Hello, I’m new to the forums, but I’m a big fan of Rand, and I have a question regarding public schooling.
I’m currently a senior in high school and I’m a strong capitalist and I follow Rand’s work and agree with virtually every aspect of Objectivism, and here is my dilemma:
I cannot afford private schooling, (I’m talking about pre-college here) my family is not wealthy, and there is only one private school within reasonable distance. I don’t believe I need to explain that private schooling being expensive is because of a government altered marketplace (not because of capitalism) here, but I’ve had to do so with my peers, when discussing public/private schooling. Now my family was never going to get rich with my parent’s occupations, however I think if it were not for the government having a virtual monopoly on education I think that a capitalist education system would not only function but exceed the capacity of public education. However in the current marketplace private schooling is not competing for the majority of consumers. Private schools compete for selective markets like the quite wealthy or those who want a selective school such as a religious school. In fact most of the private schools I’m acquainted with are private on the basis of religion.
So since I cannot afford private schooling, which would be the moral choice (this is mainly hypothetical as I’ve already made my choice and this discussion won’t change that)
Should I pursue my own rational self-interest by attending public schooling and moving on to college, OR should I stick to my moral belief in capitalism and refuse to participate in a public sector? If I choose to refuse participation, besides giving up desired career choices which require education, I could also (if I refused to attend prior to the legal drop-out age) force my parents to face consequences and possibly end up in some type of public run institution anyway.
As a capitalist, and largely an objectivist, what is the moral choice?
'Frostbyte'
So since I cannot afford private schooling, which would be the moral choice (this is mainly hypothetical as I've already made my choice and this discussion won't change that)
Should I pursue my own rational self-interest by attending public schooling and moving on to college, OR should I stick to my moral belief in capitalism and refuse to participate in a public sector? If I choose to refuse participation, besides giving up desired career choices which require education, I could also (if I refused to attend prior to the legal drop-out age) force my parents to face consequences and possibly end up in some type of public run institution anyway.[/code]
There is no real choice here: you should pursue your education and the only way to do that (it would appear) is by utilizing public education. You are not condoning govt.-run education by doing so. You would simply be using what your parents have already contributed to and what govt. has limited you to as a result of tax, legislative and regulatory policies.
I believe that you will find Miss Rand’s essay, “The Question of Scholarships,” to be helpful in understanding this issue. The essay was originally published in “The Objectivist” in June 1966. It is included as one of the articles in the book, The Voice of Reason. For some excerpts of the article, see “Government Grants and Scholarships” in the Lexicon online. (The latter might be enough to answer your question.)
OR should I stick to my moral belief in capitalism and refuse to participate in a public sector?
It is nearly impossible to do that. You cannot drive to work because the roads are provided by the government, you cannot drink a glass of water because the supply lines were no doubt installed by the government, you should not eat food since it was inspected by the government, and so on. It is impossible to take “avoidance of government benefit” to be an absolute, unless you simply leave civilization and live off the land in upper Crapistan. Try to articulate a principle “I should not __” and then think of all of the consequences of that position. It’s not just about education.