A Cultural System that Perpetuates Ignorance and Oppression
“Our schools are much like our prisons: they disappoint us because they only do what they're designed to do, and it annoys us that they don't do something else….There's nothing fundamentally wrong with people. Given a story to enact that puts them in accord with the world, they will live in accord with the world. But given a story to enact that puts them at odds with the world, as yours does, they will live at odds with the world. Given a story to enact in which they are the lords of the world, they will ACT like lords of the world. And, given a story to enact in which the world is a foe to be conquered, they will conquer it like a foe, and one day, inevitably, their foe will lie bleeding to death at their feet, as the world is now.”
Daniel Quinn
“We destroy the love of learning in children, which is so strong when they are small, by encouraging and compelling them to work for petty and contemptible rewards, gold stars, or papers marked 100 and tacked to the wall, or A's on report cards, or honor rolls, or dean's lists, or Phi Beta Kappa keys, in short, for the ignoble satisfaction of feeling that they are better than someone else.”
John Holt
“The elders were wise. They know that man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to a lack of respect for humans too.”
Chief Luter Standing Bear from the Lakota Sioux
“I do not think the measure of civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man.”
Sun Bear, Chippewa
As the day transitioned into night, I sat outside watching the beautiful sunset. The sky was shimmering in turquoise, while clouds took on magentas and deep reds. The mountains changed from different shades of blues and purples into grays and then black, disappearing into the unfolding night. Although I felt deep peace, I also felt an immense compassion for the state of the world.
If one is at all sensitive, how can one not see the immense suffering? From this compassion, I found myself contemplating the current state of the world. A genocide is occurring in Gaza, which is a repetition of our culture’s colonial past. Though we are watching this in real time, we are seeing the grave war crimes against humanity. Governments repeatedly demonstrate that they do not care. We are literally at war with each other and with the Earth. Our Governments and corporations poison our soil, water, and atmosphere while rapidly tearing down forests without considering the consequences. We are overfishing, microplastics are infiltrating all aspects of life, and we place animals into unspeakable conditions for our craving for meat, fur, and research. Poverty is a constant reality. Racism and sexism still exist in large swaths of our population. Many people deal every day with anxiety, depression, and many other psychological issues. Our culture has an insatiable propensity for unlimited growth within a finite Earth system. Producing, producing, producing, taking, taking, taking, which, of course, contribute to our mass population growth and the unmitigated extraction of resources, and the global theriocide is not discussed.
I see that many countries continue to move towards fascism and perpetuate more and more control and violence. Furthermore, the profound isolation that most individuals experience, coupled with fear-based attachments to beliefs and national identities, is a concerning phenomenon. This pattern of sorrow and the war against the planet has persisted for millennia as a construct of our cultural hierarchy and ongoing oppression.
However, though our culture doesn’t share this fact, it is important to know that innumerable indigenous cultures have illustrated throughout history that we do not need to live this way. Typically, they resided in small, egalitarian, non-possessive communities and ecologically oriented systems. These systems fostered the health and well-being of their populations. In terms of evolution, this system worked well. The only aspect that has devastated this way of life is our violent, genocidal culture, which has sought to eliminate every culture obstructing its relentless growth. However, these cultures have not been extinguished; their spirit remains vibrant within us all. Their approach to relationships—with each other and the planet—demonstrates that we can thrive in health, peace, and community while being harmoniously integrated into our ecological environments.
So, if it is not innate to be constantly suffering and in antagonism within oneself and with the world, how is it that our culture has not only one that has been so full of sorrow, but also continues to perpetuate itself? Does it have to do with the way we are educated?
We forget sometimes, as adults, that we were once children. We often forget how crucial that time was in shaping who we are today. Most of us have forgotten that, as young children, we were full of wonder and curiosity, feeling an enchantment with the natural world. Yet, at some point when we are children, this wonder and curiosity are lost. Why?
Raising a child is a huge responsibility and takes tremendous time and energy. In most of homo sapiens existence, community was essential is raising a child. The saying 'it takes a village to raise a child' is true, as the multiplicity of indigenous cultures had this way of child rearing embedded into their very cultural systems. This is where a beautiful balance exists between the community and the individual. The child raised in this type of system observes that everyone contributes and that each member is essential to the community's overall success. In this way, the child feels a sense of interconnectivity, and the community as a whole sees the child.
Yet, in our individualistic culture, many parents lack both the time and space to truly give a child what they need, as they are often isolated in their efforts to do everything themselves. Due to the stresses and costs of living in this particular cultural system and being in isolation, parents are not only spread thin but also, because they were educated in this system, have lost sight of what it takes to raise a child well.
