TANSTAAFL: No Free Lunch!

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 two really helpful resources for understanding the school choice issue.

The first is our special feature, Strings Attached: The True Cost of School Choice. It is a comprehensive look at the topic of school choice and why we believe it is a danger to homeschooling families.

Next, School Choice: Unmasking the Euphemism 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.