Read email from listener, living in the not-so-distant future, a transitional period between 20th century statism and complete liberty--competing justice agencies, flights of fantasy or not? No one is 'in control' in a complete liberty society; anarchy rules ;) Red pill reality versus blue pill reality; the ever-present matrix of false and destructive memes that distort most people's viewpoints The freest economies are the wealthiest economies The vast disparities between regulated and unregulated labor markets are typically overlooked by statists It's a fallacy to think that people (immigrants) are stealing jobs from other people--merely statist propaganda Retaliatory force (self-defense) must be used in proportion to the force that is initiated against you, though it's normally best to involve an independent third party for objectivity's sake (thus the need for justice agencies) Governmental police are a contradiction of the highest order--they extort money from you in order to protect you from thieves The governmental court system, with its men/women in black dresses, prosecutors, and public pretenders is a complete insult to the idea of justice Pa. judges accused of jailing kids for cash http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090211/ap_on_re_us/courthouse_kickbacks The evil nature of the unionized "corrections system," in which the people involved perpetuate the unjust status quo and increase their power and wealth--it's again wise to follow the money trail in these matters So-called privatization is still relying on extortion for funding--pure fascism Is the customer always right? Context matters, and in the realm of justice services, the concept of right entails upholding the principles of self-ownership and property--thou shalt not aggress, which also applies to any agent of justice "Customer service" at the DMV: pay or get shot (if you resist) Justice is a virtue that implements a respectful form of ethics; unjust acts must not be committed with impunity, i.e., without restoring the victim(s) Rand's take on the concept of justice: http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/justice.html Understanding customary legal principles is key to a just society: http://completeliberty.com/chapter8.php#153 Justice requires a value system that understands self-ownership and respectful relations with others A germane article: Property, Causality, and Liability by Hans-Hermann Hoppe http://www.mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae7_4_6.pdf Morally enlightened people will not tolerate agencies that are biased and violate individual rights Statism represents moral corruption and mass unenlightenment Justice agencies, like individuals, will be incentivized to minimize conflict Another germane essay: Does the State Resolve or Create Conflict? by Hans-Hermann Hoppe http://www.mises.org/story/2075 Where there is competition in the marketplace, and therefore consumer choice, customary law that minimizes conflict (and thus reduces costs) will be the order of the day--people will naturally choose it over favoritism, bias, corruption, and injustice Reasonable and cost-effective insurance policies ensure that justice is served, no matter how badly particular customers might behave; one doesn't throw a just business model away on the whim of an unjust customer Prohibiting choice removes market indicators of what is good and what is not good Praxeology and the Austrian school of economics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxeology bumper music "Justice Tonight/Kick It Over" by The Clash http://www.theclashonline.com/music/super-black-market-clash

to comment, please go to http://completeliberty.com/magazine/category/91697

Open access router network? The People’s Romance: Why People Love Government (as Much as They Do) by Daniel B. Klein http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?a=536 ; http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_10_1_1_klein.pdf "Why do some people never support a free-market proposal, even when they think it would work better than government intervention? For many, the reason is that collective political action offers the romantic notion that 'we’re all working together,' while market mechanisms seem to them less lofty because they rely on the self-interest of individuals acting privately." (D.K.) TPR (the people's romance) encourages governmental intervention for its own sake Pundits constantly conflate Americans with government, i.e., the people in government who rule over them Fearing, revering, and worshipping power and the process of indoctrinating a public that kowtows to "authority"--main aspects of TPR Encompassing sentiment coordination of the WHOLE group, whether you like it or not, is the nature of TPR In actuality, there are no "citizens" and there is no "State"--both are arbitrary collectivistic and legal abstractions that lead to coercive control of rights-respecting people and distortion and destruction of entire economies Without imposing a communized infrastructure, government would lose all perceived legitimacy The in-group and out-group dynamic is also part of TPR--the out-group must be either shunned or subdued Libertarian aphorism: The are two types of people--those who want to be left alone and those who won't leave them alone Most slaves don't like seeing other slaves trying to break free of their shackles--so they attack them and keep all enslaved TPR lives off coercion The conceptual common denominator between fanciful Objectivist government and actual government is the coercive monopolization of its "services" Feelings are tools of evaluation, not tools of cognition; people can have "joyous" feelings based on a whole host of contradictions--though they betray their true selves, their authentic selves The three types of libertarians: classical liberals; laissez-faire capitalists (or minarchists); anarcho-capitalists, or market anarchists, or voluntarists (or agorists) TPR lies at the heart of communism The differences between working for a communist boss and a capitalist boss are immense, although oftentimes diminished in a mixed economy like today's Statists are afflicted with slavespeak (http://www.buildfreedom.com/tl/tl07a.htm) and the Stockholm Syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome) The fatuous superstition of "the consent of the governed" leads to "being greater than kings and less than men" (de Toqueville) Taxation is an extortion racket to no end Lysander Spooner's 1840's attempt at competing with monopoly gang of the USPS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysander_Spooner#Early_years_and_the_postal_monopoly Statists' version of a "civilized society" is one in which rights-respecting people are forced to do things against their wills--oh so civilized, isn't it! Penn & Teller: Bullshit!: Recycling http://www.sho.com/site/schedules/product.do?episodeid=121062&seriesid=134&seasonid=0 or watch here (though may go defunct) http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/92358/detail/ http://www.videosift.com/video/Penn-Teller-Bullshit-Recycling Understanding property rights yields a better environment Property Is An Extension Of Self-Ownership http://completeliberty.com/chapter3.php#68 Psychology of Ownership http://www.logicallearning.net/libpsychologyofo.html Regulatory "policies bind people together, like a bundle of sticks" (D.K.) Failing to strike the root of the welfare state...Dr. No's statist insanity: Immigration Reform in 2006? by Ron Paul http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul343.html Free trade brings respectful relations with former strangers Advocates of TPR abhor people withdrawing their participation by pursuing private interests The "war on terrorism" is the "new giant in the parade of war frauds" (D.K.) What Michael Phelps Should Have Said: Smoking pot shouldn't be a crime. Or the public's business by Radley Balko http://www.reason.com/news/show/131438.html Contrast mj with alchohol toxicity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahydrocannabinol#Toxicity The four proposed origins of TPR: 1) Socio-biological and cultural evolution [though there are no innate ideas] The Early Human Condition: http://www.logicallearning.net/libearlyhumancon.html 2) Society as family, government as parent Radical unschooling is the most enlightened and respectful method of parenting, thus enabling a future society of complete liberty; Dayna Martin: What is Radical Unschooling? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiHyzS26N0Y 3) Society as being, government as head We need better integration and understanding of the facets of self; The Art of Self-Discovery http://www.nathanielbranden.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=38 4) Society as organization, government as director The ills of identifying with the coercive gang and seeing their orders as legitimate Pursuing one's rational self-interest entails respecting the rights of other people Common decency entails respect for persons, property, and agreements Libertarian principles cannot engender TPR Wealth and technology enable people to withdraw and resist statism (http://freestateproject.org as a product of info tech) The process and goals of civil disobedience--coupled with education in libertarian principles Very commendable site: http://cdevolution.org/ Liberty lovers must raise "law enforcers'" awareness of the moral issues and make it unbearable for them (and statists in general) to pretend that their activities are legitimate, noble, and just Police and courts depend on individual rights-violators to rationalize their own rights-violating gang--thus perpetuating their immoral scheme of unjust laws Reaching out to the silent majority of Americans who share the libertarian credo of common decency is key to good activism :) bumper music "Spanish Romance" by Liona Boyd - First Lady of Guitar (Album: The Best of Liona Boyd) http://www.classicalguitar.com/

