REPLY TO BOB COMPONO

In his reply to me
http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe219-20030414-01.html#letter9>, Mr
Compono was correct in all he said about politicians not paying attention
to polls. It seems I was off the mark there.

Of course though, just as polling can be subject to manipulation, so can
the people through media influence and so on. Some would argue that the
whole election process itself is one big manipulation. This is nowhere more
obvious than the fact that politicians from minor parties are excluded from
certain televised debates.

Assuming the election process is actually fair for a moment (a big ask I
know), the problem, of course, is how does a politician know what his
constituents want him to vote for? I am sure in his election campaign, he
can't make provision for every possible contingency. Because of the nature
of the system, people tend to vote on a handful of key issues each election
(education, health, tax), and get lumped with stances on the
"minor" issues with which they may not agree. Finally, what if
his constituency changes stance? What should be done in any of these cases?
Have a referendum? If we don't, don't we just end up with a bunch of guys
who say a whole lot every few years and then do what they like for the rest
of the time because they're not
accountable?

Yet it seems the only solution is for direct democracy to replace
representative democracy, which would be the tyranny of the masses.

I don't think there's any good way of solving things in a democracy, and
either way, we end up with a tyranny of the masses or a tyranny of the few.
That's why I don't like democracy in any of its forms.

   In Liberty,

Caleb Paul [shorbe{at}rocketmail.com]

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MY SECOND (AND PERHAPS FINAL) REJOINDER TO CALEB PAUL'S RESPONSE TO MY LETTER

Like Caleb Paul, I too have enjoyed this debate on education with him,
especially when we both can concede that we don't necessarily concur with
one another on every single point that we both make with regards to this
issue. When I saw his letter (Re: Paul v Barnett (Round 4))
http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe219-20030414-01.html#letter10>, I
realized that I had to respond to his missive and that I felt compelled to
comment on his points, whether or not they were correct. Regardless of the
differences of opinion Mr. Paul and I have, we can still universally agree
that federal entanglement with and interference in education is a recipe
for failure and a formula for a morally bankrupt and perverse concept of
education freedom.

All the same, I do feel that, while Mr. Paul continuously makes some valid
arguments, I still find myself disagreeing with him on a few of his points.
As I have done before in my previous letters, I will point out which points
he's right on and which points he's off the mark.

Let's begin with the first one. In the beginning of his missive, he asserts
the following:

"In a way, he is right that I am oversimplistic in my assessment of
the dumbing down of education and that I ignored certain other factors, but
I think one has to be careful not to read too much into these. It is true
that the catchcry of learning disabilities and doping of kids is a solution
used to suppress those who would rebel, but these can have as much to do
with influences outside the school (such as factors in the home) as
anything else (or at least one needs to do a fairly thorough study of it
all). Also, I believe that ultimately, they're part of the greater problem,
and not necessarily distinct from it, nor are they the cause of it per
se."

While I do thank him for conceding to a point I raised in my other letter
prior to his latest one, I do see an innate problem with his thinking on
this subject. He believes that it's a matter of "reading too much
into" the specifics of the factors, with which I must respectfully
disagree. I believe it's crucial to analyze the problems with government
influence on and control of education from all possible angles in order to
arrive at sound, logical conclusions. These conclusions can also entail
devising solutions that can be employed to rectify the problems created by
the public "government" school monopoly. If you don't try to
arrive at these conclusions objectively and consistently, then how are you
going to offer solutions that can provide steps to curb or even
dramatically reduce the role of government in education? It is extremely
essential that we do that; otherwise, nothing will ever be learned from the
mistakes made by our society and by the system.

Choices will have to be made, and it's far better to allow parents,
families, and children to make them than a statist politician, bureaucrat,
or even a central planner (such as the president of a government school
board or the superintendent of a government school district). That is a
priority that we must focus on as soon as possible.