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In my late twenties, I realized I wanted to teach. I dreamed of finding a way to educate that would help each child reach their fullest potential. I attended graduate school, and although I learned about pedagogy and the importance of following a specific curriculum, I believed I would have considerable autonomy to truly connect with each child and help them discover their joys in learning. At that time, graduate school never made me aware of alternative options for teaching, such as holistic schools, nor of the inherent harm in our public education system. I assumed I had to follow the public school path. I was eager to see if I could engage with each child, even within a challenging system. However, very soon into my time in a public school, I realized that it was nearly impossible to get to know a child or tap into their wonder and curiosity. Due to the rigid curriculum, fragmented schedules, and large class sizes, teaching holistically was unfeasible. There was something deeply troubling about the nature of our educational system.
A few years later, I was fortunate to find a school that taught in a very different way. It was a small, holistic school in Williston, Vermont called the Bellwether School. I spent many wonderful years as a teacher there. Teaching here was a true joy for me because it was built around their wonder and curiosity. We listened to our students and developed a dynamic curriculum tailored to their passions and interests. Rather than viewing knowledge as separate and compartmentalized, we embraced the idea that all knowledge is interconnected, with no beginning or end. We recognized how life intricately weaves together into a beautiful web, showcasing the unity of all things.
Instead of a hierarchical approach, we fostered an egalitarian democratic learning environment that emphasized our shared journey of discovery. We observed that, like indigenous cultures, an egalitarian democratic structure not only creates much less dysfunctional conflict, but rather cooperation and respect. Each voice mattered at Belwether, as well as the collective group.
The children at Bellwether loved coming to school every day, for they felt heard and seen. We addressed conflicts as they arose and helped foster healthy communication to resolve disputes, providing them with skills to handle any future situation with compassion, kindness, and understanding.
One day, our Educational Director asked me to write an article about the teacher-student relationship. I struggled to put together my thoughts as I knew something was percolating within me, but I couldn’t find the right way to present what I was contemplating. I kept writing and erasing, essentially starting over again and again.
Finally, on a beautiful winter evening, as a stunning snowstorm raged outside my window, I found myself in a contemplative state, my mind flowing smoothly. I have reflected on how, in all my experiences with children, I have found that when trusted and seen in their wholeness, they rise to meet their innate potential, allowing space for wonder and compassion to flourish within both the individual and the community. I wanted to somehow share how critical that is in education.
I had come to see that learning has nothing to do with grades or competition. Learning occurs in an open environment, driven by interest, facilitated through play, and encouraged by exploration. We learn through wonder, observation, modeling, curiosity, practice, and exploration in a safe and conducive environment. Learning can occur in both independently and in community with others. Dialogue and open discussion can help us understand things at a deeper level.
However, the process of learning may stagnate when an individual is overwhelmed by fear, anxiety, or is affected by trauma. When the act of learning is compelled by authoritative figures and used solely as a means to achieve status or become someone of significance, the learning experience becomes dulled and potentially adversarial.
We can learn from any situation if we are present without an agenda. I knew that wonder is the springboard for learning. Wonder grows curiosity and questioning that burgeon into an ever-growing tree of direct knowledge within oneself. Intuitively, I knew this insight was the beginning of something. But what? Relationships, trust, learning, wonder, and potentiality were ripe in my mind. Yet, why isn’t this how we see education? How does the traditional way of educating, which essentially strips away those components, impact society? I struggled to articulate what was bubbling up within myself in a way that was both eloquent and thoughtful. There seemed to be so much more that I needed to share than what is in this article. What started as a trickle was now becoming a river of understanding.
As I wrote, the snow continued to fall. Innumerable snowflakes swirled like a swarm of pale butterflies, settling into a kaleidoscopic blanket of white. As I watched the flakes flutter, a flash of insight opened in my mind. Everything connected at that moment. All of my experiences culminated in a revelation of clarity.
