Reply #282: there was an excellent harpers article... [View All]

[silverpatronus]

back in august or so last year about the roots and original purpose of public education. i found it to be quite edifying really. the essence of the article was that origins of public education were in preserving the status quo; i.e. making sure that everybody stays in their 'place' and nobody gets 'ideas above their station'. there was also a part about how modern public education, particularly in the US is designed to ensure that enough mindless consumers are created to drive the machine of capitalism. could you imagine the chaos that would ensue were enough people to stop and think 'why the hell am i buying a 50 inch flatscreen TV?'.

public education, especially in the US, needs to be completely revamped to put the focus on actually educating.