On top of that, there is no evidence that "reading too much into"
these issues is problematic. If Mr. Paul believes that he is correct on
this point, then the burden of proof is solely on his shoulders. He has a
responsibility to his readers by providing evidence to support his
conclusion on this point, and so far he hasn't done a good job doing that.
No disrespect intended, Mr. Paul, but that portion of your argument doesn't
fly.

However, I will give him credit though. There are factors outside of the
schools that do create problems. Kids brought up in an abusive family
environment (and this is in reference to middle and lower-class families
where such abuse is commonplace) do contribute to the violent, morally
devoid environment often found in the schools. He is absolutely right when
he says that one would have to do a thorough study on that factor, and
unfortunately studies have been incomplete on this so far.

He is also right when he says this factor, along with the factors I had
previously pointed out, are not the cause of the problems, but do
contribute to them. Quite frankly they are the result of the sustaining
socialist paradigm of a system that has inhibited innovation, fostered
dependency and stagnation, and helped shape the pop culture that we all
know in modern American society. Thus Mr. Paul earns credit for this,
although I must respectfully point out that I only give credit where it is
due.

Then Mr. Paul asserts:

"I also take Mr Barnett's points about ethics. I don't think the state
should be responsible for instilling ethics as such (and I thank him for
pointing that out to me again), but I do think that ethics in the context
of philosophy courses (such as one comparing, Aristotle, Mill, Locke, Kant,
etc.), or perhaps in a broader context of critical thinking should be a
part of learning. It's hard to argue this at all, since I don't think the
state should be responsible for any education. However, if it were, I think
critical thinking should be a part of education."

First, once again he keeps implying that I believe that the state should be
in charge of instilling ethics. As I said in my previous missive, I believe
that responsibility falls into the hands of parents and families. I would
like to add though that, if parents fail in their job to instill those
values and ethics in their children, then a legal guardian (such as a
friend of the family) or a relative should take the responsibility of
instilling values and
ethics in them.

Second, Mr. Paul offers a dangerous proposition here. To say that the state
should be in the business of involving itself in the instruction of a brand
of ethics that is the central basis in philosophy courses and in critical
thinking invites a brand of morality that may go against the wishes of
parents who want their morals and values to be a part of their children's
educational
evolution. Cognitive, analytical, and social developments are areas in
which parents have a responsibility and role in providing for their
children. The fact that they are working full-time jobs notwithstanding,
still the goal of parents is to decide what educational vehicle will suit
their kids' mental, cognitive, and auditory development. If anything that
brand of ethics and critical thinking should be utilized in the private
sector, especially where
religious and secular parents can opt their children out of the government
schools and send their children to religious and secular private schools
that do what they are supposed to be doing -- providing an education for
our kids. Of course not all parents can afford to do this in every state
because of the current tax code and property tax code (depending on where
you live). But there is an easy solution to this. If parents want education
to improve, then they need to push for lower school taxes, less regulations
on private schools (religious and secular), the repeal of compulsory
attendance and truancy laws, the privatization of certification standards,
less taxes and school taxes for teachers who work for the public
"government" school system, private teacher and student testing
standards at the local level, universal education tax credits, private
vouchers, and any other lucrative alternative to reduce the state's role in
our schools. The closer we are to this goal, the better off we as a society
will be in the long run.

I do agree that critical thinking should be a part of a child's education.
But the state should stay out of it, and leave it in the hands of the
private sector. Since the free market produces the best of everything, that
concept also applies to education and the state should not do anything to
subvert it.

And finally, Mr. Paul offers his latest contention:

"I think the whole claim put forward that parents don't have time to
raise their kids because they are too busy working is rubbish. I'm not
absolving the government here, but I think that's another point entirely. I
think it's a big copout from a lot of parents who just don't put the time
in with their kids because they are simply self-indulgent. I'm not ready to
have kids any time soon. Aside from the minor detail of a lack of a
partner, they would put a serious curb on my current lifestyle. If and when
I do have them though, I
will want to make sure that I'm committed. I think people need to weigh
that up before they have kids. If you can't put 110% into your kids, don't
have them. Don't blame others for your shortcomings though."