to comment, please go to http://completeliberty.com/magazine/category/91697

CLP on new 24/7 Net station: Liberty Radio Network http://www.libertyradionetwork.com Thank Goodness I Live in a Free Country by Don Cooper http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/cooper1.html Control freak madness, aka regulatory agencies, and the adults they enslave Call Me an Abolitionist, Please by Glen Allport http://www.strike-the-root.com/62/allport/allport4.html The fear of anarchy and the common negative meaning of the term--and thus the fear of freedom People generally do what they're told (by rulers), instead of seeking to have no rulers The prison of statism demands conformity, and any deviation from it is "chaos"--thus, "anarchy" is to be avoided at all costs Laws created by statists are designed to control people and keep rulers in power Everyday Anarchy by Stefan Molyneux (dealing with people's ambivalence towards anarchy) http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AidXSubb-2U Laws that infringe on individual rights cause constant conflict in society One should never pretend that government caters to its "customers," because good customer service requires voluntary patrons, or willing participants--not an extortion racket and hapless victims Let's abolish the initiation of force, shall we; abolitionists of statist slavery unite! Unjust law itself is a crime against peaceful people Are religions about love or coercion? "faith and force are corollaries," noted Rand: http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/faith.html Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Delivers State of the State Address (I play an abridged excerpt, and Arnie joins me on the show with a new pack of lies!;) http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/speech/11390/ Schwarzenegger's Green Challenge (politics--where acting is reality) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/19/60minutes/main4677334.shtml What could be a more efficient and economical way to meet people's needs than government?! Why Does the World Feel Wrong? by Will Groves http://www.strike-the-root.com/91/groves/groves1.html Do authoritarian sociopaths, aka psychopaths, have a conscience? Fat chance. Hmm...did psychopaths invent the State to take advantage of the rest of us? Choice quotes by W.G.: "Inhibiting critical thinking in the masses obviously benefits the state and psychopaths. When overtly self-serving, irresponsible, illegal, immoral, irrational behavior gets treated as normal, we can conclude that the educational system works quite well for our masters." "...without understanding our social systems, we will never escape from the tyranny unleashed on us by psychopaths." Essentially, we are being ruled by psychopathic morons, given that irrationality is their MO and a stupid system is the end result bumper music "Anarchy in the UK" by the Sex Pistols http://www.sexpistolsofficial.com/

