Natalie Solent was kind enough to link to this piece here. I return the complement, as I fear that links from Blogger do not flag themselves up here automatically. Sample paragraph from Natalie's piece, about education in Poland. It used to be different under Communism, but …:

Nowadays it's different, but education bureaucrats design their systems as if they still have savage force to back them up. Poland's education system, like our own, is one of ineffective compulsion. It was said (I think by Macchiavelli but I can't find the quote) that there is nothing so dangerous as to harm a man enough to make him hate you, yet leave him the strength to get his revenge. That is exactly what imprisoning young men in school does.

Indeed.

There are other things at Natalie's which I also like. I've stolen one posting in its entirety and put it up at my other place.