From: Platt Holden (pholden@sc.rr.com)
Date: Sun Sep 05 2004 - 22:41:33 BST
Hi Ant,
> “I think the MOQ regards any government supervision of the university
> curriculum as a form of evil because this is a social pattern attempting to
> control intellectual patterns. It is hypocritical for conservatives to
> denounce government interference in the free market place of commerce and
> then turn around and enforce government interference in the free market
> place of thought.”
>
> (Robert Pirsig to Anthony McWatt, July 3rd 2002)
By the same token, Pirsig could have argued that government support of
universities is a form of evil because it's a social pattern (money
coerced from taxpayers) attempting to control intellectual patterns.
Besides, it's hypocritical for universities to accept money from a
government on the one hand and denounce that government on the other, as
many universities do. Their attitude is like that of the art crowd who
believe, "People should be forced to pay us whether they value our
products or not." Doesn't sound moral to me. I think Pirsig would be the
last person in the world to expect, much less demand, a stipend from
government for creating ZMM and Lila. If they had any moral integrity,
universities would do likewise. Either that or stop complaining about
government "interference." He who pays the piper calls the tune. A free
market doesn't mean a free ride.
Platt
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