Mr. Paul is both right and wrong on this point. It is true that there are
some parents who don't make an effort to raise their kids because
"they are too busy working." It is also true that there are some
bad parents out there who should have never had them if they weren't
willing to be responsible for their kids' psychological, emotional,
physical, and educational well-being. Thus some of them are "simply
self-indulgent." But there is a fundamental problem with this
thinking: it merely assumes that all parents at the middle and lower
class levels simply want to be "simply self-indulgent" or
conspire to indulge in that lifestyle. This is nonsense. Where is the
evidence which supports this conclusion? Obviously he hasn't met any
parents who want a better life for their children, and would give anything
to send them to a better school, or to homeschool them. In fact, many
parents do homeschool their children and the studies done on homeschooled
families have been both astonishing and positive, not to mention
encouraging.

But this thinking is only the tip of the iceberg. While Mr. Paul does
rightfully point fingers at some of those parents who do make those bad
choices, he also points fingers at other parents who are concerned about
the mediocrity promulgated and endorsed by the public schools. If you're
going to point fingers, blame the root of the problem -- not at the surface
of it.

Perhaps he should remember that we are the ones who create the rules. When
the rules are working favorably on the side of the bureaucrats, the teacher
unions, and the state, in return they work against the parents, the
families, the teachers, and the kids whom the state claims that they are
protecting. We made the rules; thus we can change them.

And while he can express his cynicism by criticizing the parents, what
about the education bureaucrats? Why aren't they being held accountable for
any wrongdoing on their part? If we're going to hold some bad parents
accountable for their failures, then we might as well hold the bureaucrats
in charge accountable as well. After all, what is the role of a government
school bureaucrat? Well, that's simple to answer. The role involves
expanding the school's budget, to expand control of the state in the school
district, to expand the government's ability to decide which curriculum
should be imposed on
the children, etc. Considering the fact that bureaucrats just simply don't
care about what happens to our children once they are on school grounds,
they can do whatever they wish. It's that simple.

Was it the fault of Denessa Smith that her late 12-year-old daughter
Tempest Smith (http://www.detnews.com/2001/schools/0103/07/a01-196600.htm)
committed suicide on February 20th, 2001 after she was brutally and
incessantly teased by her peers at Lincoln Park Middle School (a government
school) in my home state of Michigan? No of course not. Is she guilty of
being "simply self-indulgent?" Of course not. Why did young
Tempest commit suicide? She did it because she couldn't take the mental and
psychological abuse anymore -- abuse imposed by her peers who were ganging
up on her because of the fact that she was a Wiccan, and not a Christian.
And what did the bureaucrats do for Tempest? Nothing. What did they do to
put a stop to this? Nothing. What did they do for others in other schools
who have experiencing the same torment from which she suffered? Nothing. As
of now, Denessa has long filed a federal lawsuit against the school
district for a sum of $10 million. I hope she succeeds in her efforts.

How about the parents of 16-year-old Dearborn High School student Brett
Barber who was suspended recently for wearing a t-shirt that had a picture
of President Bush with the words "international terrorist" as a
caption under it? Are they guilty of being "simply
self-indulgent?" Nope, not that I know of. Considering the fact that
this kid's First Amendment rights were violated, was he really a danger to
his peers when this happened? Is he a menace to society,
simply because he spoke out against our war with Iraq on public
"government" school grounds?

How can we as a society continue to support a perverse, morally bankrupt
cesspool of violence, complacency, and apathy which continues to thrive and
expand as we speak? Since the high school drop out and suicide rates are
also common elements in these schools, we can't tolerate this aberrant way
of life. We need to fight it. We need to speak out against it.

Overall, I was impressed with Mr. Paul's ability to counter my arguments
and agree with some of my points. The spiel of his childhood and his
parents notwithstanding, I enjoyed his letter. Nevertheless I hope we all
learned something from this debate.