to comment, please go to http://completeliberty.com/magazine/category/91697

The crux of the educational problem: The age-old bad meme of an "authority" presiding over a learner's activities Sometimes, homeschooling mimics traditional pedagogy (i.e., teacher-directed learning), as do supposedly enlightened private schools (e.g., http://www.vandammeacademy.com/) Identifying, integrating, and experiencing what you're interested in--the essence of unschooling The leniency versus authoritarianism educational/parenting paradigm must be dispensed with and replaced by a respectful model Fears of parents about unschooling their kids, such as they're not "teachers"; but you don't need a permission slip, just an intrinsically motivated kid (which fortunately comes naturally:) A variety of useful resources for learner-directed homeschooling (unschooling): http://www.unschooling.com/ http://www.unschooling.info/ http://www.unschooling.org/ http://sandradodd.com/unschooling http://www.holtgws.com/whatisunschoolin.html http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/unschool.html http://www.unschoolingamerica.com/ http://borntoexplore.org/unschool/whatis.htm http://www.amazon.com/Unschooling-Handbook-Whole-Childs-Classroom/dp/0761512764 We need to see kids as little people, capable of achieving great things, just like good tutors do And we need to come to terms with the fact that the learner has a teacher within Only in the educational system are grades given supreme importance; objectively speaking, they are irrelevant to one's life and well-being An educational system that demands students' obedience to authority is primes people for accepting the principles of communism--even though Americans are taught, via statist propaganda, to see themselves as enemies of communism Around the world, it's the theme of statism that presides Virtually all monopolies are coercive (using the coercive tools of government), not natural monopolies, with government itself on the top of the sordid, unjust heap of protection rackets It's important to distinguish between what is unethical and what is unjust, as well as what is psychologically respectful (unschooling) and what is not (traditional, controlling, or teacher-directed, methods) The kinds of socialization that take place in the prison system, i.e., in the governmental schools, aren't good for anyone (Ayn Rand quote referenced in http://www.logicallearning.net/libertyeducation.html) In order to maintain its power, government must control money and schools (fiat currency and fiat education) The discipline and self-esteem movements as manifestations of the coercive system http://www.logicallearning.net/learnerdrivened.html To doubt students' capability and initiative to direct their learning processes does NOTHING to foster their growth, and it only perpetuates widespread self-distrust Students should be seen as consumers of educational services, not obedient servants It's important to distinguish between self-efficacy and self-esteem, and to define self-esteem properly--as well as to see it as impossible to achieve in a coercive educational system, which is always contrary to development of intrinsic motivation Governmental school teachers are conduits for implementing a command-and-control pedagogy The idea of change on a national and individual level is pretty disconnected Job tickets as main goal of "higher education" (John Holt quote referenced in http://www.logicallearning.net/libertyeducation.html) Unfortunately, it's easier (in the short term) to not take responsibility for one's learning process How Academic Guilds Police Higher Education by Gary North http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north632.html Freedom and Beyond (Innovators in Education) by John Holt http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Beyond-Innovators-Education-John/dp/0867093676 Holt's experience of teaching student-directed learning to Harvard grad students revealed the psychology of coerced students: "You don't care about us, otherwise you'd tell us what to do." Yet, the educational buck has to stop at some point, and it might as well stop at the individual learner, not some conjured "authority" (i.e., just another individual) Decompressing from a schooling environment to an unschooling environment takes a little time, time to restore the independent decision-making ability and intrinsic motivation of the learner Unschooling: What is Deschooling? (Dayna Martin) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9meP3a64MzY Dayna Martin: Common Unschooling Questions Answered http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NheCjqDMM Couple more resources: http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/ ; http://www.homeedmag.com/HEM/171.00/jf_art_unsch.html An idle (and busy) school teacher is a Devil's workshop--a teacher-directed learning environment commonly leads to controlling learners and thus stripping them of intrinsic motivation The chicken and the egg problem of statism and statist education; we need to reconfigure the dna to create a new species of thinking and acting--new and respectful memes need to replace domination memes Einstein, the rule breaker! Ad astra, and beyond... bumper music "School's Out" by Alice Cooper http://www.myspace.com/officialalicecooper  http://www.alicecooper.com/

