> >
> >Education is not necessarily a public good. From the point
> >of view of the ruling class, it's a system to filter and
> >select replacement members and servants
>
> "Public good" is a technical term of art in decision theory, welfare
> economics, and social choice theory. It means something the market won't
> provide by itself because there are too many free riders. A "public good"
> doesn't have to be a public _benefit_. National "defense" is a classical
> example of a public good. So too is police protection, which, you, as an
> anarchist, disapprove of.
>
> --jks
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One need not be an anarchist to contest the public goods character of national defense and police protection. One need only look at the work of Frederic Lane, Charles Tilly, Janice Thomson and William McNeill.
Ian