Freedom
OK, here is why I ask. I'm reading this book. http://www.fun-books.com/books/9170.htm
And, I'm all of half way down the page, of the first chapter, and find myself deeply questioning the author's logic. I wonder, is freedom an internal state of being that impacts our life? Or is freedom an external environment that effects our internal being? I'm convinced that no matter how related, the inner and outer states are, it is possible to have one without the other.
Which is why I'm troubled by
In chapter one, "The Sweet Land of Liberty" she says,
"How strange and self-defeating that a supposedly free country should train its young for life in totalitarianism."
After numerous examples of asking to go to the bathroom and stuff she say:
"What do you think of when you hear the word *freedom*? The end of slavery? The end of the Berlin wall? A prisoner tunneling his way out of solitary confinement in Chile with a spoon? An old woman escaping her broken body in death? Gorillas dancing in the jungle instead of sulking behind bars? When I hear the word *freedom,* I remember the sweetest sunlight pouring over my teenaged cheeks on the first sleeping-in mornings of summer vacations.
Do you go to school? Yes? Then...
*You are not free.*
The overwhelming reality of school is CONTROL. School controls the way you spend your time (what is life made of if not time?), how you behave, what you read, and to a large extent what you think."
~end quote~
I homeschool by choice, but that is not to say that I'm anti-school. I find this anger growing within me at the notion that everyone in 'the system' is under some sort of mind control. A mind control that can only be broken free from by breaking out of the system. But, how can they prove that they don't produce another form or system of control, teaching the children to parrot, 'this is better' without having any knowledge of what they are missing in a good school?
I dare say I was *free* while attending classes taught by religious fundamentalists, in a room full of other religious fundamentalists. I'd claim that the proof of my freedom came from the fact that I could display the self control of a fully sentient being, by respectfully being among them and carefully listening to them, and respectfully submitting term papers, and occasionally a final exam, with a polar opposite view. Over the years of carefully selecting my courses, I had many profs from many walks of life and religions that I disagreed with. Once I failed, once I was forced to withdraw, many times I had to accept a '7' and occasionally I got a '9'. My freedom might not have helped me excel within the system, but it was my choice not to conform, and to study what I felt was worthwhile. The environment rarely determined my freedom to learn, and the times that it challenged my freedom, I learned that much more.
I don't know why I find myself rebelling against this author on such a basic level! It feels like she's advocating anarchy. But, it's more that that which I disagree with, it's the claim that your not 'free' unless you are sleeping in and getting up each day and doing what you want.
I, at this point in my life, have the unusual opportunity to do that. I could sit here in my jammies, eating roasted almonds with my coffee, and rant til noon if I cared to, but I chose to have structure in my day. I chose to give my children structure. I chose to assign mathematics and writing assignments to my children. In having freedom I'm choosing some semblance of order, and a quality of life. In making those choices I do not rule out the possibility of some school somewhere in the future, having something I'll find worthwhile for my kids.
On that note, it's time for me to get dressed, and put those roasted almonds in the back of the top shelf.
And, I'm all of half way down the page, of the first chapter, and find myself deeply questioning the author's logic. I wonder, is freedom an internal state of being that impacts our life? Or is freedom an external environment that effects our internal being? I'm convinced that no matter how related, the inner and outer states are, it is possible to have one without the other.
Which is why I'm troubled by
In chapter one, "The Sweet Land of Liberty" she says,
"How strange and self-defeating that a supposedly free country should train its young for life in totalitarianism."
After numerous examples of asking to go to the bathroom and stuff she say:
"What do you think of when you hear the word *freedom*? The end of slavery? The end of the Berlin wall? A prisoner tunneling his way out of solitary confinement in Chile with a spoon? An old woman escaping her broken body in death? Gorillas dancing in the jungle instead of sulking behind bars? When I hear the word *freedom,* I remember the sweetest sunlight pouring over my teenaged cheeks on the first sleeping-in mornings of summer vacations.
Do you go to school? Yes? Then...
*You are not free.*
The overwhelming reality of school is CONTROL. School controls the way you spend your time (what is life made of if not time?), how you behave, what you read, and to a large extent what you think."
~end quote~
I homeschool by choice, but that is not to say that I'm anti-school. I find this anger growing within me at the notion that everyone in 'the system' is under some sort of mind control. A mind control that can only be broken free from by breaking out of the system. But, how can they prove that they don't produce another form or system of control, teaching the children to parrot, 'this is better' without having any knowledge of what they are missing in a good school?
I dare say I was *free* while attending classes taught by religious fundamentalists, in a room full of other religious fundamentalists. I'd claim that the proof of my freedom came from the fact that I could display the self control of a fully sentient being, by respectfully being among them and carefully listening to them, and respectfully submitting term papers, and occasionally a final exam, with a polar opposite view. Over the years of carefully selecting my courses, I had many profs from many walks of life and religions that I disagreed with. Once I failed, once I was forced to withdraw, many times I had to accept a '7' and occasionally I got a '9'. My freedom might not have helped me excel within the system, but it was my choice not to conform, and to study what I felt was worthwhile. The environment rarely determined my freedom to learn, and the times that it challenged my freedom, I learned that much more.
I don't know why I find myself rebelling against this author on such a basic level! It feels like she's advocating anarchy. But, it's more that that which I disagree with, it's the claim that your not 'free' unless you are sleeping in and getting up each day and doing what you want.
I, at this point in my life, have the unusual opportunity to do that. I could sit here in my jammies, eating roasted almonds with my coffee, and rant til noon if I cared to, but I chose to have structure in my day. I chose to give my children structure. I chose to assign mathematics and writing assignments to my children. In having freedom I'm choosing some semblance of order, and a quality of life. In making those choices I do not rule out the possibility of some school somewhere in the future, having something I'll find worthwhile for my kids.
On that note, it's time for me to get dressed, and put those roasted almonds in the back of the top shelf.