to comment, please go to http://completeliberty.com/magazine/category/91697

Americans to Undergo Preschool Reeducation in Advance of Country’s Conversion to Communism http://www.newsmutiny.com/pages/Communist_Reeducation.html Coming to terms with communistic principles in America The Timeless Allure Of Communism: http://completeliberty.com/chapter1.php#15 Once the State controls education, the rest of the insanity naturally follows, such as forced "sharing" The double bind lessons from kindergarten: don't hit people and don't take their stuff; and, don't be selfish and share your stuff! The power of language to shape thought...defining anarchy, for instance It is essential to define one's terms in order to understand both concepts and reality The folly of basing one's conclusions on other people's conclusions--social metaphysics The ways that emotional issues can block logical analysis (http://www.logicallearning.net/liblogicforunder.html) and the mental trickery of rationalizations The nature of pretending that governmental "services" are voluntary... The latest from Mordor: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/#early-childhood There's no such thing as "voluntary universal" governmental programs About Last Night...Episode 1212 (Original Air Date: Nov 5, 2008) While the country celebrates the outcome of the election, the new President-elect catches everyone off guard when he arrives at the White House prematurely. http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/1212/? The Greatest Thief Club In The World: http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/209730/ Charter schools are no threat to the communized educational system, because they too are dependent on stolen wealth and statist edicts "Public school" educators need to raise their self-esteem enough to trust their capabilities to provide their services in a non-domineering and voluntary fashion The hypothetical scenario of "pushing the button" to get one's way in society can be a device to expose the double standard of the statist code of morality (a vicious one-way ethical street) Notice how much people's claims for the "common good" entail their individual self-interest, albeit short-term and irrational Making unjust coercion look defensive and noble... "Leader of the free world," an authoritarian sociopath? Yup. If parents took responsibility for their kids' education, it could stem the tide of the real dropouts--that is, kids who drop in to coercive education and thus drop out of being intrinsically motivated learners Of course, without governmental "support," especially for education, civilization would simply implode and disappear into an abyss...right... The sick and twisted world of elitism; in a world of collective psychosis (where people detach from the actual reality of their situation) and deranged authoritarian sociopathy, coercive funding of coercive education makes perfect sense! The voracious nature of Leviathan... Governmental control of education is evil to the core, and it's psychologically damaging to everyone involved, serving to destroy people's self-esteem, i.e., their self-confidence and self-respect--and thus their confidence in and respect for others The welfare hook--"free" everything, though always at others' expense The three immoral lessons of governmental schooling: Don't bite the hand that feeds you; never look at what the hand is attached to; and, never ask how it got filled with free food Not only does "the Emperor" have no clothes; why are you calling someone "the Emperor"? Education: Free and Noncompulsory by Scott McPherson http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0802d.asp If there is one thing that the communistic educational system has done really well, it's to get people to think like central planners--"public policy" opinions galore! Unschooled doesn't mean uneducated; unschooled means self-motivated, independent, inquisitive, and creative Unschooling fosters trusting one's mind (and hence senses) and questioning the nature of arbitrary postulates (further perusing: http://www.logicallearning.net/libfreewill.html, http://www.logicallearning.net/libmentalshiftin.html, and http://www.logicallearning.net/libanissueofmort.html) The irony of scientifically minded statists criticizing Christian homeschooling... Active learning versus uncritical absorption Educational questions for the young and old alike, such as "What would you have done without school?" The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education http://lowryhousepublishers.com/TeenageLiberationHandbook.htm http://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-School-Education/dp/0962959170 What do you, as a student, really want to spend your time doing? Having a constructive conversation with parents to get out of the coercive system is key Let's Abolish High School by Robert Epstein http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/04/04/31epstein.h26.html?print=1 Trashing Teens: Psychologist Robert Epstein argues in a provocative book, "The Case Against Adolescence," that teens are far more competent than we assume, and most of their problems stem from restrictions placed on them. by Hara Estroff Marano http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=pto-20070302-000002&print=1 Conforming Creativity by Doug French http://www.lewrockwell.com/french/french104.html The goal is to be a dynamic and curious individual, regardless of your age Montessori's notice of the "camouflages of adults" who seek to dominate children and her wonderful observations of child psychology (referenced here: http://www.logicallearning.net/libertyeducation.html) bumper music "More Than Useless" by Relient K http://www.relientk.com/music.aspx

