The way to show government should intervene into personal lives

[wufwugy]

Basic social services like police, fire, and a K thru 12 education. This also includes safety nets like welfare and medicaid for the underprivileged and those suffering hardships.

Do you believe that the government is the best at educating children?

[BananaStand]

Do you believe that the government is the best at educating children?

Providing an education actually straddles #2 and #3 on my list.

I believe every citizen is entitled to the opportunity to learn a set of skills that allows them to compete in a fair market. Whether that entitlement is delivered directly by the government, or subsidized by the government is a topic for another thread.

[wufwugy]

I believe every citizen is entitled to the opportunity to learn a set of skills that allows them to compete in a fair market.

Sure. I probably believe that too. The question is does government involvement in education produce that effect? There is a lot of research that suggests formal education is not resulting in intelligence/knowledge/skill increases, and you also have to weigh the cost and opportunity cost of formal education.* Should the government be involved in doing something that has unknown effects and unknown costs? Are people better off by not making their own choices?


*An irony is that, per Bryan Caplan, the benefit of higher education goes to those who complete degrees and the costs go to everybody else while there is little to no net benefit for society. And the more people are incentivized into higher education through government subsidization, the less benefit those with degrees get.

[BananaStand]

Sure. I probably believe that too. The question is does government involvement in education produce that effect?

Well, there's a simple way to test this....

Try getting a job without a high school diploma

[wufwugy]

Try getting a job without a high school diploma

The question is why is that?

The going explanation is that it sends a signal that you are smart, hard working, can see things through, can conform, etc., yet we do not know if the education causes any of this. Indeed it looks like those who already have the necessary attributes to graduate are the ones that do, not that those who don't have the attributes gain them through education.