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It's All About Freedom!

Government Restaurants

Many years ago people who were oppressed in their native countries because of their beliefs and customs, ventured to a new land where they could live in freedom. With this freedom, the new land prospered and attracted more immigrants. With freedom comes responsibility and therefore each family provided for their food, clothing, shelter and children's education. Visitors from foreign countries marveled at the success of this new land.

There was however, an elitist minority in the new land, they said that the state should ensure that the children were being properly fed. These elitists knew that only they had the knowledge to determine the correct diet for all. They said their diet would lead to a society free of crime and violence. The elitists did not succeed at first because people valued their freedom.

About 140 years after the first immigrants arrived, new immigrants with different customs and beliefs began to arrive. The native population grew uneasy and feared the customs of these new immigrants. The natives began to listen to the elitists. The elitist's said the state should provide government restaurants in every town and mandate that parents send their children to them. Parents would no longer have to provide food for their children. Instead everyone, whether they had children or not, would pay a tax which would support these "free" restaurants. The elitist's called their idea "The Common Food Movement." While the children were being fed a "proper" diet determined by the self appointed common food movement experts, they would also be instructed in common customs. The experts claimed by doing this they would improve the health of the children and society as a whole. The healthier children would not turn to crime. By teaching common customs, the children of new immigrants would not carry on the wrongheaded customs of their parents, but instead would learn those considered proper by the common food movement experts. A few of the immigrants and even some of the natives refused to go to the government restaurants. Instead they set up their own private restaurants, but they were always few in number since these parents now had to pay twice to feed their children, once to the government restaurant they didn't want or use and once to the private restaurant.

The common food movement elitists were bothered by these private restaurants. Trying to make the private restaurants more like the government ones, laws were passed regulating what food was required to be served and what customs had to be taught at the private restaurants. Eventually attempts were made to outlaw the private restaurants, but they were protected by a contract (called The Constitution) that was drawn up in the early days of the land. Even worse in the elitist's eyes were those parents who had the gall to feed their children at home. In many areas these parents were arrested and their children taken away.

Early on most parents were satisfied with the government restaurants, because they were locally run and therefore the food provided and the customs taught were those chosen by the parents. As the years went by though local control gradually decreased, more decisions were made and imposed, by the state and the national government. At the same time other groups grew in size and power and eventually had greater influence than the parents. These organizations included the Nutritionist Colleges and the National Nutritionists Association. These organizations used their power and wealth to influence political decisions on what a proper diet was, what customs were correct and who would qualify as a nutritionist.

Eventually, more parents began to question the wisdom of government restaurants. Groups began to organize to demand more freedom in the feeding of children. Some advocated that parents should be able to receive tax credits for the costs of feeding their children outside of the government system. Other groups organized to provide private funds to help low income parents escape from the government restaurants. Some groups even called for the eventual end of the government restaurants. These groups were all met with much opposition from those aligned with, and who benefit from, the government restaurants. They were accused of being against nutrition and poor children. Even many well-meaning parents opposed these groups, because they had never known any other system and could not imagine any other way of feeding all the children.

The above story seems preposterous, but if you replace the references to food with references to education, the above story is the history of American education. Government run education only appears to be logical because of its monopolistic hold on education. It is time to end our failed government monopoly education system. It is time to allow the free market to create and offer parents and their children a wide variety of options to meet their needs. It is time to end the never-ending struggle over values and methods in education, time to increase choices while reducing cost and to return the control and responsibility for education where it rightfully belongs: the parents.

Page Updated: December 31, 2006

© Copyright 2000 - 2007 by Jim Rongstad. Permission to use is granted as long as author is acknowledged.