Right from the beginning, in primary school, students are taught the basics that are needed to hold down the most menial of jobs, without the slightest bit of attention paid to their emotional, artistic and broader cultural development, as of course, these qualities are not required and independent thinking and learning would simply distract students from the tasks at hand. The sorry state of organized sport as part of the curriculum at primary schools only serves to compound this. The further developed students are identified as useful and are sifted through into accelerated programs, whilst less able students are embarrassed and chastised as a consequence of poor NAPLAN results, while kids with developmental issues or lack of ability to cope with emotional issues, perhaps compounded by the nature of their schooling are slapped with the tag ADHD and are medicated into submission, in part to cover up the inadequacies of such as system in relation to such children.
Once the ordeal of primary school is through, the student is pushed on into the great societal sorting factory that is secondary school. Here is where, through the examination process, the future administrators of society are sorted out from the plebs, and everything in between. Our erstwhile protagonist is forced in choosing from what may appear to be a broad spectrum of subjects, which in fact allow no room at all for independent though or learning. This enables generation after generation to acquire the skills to keep things going as they currently are and practically nothing else. A common phenomena is that of being frowned upon if a career path is not decided upon very early in the piece, thus perpetuating this culture of sticking on the straight and narrow and not indulging in what interests you but is not relevant to your pre-ordained path. A common tactic employed nowadays are SRC style committees, which simply provide a similar diversion to the great ‘democratic’ institution of parliament, which cunningly perpetuates the grand illusion that the direction of society is actually moulded by the broad mass of people, and not in the high-powered boardrooms.
Back to exams, if you do get the score you require, you will head to university presumably, where you will be exposed to another 3-5 years of the same bullshit being regurgitated over and over again, still no room for independent thinking, a period of intellectual monotony that essentially equates to a lengthy application process for a ticket to whore your fertile mind out to a system and it’s benefactors that don’t care for you, the just want to suck out what you’ve got to give intellectually for their own gain. Sure, you may end up quite ‘well off’, but in terms of using that fertile mind of yours, nothing will go on. Your superior mind will be used to perpetuate this vicious cycle for years to come. Others above you will gain far more from this bondage than you, those who effectively hold your mind to ransom will be in excess of twenty times better off . But the universities are independent entities some may argue! A simple look at the big business interests that reign supreme on university boards are all that are needed to refute this dead duck.
All this, and the prospect of NOT getting what you want hasn’t even arisen yet! In all likelihood you will slip into a dead end job, which involves no intellectual reward, but instead hours upon hours of monotony in service of capital. You could potentially end up working in a bank, for example. The boss will promise you that if you work hard, and be persistent, you too can rise to the top! The objective fact is that, in spite of effort, only a small percentage can rise above the rest of the subordinates. You will spend your working days in service of such an institution, an institution which is, in a sad irony, an integral part of the society that coldly rejected you at exam time.
The same applies no matter where you work, no matter what situation you are in. The same interests that dig out our minerals and expropriate what wealth belongs to us all, the same interests that are in charge of the parasitic banks, the same interests that directly influence all government policy are one and the same as the interests that set the educational agenda. They seek out suitably capable minds to act as the effective ‘human computers’ of capital, to keep it running smoothly, while the rest are tossed aside on a heap, and the mansions of the rich are kept clean on the back of the surplus value they generate.
Such a stifling and inhibiting system cannot and will not be allowed to last forever.
