Arizona and The Divine Rights Of Kings and Nazis

With support from conservatives, the Tea Party, and the National Socialist Nazi Party, Arizona is at it again with it’s culture preservation in eliminating ethnic studies programs with House Bill 2281.  I find this new piece of legislation fascinating in the light of what it does and how the state functions. One of the most powerful tools a state has is a state mandated education. This allows a state to ensure that all citizens are indoctrinated in concepts such as “The Divine Rights Of Kings” as in a Monarchy or “The will of the people” in a Democracy. To question the “God given right” of the state to maintain it’s rule over your life is damning to the control it holds over the people.  It is easier for Pharaoh to teach his citizens that he is a god than to justify his abuse of power. Just as a democracy claims support by a majority for it’s aggressions upon a minority.

The attack on culture studies can be looked at by many perspectives. One could claim it is racist. One could claim it restricts the choice and preference of the individual to study what they choose to study. Both of those would most likely have strong arguments to support them, I would likely agree and love to hear them.  I however wish to take this new legislation and compare it to the nature of the state to show why something like this is not really shocking and should be vehemently opposed.

Rothbard addressed the culture aspects in his book For a New Liberty:

One of the most common uses of compulsory public schooling has been to oppress and cripple national ethnic and linguistic minorities or colonized peoples — to force them to abandon their own language and culture on behalf of the language and culture of the ruling groups. The English in Ireland and Quebec, and nations throughout Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia — all dragooned their national minorities into the public schools run by their masters. One of the most potent stimuli for discontent and rebellion by these oppressed peoples was the desire to rescue their language and heritage from the weapon of public schools wielded by their oppressors.

- Murray Rothbard

Cultures must be homogenized by the state, as well as the thoughts of the students. The student must be indoctrinated so that thought is uniformly accepting of the structure, presence and nature of the state. Which brings us to the interesting addition of the phrase in the bill that would ban any class that would “Promote the overthrow of the U.S. government.”  This seems to be a fear for backlash of other cultures and races simply teaching the truth that may lead to such a thing, not necessarily directed to the Agorists, Anarchists, or others of my personal persuasion.  This show’s the  State in it’s attempt to preserve it’s legitimacy against views it does not want citizens to be educated or knowledgeable in.

Rothbard addressed this with a quote from Isabel Paterson:

Educational texts are necessarily selective, in subject matter, language, and point of view. Where teaching is conducted by private schools, there will be a considerable variation in different schools; the parents must judge what they want their children taught, by the curriculum offered . . . . Nowhere will there be any inducement to teach the “supremacy of the state as a compulsory philosophy.” But every politically controlled educational system will inculcate the doctrine [p. 131] of state supremacy sooner or later, whether as the divine right of kings, or the “will of the people” in “democracy.” Once that doctrine has been accepted, it becomes an almost superhuman task to break the stranglehold of the political power over the life of the citizen. It has had his body, property, and mind in its clutches from infancy. An octopus would sooner release its prey.

Educational texts are necessarily selective, in subject matter, language, and point of view. Where teaching is conducted by private schools, there will be a considerable variation in different schools; the parents must judge what they want their children taught, by the curriculum offered . . . . Nowhere will there be any inducement to teach the “supremacy of the state as a compulsory philosophy.” But every politically controlled educational system will inculcate the doctrine [p. 131] of state supremacy sooner or later, whether as the divine right of kings, or the “will of the people” in “democracy.” Once that doctrine has been accepted, it becomes an almost superhuman task to break the stranglehold of the political power over the life of the citizen. It has had his body, property, and mind in its clutches from infancy. An octopus would sooner release its prey.

A tax-supported, compulsory educational system is the complete model of the totalitarian state.

Arizona is the totalitarian state we have all feared.

Considering who supports what is happening in Arizona we should be afraid: Neo-Nazis to March Saturday in Phoenix, Arizona