Education: Free & Compulsory (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Every human infant comes into the world devoid of the faculties characteristic of fully-developed human beings..." (more)
Key Phrases: compulsory state education, compulsory education, New York, New England, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

What is it about today's school system that so many find unsatisfactory? Why have so many generations of reformers failed to improve the educational system, and, indeed, caused it to degenerate further and further into an ever declining level of mediocrity?

In this radical and scholarly monograph, out of print for two decades and restored according to the author's original, Murray N. Rothbard identifies the crucial feature of our educational system that dooms it to fail: at every level, from financing to attendance, the system relies on compulsion instead of voluntary consent.

Certain consequences follow. The curriculum is politicized to reflect the ideological priorities of the regime in power. Standards are continually dumbed down to accommodate the least common denominator. The brightest children are not permitted to achieve their potential, the special- needs of individual children are neglected, and the mid-level learners become little more than cogs in a machine. The teachers themselves are hamstrung by a political apparatus that watches their every move.

Rothbard explores the history of compulsory schooling to show that none of this is accident. The state has long used compulsory schooling, backed by egalitarian ideology, as a means of citizen control. In contrast, a market-based system of schools would adhere to a purely voluntary ethic, financed with private funds, and administered entirely by private enterprise.

An interesting feature of this book is its promotion of individual, or home, schooling, long before the current popularity of the practice.

As Kevin Ryan of Boston University points out in the introduction, if education reform is ever to bring about fundamental change, it will have to begin with a complete rethinking of public schooling that Rothbard offers here.

Product Details

• Paperback: 58 pages
• Publisher: Ludwig von Mises Institute (August 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0945466226
• ISBN-13: 978-0945466222
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #315,938 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real history of public education, June 15, 2000

By A Customer

An excellent overview of the history of the public education system in america, and its roots in other cultures. This book makes the case that public education exists to indoctrinate children to be accepting of the state. Historically, public education has existed to undermine the parents' ability to raise children to be independent.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rothbard on Education, June 14, 2002

By	Steve Jackson "stevejackson100atyahoocom" (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Murray Rothbard published this small book in two installments in The Individualist some years ago. In it Rothbard sets forth his theory of education and how education relates to the state.

Not surprisingly, Rothbard starts with a discussion of human nature and the basic fact of human inequality. Since people differ in abilities and interests, there will be no one kind of education that is appropriate for all children. Some children will benefit from an education that prepares them for work relatively early in life, others for a career in the professions. A system of voluntary education, where parents choose what is best for their children, is the most efficient system and also the most consistent with individual freedom.

However, government is the great equalizer and centralizer. Rather than accept human inequality, it is intent on creating a "one size fits all" approach to education. As Rothbard shows through an analysis of educational reforms in the US and the world, governments began to create taxpayer funded, compulsory schools in order to indoctrinate children into the ideology of the state. As the elites became more secularized in the 1800s, government run schools were established to destroy the influence of religion and the church.

I can't agree with everything Rothbard says. There are a few unsupported statements (such as his attacks on Protestantism) and gaps in logic, but as usual Rothbard is provocative.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It is what it is, December 9, 2005

By	Paul B. Dunlap - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like other reviewers, I expected more of an argument and analysis of compulsory education. What I found was an overview of the history of forced education, focusing on the motives of the orchestrators. In discussing the history, Rothbard points out the lowest common denominator in all compulsory school advocates: indoctrination. From Luther to Calvin, to the communists, right up to the modern day, compulsory schools have existed to indoctrinate the young to a particular way of thinking.

It is also apparent from this discussion that if school attendance is made compulsory, it stamps out individuality and parental control. The title points out the contradiction in "free and compulsory education" quite poignantly. This was a popular line of communists and socialists in the nineteenth century. The irony is that when education is forced, there can be no freedom. Rothbard could have made this point more explicit and discussed how control over the minds of the young is the first step for the state to take control of society.

Historical examples are strong, but general principle and philosophy are lacking, and this is quite disappointing for a Rothbard book. He usually integrates a good mix of principle and example to illustrate a clear and consistent point. If you're interested in the history of compulsory education, read this. If you're looking for a discussion of the problems with state education, there are better choices.