Freedom of Choice

August 27, 2006


Yesterday I started reading more from my John Taylor Gatto book, The Underground History of American Education, and something he said in it rang true to me. It’s one of those things that have been laying around as basic unformed knowledge in my head, and John put it into words.
I’ll paraphrase him, in reference to our society’s modern route to success, here:

What is most deceptive….. is the introduction of an apparently libertarian note of free choice into the equation. Modern society’s people are encouraged to self-start and to proceed on what appears to be an independent course. But upon closer inspection, that course is always toward a centrally prescribed social goal, never towards personal solutions to life’s dilemmas. Freedom of choice in this formulation arises from the FEELING that you have freedom, NOT from its actual possession.

This rings true to me in that most people’s plan for life consists of going to preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle, then high school, then on to college (and sometimes more than just the 4 years) to get their "successful" start in life. Their success being based on and expected to come from their “education”.
Where is the freedom of choice in this equation? If someone chooses to veer from this plan, say, not sending their child to preschool, or a young adult choosing NOT to go to college, how often is this looked down on?
How many times have we seen TV shows where going to school is a given, and going to college is the high prize you receive if you work hard in school "in order to succeed"?
I watched a show the other night, and saw a girl in her high school years, probably her senior year, opening a letter from the college she chose to apply to. The emotional tide ran high. Her dad stood by her offering his emotional support and approval of his daughter, whether it was an acceptance letter or not. (Of course their preference was that it would be an acceptance letter.) And oh the rapture I saw on her face when she read that the college was pleased to tell her that she had been accepted into it’s halls for furthering her education. You would think she had just been told that her family would be taken care of for the rest of their lives! Never to be in poverty!
But isn’t that what the colleges advertise? Isn’t that the basic reason people are pushed to go there? Don’t kids feel the pressure to financially succeed from elementary school on? And don’t they think that the best route to take is college?
And what is the general consensus if you have NOT gone to college? Or worse yet, if you’ve ONLY got a GED, or heaven forbid, never finished school? You are somehow considered to be less intelligent than the general populace, doomed to a life of servitude, most likely in the food service or lower end of the construction business, right?
But what is the reality? Are these perceptions based on the individual at all? Their actual knowledge or more important their character? No. They only take into account whether or not the person had completed a prescribed curriculum (government curriculum for the most part) for a certain number of years. And it is the same general knowledge that each and every other person has who has completed the same amount of “education”. I encourage you to really think about this. Where has the bulk of your knowledge that you use day to day come from? Has it been gleaned from living everyday life? Learning to open a checking account, Learning financial responsibility, Learning to discipline yourself to do what you need to, not always what you want to..... Learning unselfishness, Learning to get along with people of different ages, sizes, races, PERSONALITIES, etc... are these things that you learn in school?
Again. Where is the individualism? Where is the freedom of choice? How has America, the land of opportunity, become, America, the land of college debt? How has this benefited our society as a whole? Are a lot more people a lot more successful? Who is benefiting from this new regime?
I will teach my children not to base their idea of success on the world’s. I want them to realize that their “education” is just a part of their life (whether this comes from discussion, reading, playing, or even “formal” education if they should need college for their chosen occupations. I will impress upon them that following God’s will in their lives runs far superior to accumulating the world’s knowledge. And living meaningful lives means spending time with their families as opposed to spending time “climbing the ladder” OR as opposed to "finding themselves" OR doing what they "feel" is right.
Personally, I am for real freedom of choice. My children will be encouraged to lead fulfilling lives regardless of what form of education they choose, whether it be “formal” or informal. I will not imprison them in a certain building for 8 hours each weekday, and 2 hours of homework a night. I will not make them complete someone else's curriculum and tell them that this is their only route to educating themselves. There are all kinds of resources for learning. Reading takes time. Asking questions and listening to someone about an interest takes time. Working takes time. If they were in school, they would have only a fraction of the time to learn that they have now. Now they have the freedom to choose their education. Their freedom to live life is actual, not just perceived.