EDITORnThomas FlemingnASSOCIATE EDITORnTheodore PappasnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSnChilton Williamson, ]r.nEDITORIAL ASSISTANTnEmily Grant AdamsnART DIRECTORnAnna Mycek-WodeckinCONTRIBUTING EDITORSn]ohn W. Aldridge, Harold O.}.nBrown, Katherine Dalton, SamuelnFrancis, George Garrett, Russell Kirk,nE. Christian Kopff, Clyde WilsonnCORRESPONDING EDITORSnJanet Scott Barlow, Odie Faulk,nJane Greer, John Shelton ReednEDITORIAL SECRETARYnLeann DobbsnPUBLISHERnAllan C. CarlsonnPUBLICATION DIRECTORnGuy C. ReffettnCOMPOSITION MANAGERnAnita FedoranCIRCULATION MANAGERnRochelle FranknA publication of The Rockford Institute.nEditorial and Advertising Offices: 934 NorthnMain Street, Rockford, IL 61103.nEditorial Phone: (815) 964-5054.nAdvertising Phone: (815) 964-5811.nSubscription Department: P.O. Box 800, MountnMorris, IL 61054. Call 1-800-877-5459.nFor information on advertising in Chronicles,nplease call Cathy Corson at (815) 964-5811.nU.S.A. Newsstand Distribution by Eastern NewsnDistributors, Inc., 1130 Cleveland Road,nSandusky, OH 44870.nCopyright © 1992 by The Rockford Institute.nAll rights reserved.nChronicles (ISSN 0887-5731) is publishednmonthly for $24 per year by The RockfordnInstitute, 934 North Main Street, Rockford, ILn61103-7061. Second-class postage paid atnRockford, IL and additional mailing offices.nPOSTMASTER: Send address changes tonChronicles, P.O. Box 800, Mount Morris, ILn61054.nThe views expressed in Chronicles are thenauthors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect thenviews of The Rockford Institute or of itsndirectors. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot benreturned unless accompanied by a self-addressednstamped envelope.nChroniclesnk MtGAnNE OF AMERUAN CUIIUIEn4/CHRONICLESnVol. 16, No. 2 February 1992nOn ‘Academia’nPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESnProfessor Murray Rothbard’s “LetternFrom Academia,” (Correspondence,nSeptember 1991) begins on a Swiftianntone, but ends disastrously. We learnnfrom the last paragraph that the troublenwith our universities is the lack of an”reality check,” in other words, thatnthey are not run on the private, profitmakingnenterprise model. I have alwaysnthought, naively after forty years ofnteaching, that the trouble is the abysmalnquality of American education at allnlevels, the impressive ignorance of 99npercent of the teachers and professors,nand the exclusive business orientationnof our institutions of “higher learning.”nAs a colleague now returned fromnteaching in Budapest, where I am nownheading, told me, the worst studentnthere is still better than the best atnHarvard. Let’s keep both capitalismnand socialism out ol^ this matter.n— Thomas MolnarnRidgewood, N/nMr. Rothbard Replies:nPlease; Professor Molnar: I was offeringnsome reminiscences on a life in academe,nnot trying to set forth a treatisenon the decline of the American educationalnsystern. But I do think that ancrucial reason for that decline is thennationalization of American educationnin the 20th century. I daresay that thenbest at Harvard is also worse than thenaverage American high school graduatenof a century ago. The problem isnscarcely “business orientation.” As anfriend of mine observed during thenNew Left troubles, “no one sits in atnBerlitz.” I am sure that such marketorientedninstitutions as Berlitz or thenvarious secretarial schools are quitencompetent at what they do. True, theyndo not turn out intellectual giants, butnnot the least of their viruses is that theyndon’t pretend to do so. I remember thatnsome years ago, a former student at mynalma mater, Columbia University, suednthe school for not imparting the “wis­nnndom” it had offered in its catalog. Whilenthe suit was of course thrown out asnfrivolous, I think the kid had a point.nActually, the best discussion of thendecline of American education wasnpublished long ago, in the inid-1930’s,nin a wonderful little book of lectures bynAlbert Jay Nock, The Theory of Educationnin the United States. Nock pointednout that the conservatives of the daynwho were focusing their fire on JohnnDewey and progressive education fornsuch courses as drivers’ ed were inissingnthe inark. The central problem.nNock pointed out, was the peculiarlynmodern American axiom — indirectlynallied to statism — of mass education:nthat every kid in America is entitled tona college degree. Once this axiom isnadopted, all the rest — collapse of standards,ndrivers’ ed, lowest-common-denominatorneducation, etc. — follow asnthe night does the day. Fortunately,neducation in Europe continues to ben”elitist” in the best sense. But if presentnegalitarian and mass education trendsnproceed in Europe, I fear that eventuallyneven Professor Molnar’s belovednBudapest inay succumb.n— Murray N. RothbardnOn ‘Mary Gordon’nJ.O. Tate’s review of Mary Gordon’sn”writings” (“Feminist Fatale,” Septembern1991) provided comic relief whennsorely needed. I laughed out loud at hisndeft phrases, and giggles threaten tonerupt when I recall it.nI’ve never actually “read” Mary Gordon;nI tried to once, I really did. Inbought a battered paperback copy ofnone of her novels at a surplus-booknlibrary sale for a dime, and yes, at thatnprice it was a waste of money. On thenpremise of “Know Thy Enemy,” Insettied down doggedly to read it—dognbeing the operative word—but after anfew chapters, the little men in thenLiterary Control Room became upsetnand expressed their supreme dissatisfactionnat such fare by walking offnthe job. After rather delicate negotia-n