Foreword: People are so easily persuaded that their version of reality is right, and at the same time, believe every demagogue and ideologue and politician. And some? If someone has enough starring roles in movies, or gold records, or sports achievements? We “know” that their word is good and they know what they are doing (and what we should do). The problem seems more to be desperately seek
So we come across something like this. This is a question asked by an anonymous social media user recently:
Homeless in the States versus northern Europe
If socialism doesn’t work, how come there are no (visible) homeless people in Norway and Denmark, whereas every major city in the US seems to have thousands of homeless people? Why is the US government unable to solve the problem?
One responder stated she was reminded of a classic story:
A Scandinavian economist once said to Milton Friedman, ‘In Scandinavia, we have no poverty’. Milton Friedman replied, ‘That’s interesting, because in America, among Scandinavians, we have no poverty, either’.
(Of course, today, the major American Scandinavian States (Minnesota and Wisconsin) have been flooded with non-Scandian immigrants, who see “poverty” (as defined by the FedGov) as their preferred state of life. Apparently not many migrants see North Dakota, another “Scandahoovian” and somewhat socialist State, as a viable place to live. We also note that neither of those countries are really (by dictionary definition) “socialist” and that there really are homeless people in those countries.)
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Extending the reach of the State to your kitchen?
A correspondent shared this situation with TPOL recently:
“John and Breanna Woolard’s Christian faith is central to who they are, and they want to ensure their children receive an education grounded in those beliefs. That’s why they chose to teach them at home.
“California offers a program to assist homeschool families. But the state rejects any work the kids turn in that even mentions faith. A federal appeals court essentially declared their kitchen table a ‘public school.’”
Our friend goes on to explain how a volunteer legal free speech/free religion group is stepping up to help the Woolard family. Good for them.
But…
TPOL pays attention to more than just the overt situation. Why? Because most of us have been or are involved in home schooling and know the damage to people and society caused by government-run, tax/theft-funded schools. And because we see this in other countries, not just our own fifty nations.
There are a number of vital lessons which we can learn (and which many people have learned) from this situation. We’ve long written of these, but we know that we must constantly remind ourselves of these things.
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