Here’s a letter that I sent recently to the Los Angeles Times:
You want to “Keep the politics out of UC” (Editorial, June 22). Impossible, as the UC system is a government entity. And a government entity free of politics is, as my colleague Russ Roberts says, quite as unthinkable as is a ham sandwich free of pork.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
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Don't complain then if a potent dose of politics is injected into GMU because it, too, is a public institution.
In fact, you should come to expect it, and if I were a taxpayer in Virginia, I would find it quixotic not to have any say in how my dollars (forcefully taxed from me) are spent at the university level.
My favourite is when people criticize politicians for "playing politics" with whatever issue they're discussing.
Sometimes you wonder what planet people live on.
Pingry,
Right you are. And, I assure you, I am the last person to complain whenever Richmond reduces, or fails to raise, Virginia's budget for higher education.
If the choice were mine, I'd abolish all government funding of all schools, including post-secondary institutions such as George Mason University.
If I'm not mistaken, the University of Pennsylvania was once a public institution, privatized during fiscal shortfall. It is now a world-renowned Ivy League University with what many consider the best business school in the nation. I only wish the Florida legislature would consider that move for my alma mater, UF.
I think this same basic principle can be applied to several other examples. The basic formula is:
Want to get the politics out of X? Then get X out of politics (e.g., stop taking money from politicians/government)!
So, for example:
- Want to get politics out of education? Get education out of politics!
- Want to get politics out of science? Get science out of politics!
- Want to get politics out of health care? Get health care out of politics!
And on it can go.
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