Inequalities Occasioned By The Policies Of Education

Perhaps the reader, under the influence of their own excellent education recognizes the curious and archaic syntax of the title as belonging to a culture and time not their own; they may even go so far as to attribute it's phrasing to it's rightful author, Adam Smith, who penned the celebrated Wealth of Nations. Adam Smith, despite the common misconception, actually addressed inequality in his book, and gave several reasoned solution to eliminating poverty. He claimed that while some jobs do deserve better profits or wages, the reasons why some jobs are paid inproportionately better than others is due to bad policy making:

"…the policies of Europe, by not leaving things at perfect liberty, occasions other inequalities of much greater importance.

It does this in the following ways. First, by restraining the competition in some employments to a smaller number than would otherwise be disposed to enter into them; secondly, by increasing it in others beyond what it naturally would be; and, thirdly, by obstructing the free circulation of labor and stock, both from employment to employment and from place to place." (Smith, 1776) In short, Smith attributed inequality to an artificial surplus or shortage of competition; and later he continued to say that this problem is created by governmental policies and conspiring men.

I would venture to add additional insight to the matter of inequality by introducing educational policy into the argument. If man was at perfect liberty to peruse his own education and to appoint his own teachers and to design his own curriculum, there would be no inequalities to speak of (excepting those inequalities inherit in nature) but were it for the policies that surround the public education. Our current institution for the education of youth and young adults, namely, high schools and collages, train all their students to know and be able to do the same things as the rest. Thus when a student enters the marketplace intending to sell his services and knowledge, he finds a clone of himself filling his job. Moreover, the schools create a surplus of professionals in one field while leaving other fields desolate, whereas if the student where at liberty to create his own education, he would find the training he needed to go into fields where his services would be in more demand. We do to some extent see this in computer and technology fields which have been demanding more manpower and receiving it, but all the same we have too many young people directed to other fields in which their is already hearty and established competition.

If man were free, justice and equality would be the result. If students were at liberty to build their own education, then everyone would enter the field that would be both to their liking and their wallet's liking without the propaganda and pressure of teachers and faulty policies persuading or coercing students into fields that the student will make no living in.

Sources:

Smith, A., & Cannan, E. (1937). Inequalities of Wages and Profit. In An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations (Canaan ed.). New York: The Modern library.