AWESOME: Indian Supreme Court Judge Influenced by Murray Rothbard

Shikha Dalmia at Reason reports that in a recent Indiana Supreme Court decision relating to an education act, a dissenting judge quoted Murray Rothbard on the evils of government education:

What is interesting is that the dissenting judge actually quoted Murray Rothbard on the evils of government education in his opinion. By name. He said:

Mr. Murray N. Rothbard, an eminent educationist and professor in economics, in his book, "Education: Free and Compulsory," cautioned that progressive education may destroy the independent thought in the child and a child has little chance to develop his systematic reasoning powers in the study of definite courses. The book was written after evaluating the experiences of various countries, which have followed free and compulsory education for children for several years. Prohibition of holding back in a class may, according to the author, result that bright pupils are robbed of incentive or opportunity to study and the dull ones are encouraged to believe that success, in the form of grades, promotion etc., will come to them automatically. The author also questioned that since the State began to control education, its evident tendency has been more and more to act in such a manner so as to promote repression and hindrance of education, rather than the true development of the individual. Its tendency has been for compulsion, for enforced equality at the lowest level, for the watering down of the subject and even the abandonment of all formal teaching, for the inculcation of obedience to the State and to the "group," rather than the development of self-independence, for the deprecation of intellectual subjects.
I am of the view that the opinions expressed by the academicians like Rothbard command respect and cannot be brushed aside as such because, much more than anything, the State has got a constitutional responsibility to see that our children are given quality education. Provisions of the statute shall not remain a dead letter, remember we are dealing with the lives of our children, a national asset, and the future of the entire country depends upon their upbringing. Our children in the future have to compete with their counter-parts elsewhere in the world at each and every level, both in curricular and extra-curricular fields. Quality education and overall development of the child is of prime importance upon which the entire future of our children and the country rests.

Dalima, of course, does take the mandatory Ed Crane inspired swipe at Rothbard (hopefully that will be over soon) and writes:

Regardless of what one thinks of Rothbard, can using him to warn of the dangers of a public education whose goal is to produce good, compliant, state-loving citizens rather than free-thinking individuals be all that bad? Can one ever imagine even Justice Clarence Thomas using Rothbard to attack public schools in this country?

To which I reply, regardless of what one thinks of Reason, can they be all bad when they properly recognize the influence Rothbard is having on a present day judge? Can one ever imagine Ed Crane doing the same?

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/04/rothbard-fan-on-indian-supreme-court.html

Good except he's still a collectivist.

AWESOME: Indian Supreme Court Judge Influenced by Murray Rothbard

AWESOME: Indian Supreme Court Judge Influenced by Murray Rothbard

Anarcho-Capitalist Categorical Imperatives

Via AnCaps: Law & Enforced Unnatural Order