Comments on Pro Libertate: The Perils of Parens Patriae, or When the State Becomes Daddy

Who is this almighty "We" to whom you refer? What ...

2008-08-06T01:06:00.000-06:00

Who is this almighty "We" to whom you refer? What numinous entity is it that would condescend to permit parents to raise their children as they see fit? To what enlightened quorum do you refer, its members miraculously cleansed of the fallen and reprobate attitudes of lesser folks like ... well, the rest of us?

The most pernicious "-isms" -- such as militarism, nationalism (as opposed to a commendable -ism, patriotism), and collectivism of any kind, are nurtured by the state, not by the family.

This is emphatically true of racism, when that attitude is properly understood (it tends to be a by-product of war propaganda). "Sexism" is a content-free pejorative and unworthy of the attention of serious people.

Why should we assume, given the absolutely abhorrent record of the State in cultivating collectivist attitudes and harvesting huge body counts, that it should have any role in influencing the lives and minds of children?

There is no case to be made for "balancing" this responsibility between parents on the one hand, and state-employed strangers on the other; any role played by government of any kind should be purely and entirely subject to the parents' discretion.

One question: If we were to leave schooling to the...

2008-08-06T00:50:00.000-06:00

One question: If we were to leave schooling to the parents and parents alone, what would be the repercussions? As far as I can see, none..... save promoting racism, sexism and sundry other "isms" in some families. Oh, and increasing the hardships of those coming from less educated parents. And, let us not forget, ensuring that those parents and guardians who abuse their children do not have to worry about someone who does not share their parenting ideals interfering. I personally believe in balance in near everything. All I ask, is look to the what effects the opposite situation would have. Find a balance between the two. After all, a horse with blinders on will never see to the right or left, and may indeed miss a better path.

I'm sure the anonymous teacher is a joke. As far a...

2007-05-25T01:32:00.000-06:00

I'm sure the anonymous teacher is a joke. As far as the decline of England, most of us recognize this battle is ultimately spiritual.

If I can plug a Christian ministry (if not, remove this), Answers in Genesis (answersingenesis.org) has a great dvd called Genesis: The Key to Reclaiming the Culture. In it, Ken Ham shows that what is happening in America has already happened in England, and we will ultimately go down the drain just as England has if we lose our spiritual roots. While his focus is on the spiritual rather than the political/economic, there is a definite link there, and, as we all know, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Thats a trick question. Right?

2007-05-24T20:16:00.000-06:00

Thats a trick question. Right?

Now, as a public high school English teacher mysel...

2007-05-24T18:17:00.000-06:00

Now, as a public high school English teacher myself, I must ask the question: "How for any of you at all can say this about public education? Government controlling education does not stifle families. The state provides premere instruction for everyone, no one is excluded, with social benfits for all to prepare to become workers in a productive world. Parents' Pate' has worked for the betterment and not the worst of the public at large.

If you don't mind my asking, Mr. Grigg, who's prof...

2007-05-24T13:10:00.000-06:00

If you don't mind my asking, Mr. Grigg, who's profiting from all this? Are there (politically connected) companies in Colorado and Pennsylvania that are looking to have government contracts steered their way? Someone should follow up on this.

Andy in New Orleans

Dr. Fix -- That's a very telling observation. I'm ...

2007-05-24T10:15:00.000-06:00

Dr. Fix -- That's a very telling observation. I'm reminded that Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a series of illegitimate children (five, if my memory serves), all of whom he placed in foundling homes or orphanages for others to raise. THEN he wrote "Emile," his guide for the "natural" education of children.

It's an old saw, but an irrefutable truth, that those collectivists who most passionately profess their love for mankind in general tend to be deficient in their affection for individuals, including their own flesh and blood.

Here is another observation. Have you ever notice...

2007-05-24T10:10:00.000-06:00

Here is another observation. Have you ever noticed how so many utopians have such terrible relations with their own families? They can't even get their own lives straight but by God!... they'll see to it that everyone else follows their diktats!

Zachary.... Good reference there! Lets not forget ...

2007-05-24T10:01:00.000-06:00

Zachary.... Good reference there! Lets not forget that the "Conservative - Liberal" dialectic is meaningless in light of the fact that both wings working vigorously together to bring about the society we see around us. Anything else is merely "bread and circuses" for the ignorant masses.

The quotes from Mr. Spock are very good. I love pouring over snippets like those because they're like warning signs on the highway to Hell.

2007-05-24T09:56:00.000-06:00

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Anyone intrigued by the death of Britain and by ex...

2007-05-24T09:20:00.000-06:00

Anyone intrigued by the death of Britain and by extension Western Civilization, might find interesting Theodore Dalyrymple's Life at the Bottom and Our Culture, What's Left of It. A former British prison and slum doctor, he incisively details how the modern left liberal intelligentsia has ravaged our world with their unending plans for social welfare. He is also one of those people who can delight the reader with elegant ly worded insights into human nature.

Will -I have quite a few quotes related to this is...

2007-05-24T01:17:00.000-06:00

Will -

I have quite a few quotes related to this issue. Here are just a few:

"I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount."
- Martin Luther

"Wherever is found what is called a paternal government, there is found state education. It has been discovered that the best way to insure implicit obedience is to commence tyranny in the nursery."
– Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister

"I don't want my children fed or clothed by the state, but if I had to choose, I would prefer that to their being educated by the state."
– Max Victor Belz

"I don't believe in public schools at all. I believe education is corrupted by being turned into a state function."
- Joseph Sobran

"[T]he child should be taught to consider his instructor...superior to the parent in point of authority.... The vulgar impression that parents have a legal right to dictate to teachers is entirely erroneous.... Parents have no remedy as against the teacher."
– John Swett, Superintendent of California Public School System (1860s)

"We who are engaged in the sacred cause of education are entitled to look upon all parents as having given hostages to our cause."
– Horace Mann, first secretary of education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother's care, shall be in state institutions at state expense.
– Karl Marx, "The Communist Manifesto"

"Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted."
– Vladimir Lenin

"Far from failing in its intended task, our educational system is in fact succeeding magnificently, because its aim is to keep the American people thoughtless enough to go on supporting the system."
– Richard Mitchell, "The Underground Grammarian"

"Government schooling is the most radical adventure in history. It kills the family by monopolizing the best times of childhood and by teaching disrespect for home and parents.... "
– John Taylor Gatto, New York State Teacher of the Year, "The Underground History of American Education"

"In keeping Americans ill-educated, ill-informed and constitutionally ignorant, the education establishment has been the politician's major and most faithful partner. It is in this sense that American education can be deemed a success."
– Walter Williams, Professor of Economics, George Mason University