to comment, please go to http://completeliberty.com/magazine/category/91697

Understanding the Web and America's youth http://www.rocketboom.com/rb_08_dec_03/ (An Interview with Don Tapscott) net@night 79: Don Tapscott, Grown Up Digital http://twit.tv/natn79 What are the implications of always being connected to the Internet? Governmental schools are the main anchor around the neck of our society The common person seems to follow all the clueless statist intellectuals Coercively-funded "Public schools" cannot teach anything coherent about economics--because they operate outside the free market The ills of Keynesian (governmental) economics versus the goodness of Austrian (free market) economics What government does (perpetrate crimes) is prohibited to individuals outside of government Of course, government by nature has no interest in defending and upholding individual rights Being a "good student" leads to being a "good citizen," in which obedience and compliance are expected Liberation by Internet by Gennady Stolyarov II http://mises.org/story/3060 Surfing the Net via China? http://chinachannel.hk/ More and more access to information will eventually destroy the statist memes Focusing on technological improvements without focusing on getting rid of authoritarian pedagogy is beyond ridiculous http://www.grownupdigital.com/index.php/2008/12/teachers-and-technology-should-work-together/ Teaching is the highest form of manipulation, said one of my college profs The fine pedagogical art of of trimming leaves on a rotten tree...and singing teachers union songs Mimicking free market innovations in the governmental school classroom still retains an antiquated pedagogy and statist memes The entire authoritarian structure of governmental education must be hidden (in plain sight) with propaganda and threats Check out iTunes University for tons of educational stuff! http://www.apple.com/education/mobile-learning/  http://deimos3.apple.com/indigo/main/main.xml Finding ways to approach statist mentalities in a constructive rather than destructive (pugilistic;) fashion Explaining another's point view, so that he/she feels understood The main problem with minarchism is that it leads the statist apparatus (coercive monopoly) in place to abuse the populace Having a negative tone towards government (because those in it act unjustly and immorally) really means having a positive view of individuals (and the respect they deserve) Resourceful, creative, independent, innovative, and moral individuals are threats to government itself; thus governmental schools Basically, because people are not practicing enough self-responsibility, we have government Noble purposes must be ascribed to the unjust and immoral actions of governmental officials, in order to appeal to people's inherent virtues and make things seem not what they are People defend evil in order to prevent their worldview from dissolving Our task is to be objective and state the truth, especially when nearly everyone is defending falsehoods (particularly statist intellectuals) The importance of Wikipedia for fact-checking and information literacy Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky http://www.amazon.com/Here-Comes-Everybody-Organizing-Organizations/dp/1594201536 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_comes_everybody Web 2.0 technologies will eventually rid the world of powerful guilds, so-called experts, and sundry "authorities" Statism is anti-self-esteem and anti-change; complete liberty is pro-self-esteem and pro-change The agricultural revolution, industrial revolution, information revolution were all exploited by government to enslave and destroy individuals We still live in the age of pre-logic, where most people pay little attention to contradictions An attempt at a peaceful world? http://www.itakethevow.com/ Those in government ultimately depend on violence, theft, and deception in order to exist; since people already know this, why do they make excuses for statism? One of Stefan Molyneux's brilliant assessments of the subject: http://www.mediafly.com/Podcasts/Episodes/FDR1233_Free_Will_Determinism_And_Self_Knowledge Governmental schooling is an organization of authoritarian sociopathy the purports to be good for "students" Paul Dressel's smart quote: "A grade can be regarded only as an inadequate report of an inaccurate judgment by a biased and variable judge of the extent to which a student has attained an undefined level of mastery of an unknown proportion of an indefinite amount of material." Facts and Fancy in Assigning Grades. Basic College Quarterly, 2 (1957), 6-12 (referenced here: http://www.logicallearning.net/libertyeducation.html) Grades and tests as essential methods of controlling students Brett's world history lesson in 10 seconds: A long story, continuously repeating itself, looping century after century, about how an extremely small group of people controls an extremely large group of people by fear or by force--and their best weapon is the ignorance of the people Though the Bill of Rights looks good on paper (supposedly restraining despotic government), it harbors a false premise--it legitimizes a coercive institution that violate individual rights on a daily basis To defy property taxes (i.e., extortion) is heroic--it's crucial to stand up for logic, property rights, and especially individual learners Sudbury model (the "free school" model) compared and contrasted with Montessori, Waldorf, and Progressive schools (and "student government"), as well as homeschooling http://www.sudval.org/ A couple useful resources (basically, parentally unstructured homeschooling): http://www.unschooling.org/index.htm and http://www.unschooling.com/ The fastest and best way to help kids become educated, self-esteeming, and mature is to respect their right to make choices as individual learners Interest (intrinsic motivation) is the only criterion for engaging in any activity, and satisfaction the only evaluation of success (Sudbury model, or any enlightened pedagogy) My favorite child psychology book: The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=8977399 A learner who doesn't know what to learn (no imposed lesson plan), will then learn how to know what to learn! Learning as manifestation of the entrepreneurial spirit Boredom as learning experience; people's discomfort with themselves is yet another product of governmental schools Democratic decision-making denies self-responsibility and objectivity, though it is a good tool for quelling dissent and imposing self-blame (You, it's what's for dinner!) The two aspects of government that really suck--the one that doesn't work for you (even though it's supposed to) and the one that works for those in charge Democracy: The God That Failed: The Economics And Politics Of Monarchy, Democracy, And Natural Order by Hans-Hermann Hoppe http://tinyurl.com/lv7xr Psychologist Carl Rogers' fabulous quotation about the proper educational attitude: "To free curiosity; to permit individuals to go charging off in new directions dictated by their own interests; to unleash the sense of inquiry; to open everything to questioning and exploration; to recognize that everything is in process of change—here is an experience I can never forget." (referenced here: http://www.logicallearning.net/libertyeducation.html) Ultimately, the governmental school is a processing plant: The child goes in; the obedient employee/soldier/taxpayer goes out What's needed: The Practice of Self-Responsibility by Nathaniel Branden http://www.nathanielbranden.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_23&products_id=36 bumper music "Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance http://mychemicalromance.com/

