Like some of the other members at Mises.org, I go to high school. And like most of these other members, I’m having some problems with my some of my high school classes; specifically, economics and United States history, Now, my problems with these classes have nothing to do with grades, homework or tests; I perform academically well in both of these courses. My issues are over what is taught.
Now, I understand that Austrian teachers are incredibly rare, so only incredibly lucky students are taught by them. This leaves the lucky (as opposed to “incredibly lucky”) and unlucky students. From what I’ve seen, the lucky students are placed with a Chicagoite teacher, who are uncommon, but not as rare as Austrian teachers. The unlucky students are stuck with a Keynesian or other leftist economic teacher, who appear to make up a disturbing amount of economic academia. I am one of the unlucky students. And what makes matters worse, is that not only am I taught economics by a Keynesian, but I’m also taught history by a Keynesian (a “New Deal Democrat”, to be more precise), as well.
Sometimes I debate them in class, sometimes I let what they say slide. What makes it especially tempting is that in economics, our textbook actually references anarcho-capitalism and refutes it as “problematic” by either making up ridiculous scenarios (What if everyone’s employer just stopped paying them?) or stating economic fallacies that would be solved in such a system (the pubic utility “problem”, the externalities problem, etc.)
My history teacher has told us time and time again how “necessary” the New Deal was, and how it “saved” our economy. Now, I’m no expert on New Deal economics, but from what I’ve read about it, it’s based on incredibly basic economic fallacies, many of which are refuted in Economcs in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt. For example, the New Deal’s agricultural program had the government buy crops from farmers to keep prices raised (the government was offering a “supply” of money at the farmer’s “demand”, so prices were kept up); this is simply a subsidy of bad farmers by the rest of the populace, using their own money. As Hazlitt would say, Person A profits, while taxpayer B, C, and D suffers.
So I’ve come up with two courses of action to follow. The first is that I simply keep my head down, cause as little ruckus as possible, get the grade, and move on. The second is that I should politely debate them, or at least dissent to their opinion and provide a counter point, if only for the benefit of others in the class who will take what their teacher says as gospel. Do any former or fellow high school Austrians have advice for me on what I should do? Keep in mind that neither of these teachers are cruel or vindictive; I’m on good terms with both teachers, and find both of them to be likeable. Thanks.
***NOTE: Obviously, I’m not going to give out any personal information, such as the names of teachers or the school that I go to. Also, I wasn’t sure if this should be put in the Questions forum or not, so if I put it in the wrong forum, feel free to move it.
good luck.