Yours in Liberty,
Todd Andrew Barnett [libertarianman{at}comcast.net]

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A COMPARISON BETWEEN US AND THE IRAQIS

Dear Editor:

Well, it seems that the war between the red ants and the black ants (The US
and Iraq) is mainly over except the shouting. I find it comical that so
many people support this war against Iraq for reasons that would justify
war against the US as well.

According to the media, we are in Iraq in order to 'liberate' them, because
they exist under an oppresive regime that has established a religious
dicatorship, and tortures and kills it's own citizens for no good reason.

But let us take a thoughtful look at our own government. By Libertarian
standards, a government that takes 7/8 of everyone's earnings (or even 1/8,
or 1/800th) could be considered oppressive. At least half the people in our
jails are there for violating drug laws, which are all
religious laws; there is no other reason for banning them, since the sale
and use of drugs does not harm any non-consenting third party to the
practice. And our government has
increasingly made a practice of torturing and killing people for trivial
reasons ranging from their un-approved religious beliefs to owning a peice
of metal 1/4 of an inch too short. The claims by certain parties in the
government that they 'take full responsibility' for these atrocities are
laughable. Verbally taking 'responsibility' for some wrongful action is a
meaningless sound bite unless it is accompanied by restitution for the
victims of that action, punishment for the guilty parties, and steps are
taken to prevent future wrongful actions of the same sort.

Or in other words, we ought to remove the beam from our own eye before
attempting to remove similiar beams from the eyes of other nations.

I can't help but wonder what the reaction of the patriotic flag wavers who
are so in favor of this war with Iraq would be if some aliens from the
Andromeda galaxy, who had a society organized on more Libertarian type
principles than ours is invaded the US tomorrow and proceeded to destroy
the pentagon, whitehouse, the capitols of all 50 states, and hunt down
every government official above the level of sewer commisioner, in order to
'Liberate' us. A few people would applaud this action, yet I can't help but
think that the majority of the same people who approve of what we are doing
in Iraq would denounce such a thing being done to us as an 'atrocity'. And
after the aliens left they would probably do their best to rebuild an even
more oppresive regime than we had before. Too many
people like wearing chains, so long as they are their
chains, and they are used to them.

Ann Morgan [septithol{at}yahoo.com]

* * * * * * * * * * *

REVOCATION OF MICHAEL MOORE'S ACADEMY AWARD

Dear Members of the Academy [ampas{at}oscars.com]:

At the 75th Academy Awards, the award for Best Documentary was given to
Bowling for Columbine. Unfortunately, it appears that Bowling for Columbine
does not meet the definition of "documentary" as defined by the
Academy's rules. Specifically, Rule 12.1 reads:

"An eligible documentary film is defined as a theatrically released
non-fiction motion picture ... "

Substantial parts of Bowling are indeed fiction. Specifically:

o  The Charlton Heston speech supposedly given at Denver is edited from two
different speeches, one a year later and a thousand miles away. The audio
is edited, with the cuts hidden by visual and pans of crowds, so as to
create a misleading impression that Heston's remarks were one contiguous
speech. Nor were both speeches entirely of the same general content: in
fact, at least two sentences from each speech have been spliced together to
form a brand new one.

o  The sequence in the bank is staged, again to create a false impression.

o  The "missile manufacturing plant" actually builds civilian
rockets, and converts former military missiles to carry out civilian
launches.

o  Historical fact is misstated or often completely falsified throughout the film.

Under the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that Mr. Moore has
intentionally falsified the information in his motion picture, creating a
work of fiction in a category intended to honor documentary of factual
events.

While an emotionally effective motion picture, it does so by violating the
standards of the category in which it was entered. It is deeply unfair to
the other competitors of the category, who no doubt did not misrepresent or
invent events.

Additionally, the awarding of this Academy Award to a fictional work sets a
precedent for future competitors. Having observed that one can win an
Academy Award in the Documentary category for a work of fiction, future
directors will no doubt be inclined to falsify events in favor of producing
a more emotionally-impactive film.

