A Lack of Conceptual Clarity

Today, political debates are almost always dominated by a lack of conceptual clarity. Equivocation and “package dealing” are perhaps the most common forms. An example can be found in an article about Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s push for a voucher program.

The article quotes Abbott from an appearance he made at a Christian school. Abbott noted,

Parents are angry about the woke agenda that’s being forced on their children in schools. Schools should not be pushing a woke agenda on our children. Our schools are for education, not indoctrination.

After quoting Abbott, the author immediately writes,

Abbott’s anger about indoctrination seems hypocritical speaking from the stage of a school that openly forces students to participate in daily religious training.

The author regards the requirements established by a private school as an act of force. He conveniently ignores the fact that students are attending the school by choice, and presumably, at least partly because of the “daily religious training.” That is not an act of force, just as a restaurant requiring diners to wear a shirt isn’t an act of force.

This lack of conceptual clarity is used to mask the actual use of force to support government schools. Government schools are funded by the property and other taxes paid by every Texan. We have no choice in the matter, and any attempt to avoid paying those taxes will be met with coercive measures.

Government holds a legal monopoly on the use of force. If you disobey government edicts, including paying taxes, your property will be seized, you will go to jail, or both. If you disobey the requirements established by a private institution, you will simply be asked to leave. A private institution cannot seize your property or throw you in jail.

Not surprisingly, Abbott himself has demonstrated a lack of conceptual clarity. In 2021, he signed a law that prohibits businesses from requiring a “vaccine passport.” At the time, he said,

Texas is open 100%, and we want to make sure you have the freedom to go where you want without limits. Vaccine passports are now prohibited in the Lone Star State.

Businesses that required a vaccine passport were threatened with the lost of their licenses and operating permits. In short, obey the prohibition or be shut down.

Freedom means the absence of government coercion. Under the guise of promoting freedom, Abbott used government coercion against businesses. A business has a moral right to establish the terms and conditions for entering its property, including proof of vaccination.

A lack of conceptual clarity makes it impossible to evaluate an issue objectively. The inevitable result is bad decisions regarding policy. That is true for every issue, including education and vaccine passports.