to comment, please go to http://completeliberty.com/magazine/category/91697

6-Year-Old Stares Down Bottomless Abyss Of Formal Schooling http://www.theonion.com/content/news/6_year_old_stares_down_bottomless What if children really knew what they were being dragooned into? "Public education" is group think writ large; "This is what we're supposed to do"; adults erroneously believe it's "good for socialization" Schools as prisons, basically forced "socialization" It's HOW you're taught that does the harm The Student as Nigger: Essays and Stories by Jerry Farber http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0303critic/030301studentasnigger.html "...imagine what the effect must be upon our apt and impressionable minds of a twelve-year course in servility. Think about it...What is it that they're teaching you? Twelve years pitted against your classmates in a daily Roman circus. The game is Doing What You're Told." The insanity of forcing people (either big people or little people) to learn things The Comprachicos by Ayn Rand (in "The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution", pp. 41-95. Signet, 1975); government school "socialization" leads to gang warfare and loss of conceptual thinking and objectivity http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/learning.html Choice quotations: http://www.stormy.org/edcompr.htm Ayn Rand and her thoughts on Rational Education by Michael S. Berliner http://tinyurl.com/8ylvr8 "Learning" by memorization rather than conceptual integration doesn't foster enlightened and healthy minds; it's dire and hopeless and soul-crushing "Public education" can't be rationally defended, but educators do have their rationalizations... Since "public education" is coercively funded, we can expect the aftermath--such as mass servility and obedient payment of property taxes Jerry Farber's "IF IT WEREN'T COMPULSORY..." http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0303critic/030301studentasnigger.html "It would be well if we stopped lying to ourselves about what compulsory schooling does for our children. It temporarily imprisons them; it standardizes them; it intimidates them. If that's what we want, we should admit it. There's not much point in going on about this. If you've somehow missed reading A.S. Neill's Summerhill, you ought to go out and get it." http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summerhill_School http://www.amazon.com/Summerhill-School-New-View-Childhood/dp/0312141378 Parents and other adults are much better able to create educational environments that cater to the varying interests and abilities of children, and kids should be free to pick and choose as they see fit Delayed adolescence courtesy of governmental schools Trashing Teens: Psychologist Robert Epstein argues in a provocative book, "The Case Against Adolescence," that teens are far more competent than we assume, and most of their problems stem from restrictions placed on them. by Hara Estroff Marano http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=pto-20070302-000002&print=1 The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen by Robert Epstein; Ph. D. http://www.amazon.com/Case-Against-Adolescence-Rediscovering-Adult/dp/188495670X Being able to conceptually integrate in an objective fashion is the hallmark of maturity (and the teenage brain has this capability) John Holt's five points on effective tutoring and learning (on page 202) http://books.google.com/books?id=oRk28eZoYNkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ViewAPI#PPA202,M1 Instead of Education: Ways to Help People Do Things Better by John Caldwell Holt (John Holt) http://books.google.com/books?id=oRk28eZoYNkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ViewAPI#PPP1,M1 How individualism is stamped out by the system; one only creates resistance and problems by trying to control other human minds Successfully nurturing individual young minds via student-centered and self-directed learning is key In addition to stopping their coercive behavior, government school educators need to alter their pedagogy, particularly who's in charge Case in point: Project-based learning A choice quote from the teacher in the video below: "As long as they defended their answer, then that's what I want" Picturing the Possibilities - Project-based Learning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFt6qW0Pb4c Some choice "school sucks" videos by kids: School Sucks, Rants Rule (6:02) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlRv7Ky7bgE School Sucks! (4:48) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3SKC6zi2UA&NR=1 school sucks (2:14) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF6JfP4qJ2A Vouchers--promoting the illusion of freedom within a coercive paradigm Intrinsic motivation is key, which is impossible within a compulsory system; modern pedagogy discourages rational self-interest, as does our collectivistic culture; Dirty Dancing with The Fountainhead... Those who equate being selfish (i.e., concerned with oneself, or self-interested) with being antisocial are merely projecting their own antisocial views on those who are respectful; promoting coercive education and statism isn't social or virtuous True socialization entails independent people coming together with mutual interests, trading value for value, just like anything else in the marketplace We need to see beyond the coercive monopolies that have blinded us from amazingly beneficial possibilities in education (and the rest of the economy) bumper music "Schools Are Prisons" by the Sex Pistols http://www.sexpistolsofficial.com/  http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/window/media/page/0,,1726210-4679121,00.html

