Originally Posted By: wfaulk
Originally Posted By: TigerJimmy
Why not let individuals at the community level create the schools in the image they please?

I recognize that we have different viewpoints on this, but in case it was a question asking about what our reasoning is, this is mine:


We do, and that's ok. I enjoy our conversations. I hope you feel the same.

Quote:
Primary education is an infrastructure issue. The more well educated our populace is, the better our society will be. As someone who believes that the role of government is to provide for society-wide infrastructure, educating children falls in the same vein as building roads. While there are certainly benefits to individuals provided by both of those programs, it is the betterment of the whole that is the purpose.


I don't think the role of government is to provide a continual "betterment" of the whole. I think the role of government is to protect individual sovereignty and liberty to the maximum possible extent. I assert that the authors of our constitution agreed with this, and intended to create a very strictly limited government for the United States.

One reason I believe this is that the notion of "betterment" is inherently subjective and changing, and thus best left to the individual to pursue according to their own values, with tolerance for others and never using coercion against their fellows.

Also, while I acknowledge there are roles for central authority to achieve this end (such as national defense, enforcing contract and property rights, etc.), I do not accept the notion that all infrastructure must be provided for by government. In fact, most of our best infrastructure has not been. The electrical grid, telephone infrastructure, cell phone infrastructure, New York subway system -- all were developed by private businesses. So while I agree that an educated population is a good thing, I reject the notion that it is SO good that coercion should be employed to see that it exists. If the people want education (which they do), then they will provide for it privately or at the local government level, as they did for decades in America before the federal government got involved.

I'm not saying we shouldn't have schools. I'm saying this is not an appropriate function of a central government and it doesn't justify coercion.