[nickff]

I'm having some difficulty understanding your statement:

>"It's not possible to accurately argue "she would have received a better/more efficient education in a free market society" because that's a counterfactual."

Do you mean to say that nobody can ever argue that a historical counterfactual might have been preferable? This would seem to be a rationalization of history, through a refusal to consider alternatives.

[thephyber]

Perhaps I can rephrase: it's not possible to test the counterfactual, therefore to know the accuracy of the statement.

Obviously anyone can make any statement/argument, but without the ability to verify it, it doesn't carry much weight.