Hey everyone,
I’m fairly new to Austrian economics but I like what I’ve read thus far. That said, I really want to start my kids along this same trail but I’m not a teacher in any way. Is there any sort of program or reading list for kids out there? Mine are 7 and 10.
Thanks for any help you guys may offer.
I am a new father too and I am thinking along the same lines.
To be frank, I think the best thing you can teach them at such a young age is the right to self-defense, the right to private property and tell them that aggression is evil. Everything else can follow all of that.
Ha! I have a 9-year old daughter and unfortunately these discussions get pretty abstract pretty quick. I think middle school’s when enough of the wiring will be in for highly abstract concepts. She does seem to have a good grasp of TANSTAAFL and that money is worth less the more the government prints it. (I’ll leave off the “all other things being equal” bit.)
Here’s a blog entry w/ some titles:
Actually there is a book I seen advertised on the internet that is like Mises meets Dr. Suess : An Island Called Liberty by Joseph Specht. It rhymes and shows the horrors of taxes and bureaucrats, and what they can do to economic prosperity.
"Lift Her Up, Tenderly is pure fiction. A man in his fifties is the guardian of a twelve-year-old girl. The situations and dialogue are entirely imaginary. But the laws of economics (common sense) are suggested by the guardian and applied by the young lady in her efforts to deal with real life situations. I was influenced in preparing this text by my own experience in which I acted as an unofficial guardian for a young lady. Yes, there is a real Virginia. "
The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible is a great book for teaching economic ideas to young people. It is basically Bastiat for kids.
I think an immediate recommendation should go to Grace Llweyln’s “The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education” (http://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-School-Education/dp/0962959170) , especially for parents; but if your child is old enough to read, I would definitley let them read it (it helped me out greatly, actually, in getting a general grip with some basics of libertarianism, as well as putting a lot of it into context with regards to education).
It also provides a list of resources & alternatives to public schooling that should help one get started (the internet, while useful for such obviously, involves a lot more of sifting through information…)
Slightly off-topic, but I just got a copy of Paul Avrich’s “The Modern School Movement: Anarchism & Education In The United States” (http://www.amazon.com/Modern-School-Movement-Anarchism-Education/dp/1904859097) in the mail yesterday.
I think it’s more of a historical book, but if I find anything useful regarding the OP, I’ll be sure to post it here. From the summary, though, I’d imagine it would be interesting reading regarding libertarianism & education in general, though.
Thanks everyone! There is a ton of information here and I’ll always look for more. Plus these suggestions will help my own education. Again, I appreciate the effort y’all have put into answering this question.