The two main reasons people give for mandatory schooling are that we need a well-educated society and we need well-rounded people. These sound noble. They feel right. But when you actually try to define them, they dissolve into nothing. You can't build a system on goals you can't define.

What does "well-educated" actually mean? Does it mean you can recite facts? Does it mean you have a degree? Does it mean you think critically? Does it mean you're culturally literate? Does it mean you have practical skills? Everyone has a different answer. And because the goal is undefined, the system can claim to be working toward it without ever having to prove success. If you can't define what you're aiming for, you can never miss.

The same problem applies to "well-rounded." Who decides what subjects constitute a well-rounded education? Why those subjects and not others? Why geometry and not personal finance? Why Shakespeare and not conflict resolution? Why biology and not nutrition? The selection is completely arbitrary, yet we treat it as sacred. We've just gotten used to the particular set of trivia we've decided matters, and we've stopped questioning why.

The irony is that almost everyone agrees we're moving farther from these goals, not closer. Look around. Look at social media. Look at political discourse. Look at how people handle disagreement. Look at how many adults struggle with basic life skills. If we're supposed to be creating a well-educated society, we're failing. By any honest measure, the product is getting worse, not better.

Think about what "well-educated" looks like in practice. If it means knowing things, why do most adults remember almost nothing from their years of schooling? If it means thinking critically, why are people so easily manipulated by misinformation? If it means being culturally literate, why is our culture so fractured? The gap between the goal and the outcome is so wide that you have to wonder if we're even aiming at the right target.

The problem isn't that we're not trying hard enough. The problem is that we're trying to hit a target that doesn't exist. You can't optimize for something you can't measure. You can't design a system to produce an outcome you can't define. You can only go through the motions and hope that something good comes out the other end. That's not education. That's ritual.

Meanwhile, people are voting with their feet. Those who can afford to opt out do so. They send their kids to private schools, hire tutors, or homeschool. They're not rejecting education. They're rejecting the undefined, unaccountable version of it that the public system offers. They want something that actually prepares their kids for life, not just something that processes them through years of vague requirements.

If we can't define what we mean by "well-educated" or "well-rounded," then we have no business forcing everyone through the same system in pursuit of them. The only honest approach is to let people define success for themselves and build a system that helps them get there. That goal is measurable. That goal is accountable. That goal actually serves the people instead of serving the institution's need to justify itself.

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