Indeed, bestowing an Acadamy Award in the Documentary category for what
amounts to a work of fiction will encourage future documentaries to become
become docu-dramas: entertainment with only a tangential basis in objective
reality.

It's certainly understandable that the Academy cannot perform a "cite
check" for all the entrants in the Documentary class. It's generally
reasonable to assume that the director is describing facts and not
inventing them. However, when substantial doubt arises as to whether a
documentary is largely fictionalized, it is incumbent upon the Academy to
act, if only to safeguard the reputation of the competition, fairness to
the entrants, and the security of its rules.

Naturally, the Academy should not act rashly, nor upon mere accusation. I
do urge that the Academy initiate a fair investigation of charges made by,
among others, the Wall Street Journal, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the
Toronto
Star. Internet web links to some of these accusations are:

http://www.opinionjournal.com/forms/printThis.html?id=110003233>
http://www.spinsanity.org/columns/20021119.html>
http://www.hardylaw.net/Truth_About_Bowling.html>
http://www.nationalreview.com/kopel/kopel040403.asp>

The investigation would not be difficult. An examination of the raw footage
should quickly show, for instance, whether the Heston Denver speech was
edited, or whether the spokesman for the missile plant informed Moore that
the plant made only civilian missiles. A telephonic interview of the bank
personnel should give background into whether the event as depicted
departed from reality, and whether the bank was asked to arrange the
departures. Mr. Moore should be able to give the sources from which he
obtained his claims about American history, and perhaps the instructions
which he gave for the
animated depiction of it.

Freedom, Immortality, and the Stars!

William Stone, III [wrs{at}0ap.org]

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DO THE SARS SHUFFLE

Dear Mr. Taylor

The SARS epidemic here in Toronto has left the government-operated health
care bleeding. Hospitals have been forced to shut its doors, and staff are
being asked (forced) to work extremely long hours.

It's interesting to note that with 13 dead -- as of this writing -- our
Marxist-structured medical system (we have the exact health care model as
North Korea and Cuba -- yikes!), is currently being drained of tax dollars
by statists at the Toronto Board of Health for such "critical"
policies as enforcing a newly proposed ban on smoking in bars and
restaurants. (Smoking cops.) A team is also being put together to ensure
that citizens will be obeying a restriction on the use of pesticides on
their lawns. (Pesticide police.)

I have to take my leave; I sprayed my lawn while smoking a cigarette last
night. I'm officially a fugitive.

David Maharaj [cougar{at}echo-on.net]
Toronto

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HYDE/HASTERT: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

Editor,

I have just stumbled upon TLE and am thoroughly enjoying it (only 200+
issues left to read before I catch up). One minor correction regarding
William Stone, III's excellent article, "The Emperor Has No
Clothes" http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/libe217-20030331-05.html>
(TLE, Number 217, March 31, 2003). Mr. Stone wrote that House Speaker
Dennis Hastert "declared that the Constitution was 'no longer relevant
to modern society.'"

It was actually Representative Henry Hyde who made the declaration. The
first part of his remarks regarding Representative Ron Paul's introduction
of a declaration of war against Iraq are as follow:

"It is fascinating to go back in history and see how our Constitution
was drafted and what it means. There are things in the Constitution that
have been overtaken by events, by time. Declaration of war is one. Letters
of mark and reprisal are others. There are things no longer relevant to a
modern society."

These totally absurd and offensive remarks were made during a hearing of
the International Relations Committee (which Mr. Hyde chairs) on October 3,
2003, while marking up H.J. Res. 114 ("Authorization for Use of
Military Force Against Iraq") (available at
http://wwwa.house.gov/international_relations/fullhear.htm>). These
remarks are particularly offensive considering that Mr. Hyde was the
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee from 1995-2001.

Spencer J. Hahn [bbachtung{at}aol.com]

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