to comment, please go to http://completeliberty.com/magazine/category/91697

Salting roads for the common good (and corroding vehicles) Private property owners have no interest in benefitting from commerce and trade--not! But what about the roads (and fire and police "services)! Nothing like institutionalized legalized monopolies as the best way to solve problems Bureaucratized utilities once again to the rescue; preservation of the status quo is always best, especially regarding the utility monopolies; thinking outside the statist electricity box; the genius of Nikola Tesla: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_energy_transfer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardenclyffe_tower#Theory_of_wireless_transmission But what about the schools! Most realize the massive failure in this area Harry Browne's hypothetical of government running the computer industry http://www.harrybrowne.org/articles/FreeTheSchools.htm Imagine if education worked like the computer industry; the sky's the limit So, in the spirit of Thoreau, we must strike at the root of coercive education, not merely hack at the branches http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henrydavid161709.html Future School: Reshaping Learning from the Ground Up: Alvin Toffler tells us what's wrong -- and right -- with public education by James Daly http://www.edutopia.org/future-school It's way past time to abolish governmental schools, which are designed to produce "disciplined" industrial workers but don't even accomplish that; instead, they barely inculcate rudimentary skills while fostering compliance and obedient mentalities Leave it to Marx and Lenin to promote the essentials of authoritarian education And leave it to John Dewey and Horace Mann (and Henry Barnard and Josiah Quincy and Jacob Abbott et al.) to implement their authoritarian scheme Crossing Education's Rubicon With Horace Mann http://sixthcolumn.typepad.com/cubedseducationblog/2007/05/education_is_a_.html Becoming the property of the State via compulsory education Education: Free and Compulsory by Murray N. Rothbard http://www.mises.org/story/2226 And leave it to religion to lay down a framework of blind obedience to "authority," in which "authority" is seen as benevolent Mann is seen as the father of American "public education"; in addition to being a master of phrenology;) he was also a big supporter of the temperance movement (abstinence), which led to the prohibition era championed by big Mann-fan and despot Woodrow Wilson Following the Prussian educationist model, Mann promoted the following: the debilitating "whole-language," or "look-say," reading method; a centralized educational system at the federal level; and, getting private universities to be publicly funded With governmental schools, the bad ideas and bad money (extorted via taxation) drive out the good ideas and good money (voluntarily exchanged); it's hard for the private sector to compete with "free" governmental schools The Spread of Education Before Compulsion: Britain and America in the Nineteenth Century by Edwin G. West http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=3872 Families find themselves "...caught in a choice-restricted monopoly system serving the interests not of the demanders but of the rent-seeking suppliers."--as in all things involved in government, follow the money trail... Coercive education, like coercive government, is predicated on the belief that some people know what's best for all people In order to implement his own form of arbitrary power, Horace Mann and those of his ilk gravitated toward the coercive educational models practiced in foreign countries where the cancer of statism had metastasized (i.e., the most consistent adherents to the principle of statism) The people in today's power-centers of coercive control see themselves as a cut above the rest The essence of being an authoritarian sociopath is choosing to deal with others in a disrespectful fashion, using threats and violence instead of persuasion and reason Hiding in and not taking responsibility for the system of authoritarian sociopathy is of course assuming its traits The theme promoted and modeled in the governmental schools is one of obedience The master/slave relationship is the ultimate example of racism "Racism is the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism." http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/racism.html The Student as Nigger by Jerry Farber, 1969 http://ry4an.org/readings/short/student/ Essays and Stories by Jerry Farber http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0303critic/030301studentasnigger.html "Authority addicts" defer self-responsibility to others (the "authorities") A little lesson on Farber's reference to the torturous "Procrustean set-up" of education: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrustes Slavery, like statism, tends to perpetuate itself from the inside Harriet Tubman: "I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves." http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/harriettub388682.html Dealing with the psychological/social resistance to change; being attacked by fellow slaves who accept the constant theft, violence, and lies of government; such attacks reveal that they know the moral nature of the argument and they concede defeat Curiosity requires a level of emotional intelligence (respect for feelings) that most people still need to achieve It's idiotic to believe that authoritarian sociopaths have any regard whatsoever for you as an individual, or for your freedoms Just as farmers benefit from having free range chickens that produce more for them, authoritarian sociopaths benefit from giving their perceived "livestock" the illusion of being free so that they produce more for them; this is the matrix we live in True News 13: Statism is Dead - Part 3 - The Matrix by Stefan Molyneux http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P772Eb63qIY Who really are the human farmers, i.e., slave masters? Statist intellectuals who feed off others and thus justify institutionalized coercion (government) The drug war as an example of erroneous thinking about morality and law, in which breaking "the law" is equivalent to being immoral (again, following from the master/slave relationship) "The law" or "State" can never be the victim; individuals are the real victims within such a demented system--and governmental officials are the real criminals The Socialism of Public Schooling by Jacob G. Hornberger http://www.fff.org/comment/com0811c.asp Elegantly exposing the contradiction: "Advocates of government schooling claim that parents are not competent to make educational decisions for their children. That raises an obvious question: Why not? Aren’t most parents products of public schooling? If public schooling has produced a nation of adults who lack the competence to guide their children’s education, why do we want to continue a system that is likely to produce the same result?" The communistic methods of coercive funding and provision of education utilize vouchers as a trojan horse to further control non-governmental education The institution of government is based on the idea that you don't own yourself, that you are a slave to statist "authorities" Thus it's crucial to challenge the pemes (political memes) that are in our heads #TL074: PEME-THEORY - BASIC, INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED by Frederick Mann http://www.buildfreedom.com/tl/tl074.shtml #TL075: PEMES = POLITICAL MEMES by Frederick Mann http://www.buildfreedom.com/tl/tl075.shtml Project Abolish Stupidity & Increase Intelligence by Frederick Mann http://www.buildfreedom.com/stupidity/abolish_stupidity.html Further historical reading: The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm bumper music "School Sucks" by White Birch Home School Players (starring Robert Ryan Keech) School Sucks - Low Budget Music Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpkrWuXn2RE

