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9.01.2004
Lately I've been getting back the root motivation for this blog, looking at the world through the lens of class politics. Education serves as a potent example of the wreckage that class conflict has inflicted on human beings. I personally believe that all children have a right to good quality education no matter where they live or the financial abilities of their parents. But apparently nobody else does, or else we would not tolerate a system that so blatantly divides the haves and have nots into two camps and says plainly "Your kids will be educated and your kids will not." Why do we tolerate this? The answer is the same one as always. Poor people do not have political power unless they take to the streets or engage in civil disobedience. For that is the only way that social progress has been made. The votes, the laws etc followed the actions. The current education system says that if you are born into a poor neighborhood you will go do to a school that has less resources, is more likely to be overcrowded and has less opportunities for advancement. The solution to the problem is simple, divide the education resources equally so that all will have access to good educational facilities. This solution is unpalatable because it would negate the advantage that people seek by moving out to the suburbs and putting their kids in the "better schools". We believe that when one succeeds in a system of inequality then one should have that right to pass on that privilege down to their kids. I mean, what else would motivate us to climb to the top of heap if it doesn't mean a better job, a better education and more opportunity for a better life for our kids? There has to be winners and losers or we wouldn't wake up in a cold sweat at night fretting about our jobs. Fear. It's a magnificent tool to control people. Can we just admit that our economic system is based on fear? It can justify just about anything we do. But instead of using our collective power to address the real problems that cause us so much fear we justify the system because the winners dictate the rules and they don't care to share the spoils of their success with people who didn't earn it. Deserve it. I hear that word often. Deserve. But what the hell is wrong with us when we feel we deserve to see a doctor and another human being does not? What's wrong with us when we feel our kids deserve to be educated and others do not? There are no winners without losers. Its that fear of losing that drives us to compete with each other. We must climb atop the next guy if we are to survive. "Fuck cooperation. He's not looking out for me and I'm not looking out for him. Screw his kids too, because they're gonna be there someday competing with mine. I earned what I have. I studied, I kissed ass, I did things that I am ashamed of, I went into debt, I put my ass on the line, I sacrificed. I want to be a winner dammit. I deserve it, he doesn't" Welcome to the dark heart of class conflict. You are better than someone else and soon it goes from being about merit and it morphs into being about who you are. In creeps the evil stepsisters of classism; racism, jingoism, sexism and religious superiority. "I am better because of some trait I possess." How else do we explain that some people "deserve" to be born into a world where they will be lucky to survive till their teenage years and others will "deserve" to be born into a world of luxury and privilege? There has to be some constructed fantasy to justify the inequality among people, because we all know that each person is born equal. The real tragedy comes when that child is taken into world without hope or opportunity. When that child fails in a system designed to produce failure we can feel justified in our riches. We deserve it.... See? |
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