At that moment, all washed away but Wholeness, precisely what Emerson was rendering. “And this power in which we exist and whose beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer, and the spectacle, the subject and the object are one.” This illumination filled my consciousness, offering a transformative yet straightforward clarity. Suddenly, everything I had ever read and done—my work—made perfect sense. Throughout my life, I sought deeper meanings in books, striving to understand their implications. Female authors such as Barbara Kingsglover, Mary Shelley, Virginia Woolf, Margaret Atwood, Alice Walker, Kate Chopin, Mary Oliver, and Leslie Silko, as well as male authors such as Daniel Quinn, Leo Tolstoy, Dee Brown, Hermanne Hesse, Alan Watts, Jiddu Krishnamurti, James Baldwin, J.R. Tolkien, George Orwell, and Pablu Neruda, presented themes that intertwined and highlighted the profound dysfunction of our cultural system. The dramas they portrayed, the journeys of their characters, and the philosophies they expressed all pointed to the same thing in different ways. Until this moment, I never grasped the depths to which they were related. They all recognized some flaws in our culture but hadn’t fully articulated the notion that the entire cultural system was dysfunctional, linking us perpetually to its inherent violence.
This clarity I felt within my entire being. We are whole and undivided. And yet, our culture has taught us to believe that we are separated from one another and the cosmos, and that our culture is the only one that has ever really mattered. Look at the structure of our society. Instead of listening to what has been expounded upon for thousands of years—that all is interconnected, love is what matters, and we are all one—we have been conditioned to ignore this. In reality, we are all interconnected; division is an illusion, and duality is merely the drama we unconsciously enact. At the beginning and the end, we are complete.
What struck me profoundly and with great simplicity, as my entire life led me to understand, was the realization that, since everything is interrelated, our past and present issues begin and end with how we educate. I observed with perfect clarity that all our problems—psychological, societal, economic, and environmental—are not only intertwined but also caused by being born into the deep dysfunction of living in a hierarchical war-focused culture system.
In both subtle and overt ways, society makes us feel disconnected from one another and from the natural world. Take a moment to reflect on yourself. When, if at all, did you genuinely enjoy school? Where has your sense of wonder and curiosity gone? Are you truly joyful, mostly anxious, or often struggling? If we are honest, many of us would concede that we are unhappy, have lost our sense of wonder, and live with an underlying sense of suffering. One can see this when one stops, lets go of everything, and meditates. One realizes that their thoughts are perpetually judging, comparing, discerning, and categorizing, stemming from a sense of separation and insecurity inherent to the enculturated self. This self exists in a perpetual state of conflict in its struggle to become someone. This is what we distract ourselves from confronting. We may pretend all is good, but we don’t realize that much of our lives are built on escaping the deep-rooted insecurity of oneself.
From the moment we are conceived, we are introduced to the Judeo-Christian mythos of sin through the ideas of right and wrong, as well as reward and punishment. From being taught in this way, where there is really no grey area or dialogue to look to for understanding, we start to feel fragmented in our minds, thinking we have good and bad parts—some lovable, some not. This, of course, fractures the mind and psyche into a knower and known, creating an illusory self that believes it can control itself and its parts as if they are separate from oneself. This results in a separation of the psyche, leading to the projection of that separation into a disconnection from oneself, the world, and the Universe. This concept is so prevalent that even those who do not identify with organized religion still adopt this way of perceiving themselves.
The belief in our separation from existence breeds psychological fear and generalized anxiety. We have experienced this in our own lives; we tend to shy away from true solitude or boredom because, deep down, we fear the emptiness and our annihilation. If we were to stop, we would see that as we have lost sight of our interconnection to life, and we are, in actuality, in a constant state of subtle dread. We become adept at compartmentalizing and creating dissonance in consciousness, and make ourselves unaware of this feeling by continuously distracting ourselves.
Many of us grow up in families where parents face difficulties, exhibit inconsistent genuine love due to their struggles within this system, and pass down their own dysfunction to their children. This occurs because they, too, were shaped by a dysfunctional upbringing. A quick note: this isn’t to imply that parents and educators intend to harm or don’t care for their children. Rather, it highlights that we are conditioned by learned behaviors that hinder our ability to slow down, love fully, and spend quality time with our children. We’ve been taught to suppress our true selves and mold a persona that conforms to societal expectations. Since this is what we have been programmed to do, we do the same to our children. The system itself, driven by capitalism, creates greater division and financial struggle, which in turn fuels more anxiety and fear.
Children are also shaped by the television shows they watch, their increasing reliance on phones, their peers, and the cultural messages they receive, which again suggests something is inherently wrong with them, leaving them feeling isolated and disconnected from their surroundings. Additionally, a significant effect on a child’s mental well-being comes from being compelled to attend schools where they have no say in their education, learning in ways dictated by authorities.