to comment, please go to http://completeliberty.com/magazine/category/91697

Throwing some scraps to the slaves in Taxachusetts (mj leniency), where 70% of voters endorsed the status quo of income expropriation Education is the main component for maintaining the meme of statism; governmental schools are seen as a necessary good "Education is a weapon" said Stalin Government Education Is Broken? It Just Ain't So! by Alan Schaeffer and Marshall Fritz http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=8366 Pundits typical "solution" to the problems of "public education": more money! Dropping out as psychologically healthy The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education http://lowryhousepublishers.com/TeenageLiberationHandbook.htm No school system can be all things to all students, and no coercive school system is good for anyone Even though it's always alleged to help them, kids from poorer families suffer the worse from governmental schooling, as did their parents Governmental employees are the perfect products of governmental schooling; they've inherited the bad memes fully The nerve-touching moral question always looms large: How exactly is this system funded? Statist arguments from emotional convenience--being treated with ridicule and outrage by those who don't want to face their history of statist indoctrination and advocacy Two fallacies: that the government school system is a failure, and that government can fix it! John Dewey's perverse coercive educational goals: to make good people; to make good citizens; to make each person his or her personal best From the horse's mouth: "My Pedagogic Creed" http://www.infed.org/archives/e-texts/e-dew-pc.htm Link (to a link) to Rand's take on Dewey: http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/education.html The true aim of governmental education is, in H.L. Mencken's words, "to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality." John Taylor Gatto - State Controlled Consciousness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ogCc8ObiwQ Stupid in America by John Stossel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw Being shackled as a governmental school employee, or even a State-regulated private school teacher Regimentation, standardization, and segregation are the mainstay of coercive "public" education Maria Montessori's key insight: "The child has a teacher within" http://www.logicallearning.net/libertyeducation.html Bad tendency of adults to interfere with kids' intrinsic motivation Alfie Kohn's insights on intrinsic motivation (versus extrinsic rewards and punishments): Punished by Rewards? A Conversation with Alfie Kohn by Ron Brandt http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/pbracwak.htm GRADING: The Issue Is Not How but Why by Alfie Kohn http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/grading.htm Understanding our natural gifts as children; being creative, imaginative, innovative, and fearless Keeping the entrepreneurial spirit and society alive with these gifts Kids are incessant question-askers, as opposed to most adults Why is it that most adults--and even libertarians--send their kids to governmental schools... Constitutional arguments against governmental education are invalid, because the Constitution itself is not a valid contract As Lysander Spooner pointed out: No Treason. No. VI, The Constitution of No Authority http://www.lysanderspooner.org/notreason.htm#no6 The false binary "choices" offered to us by the statist system To advocate coercion to provide education is beyond the pale Because "poor people" need to be educated so much, the market will quickly fill this need cheaply and effectively (sans government) The coercive "business" of governmental education, purported as being for "the common good" (which is never very common and thus never achieved) The fallacy of voting (collectivized plunder), in which people supposedly get something for nothing and extort those with supposedly more wealth If you don't want to be a standardize citizen, there's no place for you in a coercive society Obedience to "authority" is pervasive, both in and out of "school" The ending of governmental schools means the beginning of complete liberty Gatto: "Children need to know that the ultimate form of private property is full possession of one’s own mind and volition." The Alliance for the Separation of School & State http://www.schoolandstate.org/home.htm "The Alliance for the Separation of School & State has a two-fold mission: 1. Help parents and others understand the true nature and the dangers of compulsory state schooling. 2. Show parents and others how they can take back their freedom and ensure a bright future for their children and our country." All statist regimes rely on a tax-funded education system to perpetuate themselves, and to devolve into totalitarianism The American governmental school system is the perfect storm of convincing people in droves that tyranny is actually good for them, and that they are "free," relying as it does on the Founding Fathers' liberty-oriented rhetoric An alternative historical view: Voices Of A People's History Of The United States by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove (eds) http://tinyurl.com/njfch Most advocates of the governmental system deny and evade the "gun in the room," i.e., the coercive nature of their views Essentially "the system" discourages individuals from challenging "authority," despite the objective need for a mutually respectful ethics No one can make choices for you, fundamentally; objectivity demands that you open your mind A free society entails people making their own choices about education The key is to free your mind from the mythologies from childhood; remember that when you were being taught about government, it was likely by a governmental employee within a governmental school You were told to believe in and take bites out of "invisible apples," as Stefan Molyneux has astutely noted: http://www.freedomainradio.com/Traffic_Jams/how_to_control_a_human_soul.mp3 bumper music "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd http://www.pinkfloyd.com/  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_bvT-DGcWw

to comment, please go to http://completeliberty.com/magazine/category/91697

Barack Obama pledges $700B public works plan to help economy by Peter Wallsten http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-obama-stimulus_5sdec07,0,3049287.story Drunken sailer extraordinaire Best way to make federal buildings "energy efficient" is to close them down Obama sees 2.5 million more governmental jobs in our future, for starters Your Monday Message from the Libertarian Party: The LP Goes to Harvard, posted by Andrew Davis http://www.lp.org/blogs/andrew-davis/the-lp-goes-to-harvard Digging holes and filling them back up...all via extorted wealth The MO of government: distribute the costs and concentrate the benefits In order for government to refrain from intervening in the marketplace, it must disintegrate and disappear Government is nothing other than a coercively funded and arbitrarily imposed organization Government, being a parasite on the economy, doesn't make anything; it acquires money via extortion To "stimulate" an economy through coercion is evil Government isn't fit for a society of rational and respectful people, so it must be abolished No one, including those working in "government" have the right to impose a service at the barrel of a gun World's Shortest Political Quiz  by Marc Stevens http://www.adventuresinlegalland.com/index.php?/content/view/88/33/ Win Every Political Argument by Marc Stevens http://www.adventuresinlegalland.com/index.php?/content/view/89/33/ Some people disingenuously assert that governmental employees don't impose their "services" at gunpoint; compliance isn't voluntary, as innocent people thrown in governmental cages can attest As long as slaves remain obedient, their masters treat them well Keynesians (statist economists) believe in the meme of authoritarian sociopathy writ large--that the State is legitimate and all-powerful; mystical God is to the believer as mystical Government is to the statist "Public property" just invites boondoggles, among other sordid things The collectivistic term "national debt" has no validity and must be repudiated Even though persons such as Milton Friedman have tried, one can't rationally perform a "cost/benefit ratio" on the use of coercion, which is forcing people to do things against their wills http://www.logicallearning.net/libcapitalismpol.html (search for choice quote by Friedman) You wouldn't allow people to force you against your will if they didn't call themselves "government," would you? The crimes committed with impunity by those in government are the same ones that those in government prohibit private individuals from perpetrating (assault, battery, kidnapping, theft, extortion, counterfeiting, murder, etc.) Obama has chosen to be the head of a coercive organization, an organization of people who treat others in an involuntary fashion, an organization of people who rely on propaganda, pr, and widespread obedience to maintain the illusion of legitimacy There shouldn't be political parties or a republic form of government; there should just be the free market, filled with enterprising entrepreneurs who ensure people's rights if need be (justice agencies http://www.logicallearning.net/liblegalagencies.html ) We shouldn't aim for "smaller government, lower taxes, and more freedom" We should aim for no government, no taxes, and complete liberty bumper music "Highway To Hell" by ACDC http://www.acdc.com/

to comment, please go to http://completeliberty.com/magazine/category/91697