The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible - Bastiat Institute

114 Chapter 20 • Bored of Digestion
Make me the master
of education, and
I will undertake to
change the world.
Baron Gottfried vol
Leibnitz 1646 – 1716
Let our pupil be
taught that he does
not belong to himself,
but that he is public
property.
Benjamin Rush
Brainstorming
• Are customers satisfi ed with the politicafes?
• How is the menu decided?
• Are truants and cooks treated properly?
• What would happen if food for the mind
were treated as this island treats food for the
stomach?
• Examples?
• Ethical issues?
Commentary
This chapter refers to government interference
in education systems. What if we treated food
for the stomach in the same way we are currently
treating food for the mind?
Children are treated as a standardised whole
instead of as personalities with individual
minds. Standardised compulsory schooling
stunts those children, who would blossom in an
entrepreneurial environment. As they lose interest
in school, the most adventurous youths may
disrupt the classroom. Many children are confi ned
to drab subjects with very limited opportunity for
expression.
We are told that compulsory schooling is
necessary as children have to be protected from
the poor judgement of their parents. This promotes
the idea that people cannot look after themselves,
that they must be dependent on the state, and that
they should fear personal responsibility.
So what we have is a huge government
department trying to fi nd one method to fi t
everyone; a large number of thwarted teachers;
and a mass of stifl ed children. This whole
unhappy situation is funded by unhappy taxpayers
who are falsely told that education is “free”! For
those people who pay for private schooling, taxes
for education are a double payment, and for those
with no children, an unnecessary expense. They
are told that they must still pay for the education