Real Libertarians Don’t Indoctrinate

(Left-wing activists who try to provide examples of right-wing indoctrination in classrooms usually come up empty. There’s a reason for that.—ed .)

As a teacher, George Mason University economist Walter Williams explained: “I think it’s academic dishonesty to use one’s classroom to proselytize students, that is…to give students your opinion, and I think it’s dishonest in the sense that it takes advantage of the immature minds of young people who have not gained the maturity and the experience to be able to individually assess things and to come to their own conclusions.”

He said that at the orientation for his undergraduate and Ph.D. class, he informs the pupils that if he utters an opinion without the preface “In my opinion,” they should immediately inform him that they are not attending the course “‘…to be indoctrinated and to be sold your opinions, we took it to learn economic theory.’”

“…I want young people to share my opinion on the moral superiority of limited government and free markets and I think that the best way for me to accomplish this is to teach them to be rigorous hard-minded thinkers,” Dr. Williams explained, noting that, “if they become rigorous hard-minded thinkers, I’m very sure that they’ll share my opinions and my values.”

You can listen to the entire interview with Dr. Walter E. Williams.

Alex Nitzberg is a freelance conservative journalist and commentator and the host of “Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.