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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Great bureaucracy ideas #213: Office of Parenting

15 October 2009

Editor, Los Angeles Times

Dear Editor:

In her open letter to Richard Riordan, Esther Jantzen starts off well by discussing the importance to children's welfare of good parenting ("Dear Richard Riordan," Oct. 15).  But she soon goes completely off the rails by proposing "a federal and state Office of Parenting Education and a massive marketing campaign about best parenting practices."

Has the Cult of Politicization become so hypnotic that sober people sincerely believe that all serious problems can be solved by government bureaucrats?  Is this cult's influence now so great that it blinds us to the reality that any "Office of Parenting Education" will be a stage upon which rival political extremes - from Biblical literalists to Vegan Nudists for Hemp - routinely joust with each other for influence over parenting?  Do persons such as Ms. Jantzen not worry that a bureaucracy charged with "educating" parents will balloon, in budget and power, to eventually intrude itself into the most intimate and private aspects of family life?

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
George Mason University

http://www.cafehayek.com/

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