Mute Buttons: Two Ways the School Complex Muzzles Parents and Students

I was asked the other day why parents and students do not have more say in their education in the government system, and my reply was simply “because that is the goal.” Specifically, the system exists to perpetuate itself and to propagandize large numbers of children each year so that they believe and pass on to their children the myths that permit government predation.

FEMA’s Incompetent Crisis Response

As I write this, another catastrophic hurricane barrels towards Florida, and I can only imagine not only the natural damage left in its wake, but the hopelessness many will feel when they realize the very agencies tasked to respond are not much more than political appointments, and far too inept to grasp the gravity of the task at hand. In the aftermath of a catastrophic event, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is tasked with coordinating relief efforts. However, FEMA’s very existence and response mechanisms are fundamentally flawed.

The “Fascist” Ad Hominem As an Act of Projection

A definition of “projection” is when one baselessly accuses others of doing something unsavory, immoral, or illegal that he is actually doing. For example, a thief who, without proof, accuses others of being thieves. This is what socialists do when they call their intellectual and political opponents “fascists” or compare them to Hitler. Fascism is socialism, as Lew Rockwell recently reminded us in an essay entitled “National Socialism Was Socialist.” Socialists calling opponents of socialism fascists and Hitler-like is a classic example of projection. 

The Many Roads to Liberty

Most readers of my weekly column already favor a libertarian society, with either a strictly limited government or no government at all. They realize what a disaster the state has been. What are the philosophical foundations of this outlook? There are many possible answers, but in this column, I’m going to discuss three of the most important of these, the way Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, and Hans-Hermann Hoppe address this issue. I’m not going to take a stand on which is best but just set forward the different views and leave the choice to you.

Survey Says: Disconnects Abound in School Opinions and Knowledge

Recently, EdChoice published its 2024 iteration of its annual Schooling in America report that surveys thousands of American adults and school parents regarding dozens of school-related topics and preferences. Within this report are numerous interesting results but also consistent reminders of disconnects between reality and belief, between public- and private-school parents, and between people’s words and actions.