By Kelli Kenealy
In the article "Present and Future Education: A Tale of Two Economies" author Michael Albert attacks the current education system in capitalist countries. Albert believes that there are two essential questions in education: How do we educate? and Who chooses the curriculum? Albert contends that the latter question is the question the population as a whole should be asking and trying to reform. Albert believes that the small elite population is dictating the educational curriculum which in turn has created a have and has not society. This society is plagued with wealth gaps and pigeonholes students into a class system where they are given a curriculum that keeps them in the same class for survival purposes instead of learning for stimulation ( Albert, 314-318).
Albert proposes that society should come together and acknowledge that we do not live in a democratic nation and that the small group of elites in society are the ones who actually determine, vote and dictate the rules of society for their own benefit. Albert states the solution is to do away with the current system and create a system where everyone in society has an equal say and vote in determining what is valued. He continues on about how he believes the current "genetic lotto" system we have in capitalist societies is unfair and needs to be replaced. He proposes that members of society should be rewarded on their sacrifice and effort. Albert gives the example that he believes that someone who is a janitor should not be compensated any less than someone who chooses to be a brain surgeon ( Albert 318-22).
While I agree that Albert does have some interesting points, such as that we truly do not live in a democratic society and the elites dictate a majority of the agenda for their own greater good. I believe that his "solution" is an example of what Slavoj Zekik would refer to as, " A failure of the left to actually come up with solutions." Albert solution is extremely flawed much like the Frankfurt School of Thought (Saltman-Giroux, 36-42) Albert completely ignores the historical component of the way people learn and process information. Yes capitalism is not perfect, however, ignoring its three hundred year history of progression, domination and survival rate is completely ignorant. Albert solution is basically the same aspects of a Quaker society and if the Quaker lifestyle was going to trump capitalism, you think it would have happened by now.
Source Links:
Henry Giroux.
Tifanie Gleason Response to Kelli’s Living in Disney World
I believe that it is hard for us Capitalists to view any other society (especially some leftist ideas that sound more like a Utopian society found in a book) as something that would work here in the United States. I must agree with you in that Albert’s “solution” is really not a solution, but a different way of thinking that will lead to another type of society with classes all the same and new problems. Since the dawn of time there have been forms of classes. Archaic Egyptian societies split classes into Bureaucrats or theocrats and an unnamed class. Ancient Greece societies split Patricians from Plebians, freemen and slaves. Twelfth century Western Europe societies had Lords, guild masters, journeymen and serfs. Nineteenth century Britain societies had financial capitalists, landlords, bourgeois, peasants, and laborers. Today, we see upper, middle, working and lower class systems in our society. Given that there has been a class dominated society since communication was developed, it seems plausible that classes are not going to be extinct anytime soon. I side with Kelli on this topic. Albert does make interesting points and on paper (or in a paperback novel). However, his stance that everyone should be equal doesn’t seem fair. I do not believe that the brain surgeon should get paid the same as the janitor (Albert p. 318-322) because the jobs are completely different. To be a janitor does not require almost a decade of post-secondary schooling. To be a janitor, a person’s life or death does not hang in your hands. There is nothing wrong with being a janitor in the slightest bit and I do not feel the title of the job should reflect anything except a career.
Through all of this, I do however agree with Albert in that there is an elite society, most of which are born into the “lottery genepool”, however the point of our democratic society is that we elect these individuals to represent us as a whole. We elect people to speak for us and in doing so give up the right to complain that our personal issues are not heard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_classes
Tifanie Gleason Response to Kelli’s Living in Disney World
I believe that it is hard for us Capitalists to view any other society (especially some leftist ideas that sound more like a Utopian society found in a book) as something that would work here in the United States. I must agree with you in that Albert’s “solution” is really not a solution, but a different way of thinking that will lead to another type of society with classes all the same and new problems. Since the dawn of time there have been forms of classes. Archaic Egyptian societies split classes into Bureaucrats or theocrats and an unnamed class. Ancient Greece societies split Patricians from Plebians, freemen and slaves. Twelfth century Western Europe societies had Lords, guild masters, journeymen and serfs. Nineteenth century Britain societies had financial capitalists, landlords, bourgeois, peasants, and laborers. Today, we see upper, middle, working and lower class systems in our society. Given that there has been a class dominated society since communication was developed, it seems plausible that classes are not going to be extinct anytime soon. I side with Kelli on this topic. Albert does make interesting points and on paper (or in a paperback novel). However, his stance that everyone should be equal doesn’t seem fair. I do not believe that the brain surgeon should get paid the same as the janitor (Albert p. 318-322) because the jobs are completely different. To be a janitor does not require almost a decade of post-secondary schooling. To be a janitor, a person’s life or death does not hang in your hands. There is nothing wrong with being a janitor in the slightest bit and I do not feel the title of the job should reflect anything except a career.
Through all of this, I do however agree with Albert in that there is an elite society, most of which are born into the “lottery genepool”, however the point of our democratic society is that we elect these individuals to represent us as a whole. We elect people to speak for us and in doing so give up the right to complain that our personal issues are not heard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_classes
