law_ is more of a slog to read, but it's short, remarkably hard to argue with, and available right here - my "other" teen has been handing copies out to the socialists at her school.

Re: High School student needs answers!!

DrunknMunky — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:42:51 GMT

hehe, I wish I had some libertarian allies in highschool...

Re: High School student needs answers!!

hayekianxyz — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:42:50 GMT

Callahan's Economics for Real People, Menger's Principles of Economics and then Rothbard's Man, Economy and State. On top of that read The Ethics of Liberty by Rothbard and Anarchy, State and Utopia by Nozick.

Re: High School student needs answers!!

mr_anonymous — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:41:00 GMT

Wow.. me too! A lot of high schoolers here... Anyway I think a good book to read is Anthem or Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.. they are novels but they also have a strong objectivist/libertarian message. I would also reccomend The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek... good luck!

Re: High School student needs answers!!

Eric — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:23:48 GMT

Hey everyone,

I was actually wondering if anyone could give me a book recommendation. I don't want to start a whole new topic, so I will just ask here. It is probably helpful to know what I have read so far, so here it is........

They are......What has Govt done with our Money, Americas Great Depression, Myth of National Defence, For A New Liberty, Economics in 1 lesson, Anarchy an the Law, Defending the Undefendable, Case against the Fed, Economics of Prohibition, and Power and Market. (thats what I remember off the top of my head)

As you can see, I still have a lot to learn. But I have no idea what I should read next. I did some research, but people on these forums are a lot more helpful in my opinion.

By the way, I finally converted a student to Archo-Capitalism! It took me months but it was worth it in the end! It gives me a sense of accomplishment too.

Re: High School student needs answers!!

Solomon — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:11:40 GMT

MatthewWilliam:

Eric:
Finally, I have heard some people say we should allow private schools to truely compete with public schools. Would privatising all schools just be a better idea?

Don't forget that ALL schools must have accreditation from the government to exist.

As is true of most other things in the US, it is more accurate to describe accreditation here as fascistic, rather than as socialistic as with the rest of the world. Basically, accreditation agencies are "private," but must gain approval from the USDE (it's VERY innovative ). Some schools as a result are exempt from mandatory accreditation (I'm not sure how or which ones), though people with such degrees are sometimes hounded by the state for the rest of their lives.

Re: High School student needs answers!!

Solomon — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:30:51 GMT

Eric:
one of my teachers said in order to end "the divide" in America, it might be a good idea to have congress represent the population more accurately. By this he meant that the number of people from each racial group in congress, should be proportional to the population of people in each racial group in the United States. My fellow students all thought this was a wonderful idea, and that it seemed fair.

It's pretty disconcerting to me that people of our generation buy into this dreck; one would think that everybody would realize by now the importance of thinking things through for one's self. I went to private high school, so personally I never had any direct experience with this sort of thing until a couple of semesters ago in my political science class.

This sort of egalitarianism is a relatively new, so as far as I'm aware it hasn't been thoroughly critiqued (I remember Rothbard discussing it in "Freedom, Inequality, Primitivism and the Division of Labor," though he doesn't go into its philosophy too deeply).

http://mises.org/fipandol.asp

Re: High School student needs answers!!

banned — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:04:39 GMT

Haha! I'm a sneaky bastard and tested out.

See you suckers in college!

Re: High School student needs answers!!

ticktockclok — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:44:15 GMT

Wow, there are a lot of high schoolers here. I'm a senior, and glad to know I'm not alone.

Re: High School student needs answers!!

Morty — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:37:46 GMT

For a New Liberty has a good section on that: http://mises.org/rothbard/newliberty11.asp

If you want historical examples of private courts, there is:
Property Rights in Celtic Irish Law http://mises.org/journals/jls/1_2/1_2_1.pdf

Private Creation and Enforcement of Law - A Historical Case http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Academic/Iceland/Iceland.html

Both (and more) can be found in Anarchy and the Law (edited by Edward Stringham).

Re: High School student needs answers!!

Eric — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:08:45 GMT

Morty:

If you don't mind my asking, what is the other government service you see as legitimate? I might be able to direct you to a book on that topic as well.

I find myself accepting the government courts for some reason. I guess that would mean government police also. I find a private police and private courts hard to accept at the moment. I am not proud of this.