As we gear up to place another order with Educational Outfitters, the comments some of you have made come to mind.
In previous articles, I have acknowledged that we have a choice. We can choose not to spend our money at Educational Outfitters, but - because of the abuses involved - such a choice forces upon us other choices that just are not practical. It’s like telling people to leave our country if they don’t like the way it’s run. Sure, the choice exists, but it just isn’t reasonable. We can change schools, change to Government School, or even home school. No doubt about that. So the question I have is, “Does the existence of some level of choice negate my claim that the setup with Educational Outfitters wreaks of Stalin?” I have to say “No.”
The supposition that I am ignorant of economic principles has no place here. I have attempted to portray the dissonance I experience while recognizing that Educational Outfitters has used the free market, capitalistic, entrepreneurial system to carve a lucrative niche in the marketplace. To that extent, I can say that I have no problem with Educational Outfitters. Where the Stalinist model comes in is with the consideration that those in power with the bureaucracy have made a decision to compel others to purchase items from one (and only one) supplier. In return, the school receives kickbacks from that supplier. Only at this point in the microcosm do we begin to see that the logical outcome of this situation is poor quality and high prices.
Because the purchasing decision of hundreds of parents has been unilaterally committed by the bureaucracy to Educational Outfitters, that same entity that was formed in the free market now exhibits the treachery of Stalinistic oppression.
The forces that compel EO to provide quality goods and services have been eliminated. This little corner of the world has non-elastic demand: Regardless of quality AND price, EO will sell the same amount of goods and services. No matter how many customers get angry; no matter how many customers are treated like crap; no matter how many orders are lost or delayed; no matter how rude the EO employees are to the customer; the truth remains that Educational Outfitters will not lose a discernible amount of business and they will have no incentive to make improvements. It’s the fate of the communist system throughout history.
Customers do not have the liberty to “just decide” not to go to EO anymore. To do so would force an incredibly unnecessary disruption of the student’s and the family’s life. The school won’t demand accountability from EO because the bureaucracy wants to keep the kickbacks coming in. The cycle is hard to break because the bureaucracy becomes dependent on the revenue from EO, and EO becomes dependent on those same payoffs to continue to captivate customers. The quality of goods and services will not improve because all competition and incentive has been eliminated. The irony here is that Educational Outfitters has used the free market to stifle the free market.
Those who point to the available choices to change schools, utilize government schools, or home school, display their ignorance and their failure to understand that the existence of choices does not indicate that a system is not Stalinist! Even in the most oppressive communist societies, choices exist! You can patronize the state-operated store, or you may not. In fact, we could say that “if you don’t like the State store, you still have the choice to either starve to death or to kill yourself in a different way,” so then, by the definition of some, Stalinist oppression could never exist because of the existence of choices!
Now, we know that Stalinism exists, so the existence of choice does not suffice as a determining factor in whether a system is (or is not) oppressive. The criteria to judge must be based on the availability of reasonable choices. For those who refuse to participate in the Government School system, Government Schools are not a reasonable choice. That’s why an increasing number of people are turning to private schools to educate their children. Without any doubt, most people involved in private education have similar feelings.
Thus, my reasoning has come full circle. Changing schools or compromising principle is not a reasonable choice. Similarly, having one person as part of the bureaucracy dictate to hundreds of people that they must patronize one single store is not reasonable. So, while the bureaucracy has abused its position by imposing such an oppressive policy, Educational Outfitters has abused its position by using the market to restrict the market. In all of this, the parents lose because they want to do what’s right: they conform to the bureaucracy’s edicts and they purchase goods and services from Educational Outfitters. In the end, none but the parents are justified.
Click HERE to read past articles about Educational Outfitters and school uniform attire.
