Here's a brief exchange with a public school teacher named Mr. Woolley, who writes for a free market web
site:
Dear Mr. Woolley,
I couldn't help but notice in your LewRockwell.com article that you admit to being a public school teacher.
Do you see any irony in writing for a pro-market, anti-state website while working in an educational system
that is anything but? Forget for the moment that government schools are a complete and utter failure (how
is it possible to instruct children for 12 years and have half of them graduate as functional illiterates? Simply
mind-boggling).
My point: the union you belong to is an evil organization. Its power, like that of all organized labor, is based
on intimidation and violence. It restricts entry into the field (hardly pro-market) through political means,
uses mandatory dues to bribe politicians who vote to tax citizens to fund a system many of us oppose. If
this is not tyrannical, what is?
Talk is cheap, Mr. Woolley. Criticizing the state while collecting a paycheck from them strikes me as being a
tad hypocritical.
Sincerely,
Steve Hogan
Sunnyvale CA
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His response:
Well, in spite of it all, I feel that I contribute to my students' well-being and education. I am probably not
your typical teacher.
Thanks for commenting.
M. Woolley
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And my rejoinder:
Mr. Woolley,
I'm sure that you're a fine teacher and that your students appreciate your contributions. It is not your
ability or your motives that I question. It is the union you belong to and the methods they employ that are
the issue.
Contrast your situation with the free market. I cannot force customers to use my products, nor can I steal
property of non-customers through an egregious tax code to fund my activities. Exchange is voluntary and
peaceful.
The public sector, despite the self-righteous nonsense they spout, is the polar opposite. Does it not bother
you even a little that you are a participant in a system that relies solely on coercion for its survival?
Yours,
Steve
