Mero's Nerve
Mero's jaw dropper. A few days ago, Utah Amicus pointed out the use of the "worst of all possible analogies" by Paul Mero of the Sutherland Institute in a pro-voucher column. Not having seen the Tribune column to which UA referred, we thought perhaps it was an off the cuff remark, an ill-advised choice of words for which Mero might be given some slack. In response to UA's comments, Mero provided a link to his entire essay "for any of your colleagues interested in thinking." What the heck, we'll try anything once.
Warning: Mero's essay is not for the weak of stomach. It is not an off the cuff remark, not a slip of the tongue. It is 6 pages of Mero arguing that there are legal, familial, socioeconomic, and "disquieting" parallels between slavery -- slavery -- and not receiving public funds for sending your kids to private school. (Mero's essay downplays the fact that parents are legally free not to send their children to public school already; what we are really talking about is getting public money for doing so.) At the beginning of each section, Mero reiterates that slavery was, like, really bad, but then argues at length that it is still analogous to not getting voucher money. We like a good debate, and we have even been known to change our minds once in a while, but this analogy is just nauseating. In Mero's last reminder that slavery was really not a good thing at all, he writes, "As a personal experience, there are no sane comparisons." Just sane "parallels."
Mero's jaw dropper. A few days ago, Utah Amicus pointed out the use of the "worst of all possible analogies" by Paul Mero of the Sutherland Institute in a pro-voucher column. Not having seen the Tribune column to which UA referred, we thought perhaps it was an off the cuff remark, an ill-advised choice of words for which Mero might be given some slack. In response to UA's comments, Mero provided a link to his entire essay "for any of your colleagues interested in thinking." What the heck, we'll try anything once.
Warning: Mero's essay is not for the weak of stomach. It is not an off the cuff remark, not a slip of the tongue. It is 6 pages of Mero arguing that there are legal, familial, socioeconomic, and "disquieting" parallels between slavery -- slavery -- and not receiving public funds for sending your kids to private school. (Mero's essay downplays the fact that parents are legally free not to send their children to public school already; what we are really talking about is getting public money for doing so.) At the beginning of each section, Mero reiterates that slavery was, like, really bad, but then argues at length that it is still analogous to not getting voucher money. We like a good debate, and we have even been known to change our minds once in a while, but this analogy is just nauseating. In Mero's last reminder that slavery was really not a good thing at all, he writes, "As a personal experience, there are no sane comparisons." Just sane "parallels."
No comments:
Post a Comment