My favorite economist, Thomas Sowell, would often quote Milton Friedman, saying “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” The thing is, before Milton Friedman popularized this as a common economic term, Robert Heinlein used its more colloquial version, “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” or “TANSTAAFL” as a central theme in his novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. But even before Heinlein, the term had been used in literature and everyday parlance since at least the 1930s. So, I guess it would be best described as a “meta-quote.”
TANSTAAFL certainly applies when we’re talking about “school choice.” The great lure of school choice programs is the “free money,” but we should all know that government money never comes without strings attached – and every penny the government hands out has to first be taken from taxpayers. This reminds me of another quote from President Ronald Reagan. “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
We recently published the ultimate resource for understanding the school choice issue: School Choice: Unmasking the Euphemism. This is an article you will want to bookmark and share often, as the school choice movement is gaining steam and, unfortunately, is being adopted as a pet issue by many “conservative” politicians. It’s critical to understand the nuances of this important issue, because it poses an existential threat to homeschooling. If you’re on Facebook you can share this post.
New Podcast Episodes:
This week former public school teacher, Kelly Crawford, joined Yvette on the Schoolhouse Rocked Podcast to talk about the difference between “School” and “Education.” They discuss how today’s traditional school model strayed from the heart of true education, and what can we do as homeschooling parents to avoid these traditional schooling traps.
On the Homeschool Insights Podcast, Kathy Hutto joins Yvette to talk about the reality of single parents homeschooling. “What about single parents” is one of the most common objections we hear to homeschooling, so we are always blessed to be able to share encouragement from single moms who have made it work.
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