My friend’s son Peter, posted an article on Facebook about how Finnish school systems are among the most elite in the world. The article focused on the Finnish goal of equity being the primary reason for their outstanding performance and ignored, I thought, the more relevant issues.

The important factor seemed to be that level of personal responsibility the teachers take on in that school system. There is no standardized testing because the teachers individually grade students. The key quote is; Accountability is something that is left when responsibility has been subtracted.

It took me a second to deconstruct what that meant but it turns out to be a concept directly from Ayn Rand and her objectivist point of view. The idea is that if the teachers are personally responsible for their actions then no one has to check up on their accountability.

The more I thought about it the more it I came to the conclusion that accountability is really just a word for covering my ass. If people are always responsible then we don’t have to worry if they are doing their job properly. Even if something goes wrong it was an honest mistake.

Of course, the practical application comes in trying to teach the next generation how to be personally responsible for their actions. Sadly, I don’t think the current generations is setting a particularly good example which is probably the most important factor.

Tom Liberman
Sword and Sorcery, fantasy novels with a Libertarian twist