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L. Neil Smith's THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE Number 262, March 7, 2004 Remember: Free Hunter!
Going to School
Exclusive to TLE Ladies and gentlemen, or, as a great man says, "sons and daughters of the American Revolution," I'd like to bring you into the classroom with me. I am a high school senior in Indiana. At my school, a course in Government and Economics is required for a senior to pass his graduation year. I've been a Libertarian for two or three years now, ever since I read The Probability Broach by that great man I previously mentioned, so I've had some time to form my own opinions and discover truths about the tyranny we all suffer under. The school offered an Honors course in Government/ Economics that was known to be a freer class than the academic form, allowing more debate and discussion in the classroom. I figured this was a better choice in that it would give me a chance to speak about my thoughts and observations. The newest course of study that we are doing is an examination and review of the First Ten Amendments to the constitution. We started on the First Amendment just the last week of February, discussing what can or cannot be said, examining the rulings of the supreme court that has set a precedent. Today, Friday the fifth, was the last day of working on the First Amendment. I was itching, yearning, salivating, for the discussion that would ensue on the Second Amendment that I saw coming next week. Instead, there was this enlightening conversation: Note: This transcript is done from memory, and is paraphrased, a lot. Which means that I may not have been as eloquent as I make myself appear and that the teacher may not be as moronic as I make he or she out to be, leaving a great deal of differentiation to be had between two party's recollection of the following. In addition, this didn't necessarily occur in the correct order, caused by the loss of an interjection, or sentence. (T)EACHER: Ok, we're done on the first amendment. We're not really going to spend any time on the second or third amendments. The Second amendment states that "a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed". This just means that only the guard has the right to be armed. Yes? (Calls on me) (M)ICHAEL: As I have come to learn it, the preamble, in the manner that they wrote back then, states a reason for the article to be written, but not a restriction on the rest of the article. T: What's your point? M: I'm saying the writers were stating a reason for it to be written. It doesn't restrict the rest of the amendment though. T: Which it doesn't do. The argument against the interpretation of militia's sole ownership is that, who was the local militia when this was written? Right, the people themselves. M: So you are saying that there isn't a restriction on the rest of the article from the preamble? T: (looks at me, pauses, then continues to the rest of the class) The third amendment is about quartering troops, which is a little outdated. I don't remember when the 101st airborne was knocking on my front door telling me to put them up for the night. M: ...and feed them, and let them rape your women. I received a dubious reaction from a fellow student. I mentioned the fact that it was a common thing for the British troops to do. Unfortunately, the class was over within minutes, and I had lost any sort of momentum I was trying to build up to discuss the Second Amendment. So there you have it fellow children of the Revolution, even in an "honors" class, quite possibly the most important amendment that there should be discussion and review about has been cosigned with an "outdated" amendment about a restriction on government quartering troops. This is the wonderful education American children receive from a government school. No wonder there isn't a greater outcry from the people, a resistance to the victim disarmament of countless thousands, they have all been told that the fundamental right to protect one's self and their property is a dusty, unneeded anachronism, and they shouldn't worry, because the government run "militia" will take care of everything, that it is the only proprietor of our freedoms. Yes, it was a very enriching day of school today mother. I've learned a great deal about being a defenseless sheep. I hope that you all have been as well educated by the government school system as I have, and forgive the unpolished writing of a first-timer.
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