We are constantly told that excelling in school and competing for good grades is essential for success in life. Time and again, we hear that we should not fully embrace who we are, but instead conform to societal expectations. We are led to believe that obtaining a job is vital for earning money, without reflecting on the implications of that choice. How many people do you know who genuinely love their work? How many prioritize kindness, generosity, and love in their lives? How many consider the impact of their work on individuals, society, and the environment, rather than solely focusing on paying the bills? One begins to realize that we are conditioned to shut ourselves off, to wear masks, perpetuating the dysfunction of this hierarchical system. It makes one wonder… is this truly how we are meant to live?
Consequently, adults, including parents and teachers, often overlook their own experiences due to their education and repeat the same errors with their children, thus continuing the cycle. It's as though we experience amnesia, forgetting our own school days and the influence of our family systems on us. We have lost sight of the ability to love unconditionally, as many of us were shaped by conditional love. However, conditional love isn't true love. If we genuinely loved our children unconditionally, we would allow them the freedom to be themselves, pursue their passions, and learn in ways that resonate with them. We would pay attention to their questions and interests, encouraging them to explore and uncover life's mysteries within healthy boundaries and structures. When conflicts arise, we should take the time to comprehend their experiences and use these moments as learning opportunities instead of concentrating on punishment and wrongdoing.
However, we seldom take the time to reflect and look beyond the walls of our conditioning. For doing so would truly mean changing oneself. The impact of our education, both contemporary and historical, shaped by this culture’s perspective, has inflicted considerable harm across all sectors of society. Our learning has rendered us oblivious to the inner conflict and external turmoil it fosters, dulling our awareness of the repercussions of our actions. We have been conditioned to adhere to tradition, viewing ambition as inherently positive, seeing envy as a motivating force for self-improvement, and seeking lucrative employment while perpetuating harm to maintain our status. This stands in stark contrast to pursuing our true passions and understanding what it means to lead a fulfilling life. As a result, the trauma from education diminishes a child’s genuine desire for learning, leading us as adults to become numb to sensitivity and consequence, thereby becoming apathetic to life. Due to suffering and this tide of apathy, we treat our planet as if it exists solely to serve human interests.
The education we receive leads us to accept cultural hierarchies as the natural order of things. It suggests that we must rely on competition to drive innovation and progress, that it is okay to beat our “competitors” without considering whether this approach truly brings us closer together or, rather, in this violence, leaves us feeling more isolated and deprived. By the end of our time in school, we have been properly manipulated. We are generally anxious and empty, following a path that doesn’t bring happiness, and we suffer deeply. Without realizing it, we are, on a subtle level, searching for love and connection; however, since this need originates from core wounds, we can never truly find it outside of ourselves. The way we are educated also teaches us how to judge, compartmentalize, and fragment our minds, leading us to suppress unwanted thoughts and feelings. At the same time, we unconsciously judge everything around us due to our deep-rooted insecurities and core wounds. Thus, we pretend to ourselves that all is well when, in reality, we are not.
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This narrative, instilled in children and solidified in adults since the emergence of this culture around 10,000 years ago, has nurtured a dominating agricultural and economic viewpoint that resembles a totalitarian regime. The educational approach within a hierarchical system aims to create either sociopathic roles of dominance, obedient workers, indentured servants, or slaves. Essentially, we are coerced without knowing it as we progress through the educational system, from our parents and schools, to become workers without questioning the type of life this would entail. Feeling emotionally numb and adhering to authority, many fall prey to the belief that money brings happiness. This leads individuals to conform to societal expectations, ultimately making them feel as if they've found their place within the system. Whether we earn meager wages and experience constant stress, or accumulate wealth and seek escapism through materialism, we become psychologically shackled to this system, enduring significant suffering as a result. Collectively, we might find ourselves leading or working for a company that harms others or the environment, yet we persist, fearing the loss of financial and material benefits derived from oppression and resource exploitation. This occurs when we feel individually and collectively disconnected, isolated, and numb to the repercussions of our actions. This state of existence is not our true nature, but rather something that has been conditioned and taught into us.
Due to our mental numbness, we blindly inflict both imperceptible and overt violence on ourselves, each other, and the Earth. For example, we apply vast quantities of pesticides and herbicides to our crops, eliminate any species we consider predators, competitors, or weeds, and confine billions of animals each year in suboptimal and Holocaust-like conditions. Driven by a collective sense of insecurity and emptiness, our imperialistic, colonizing culture harbors an insatiable greed for growth, leading to the destruction of ecosystems as we clear forests for lumber and for agricultural growth. This pollutes our soils, rivers, and oceans, harming not just ourselves but also the species that inhabit these environments. We exploit the land as if it were merely a resource for human benefit, oblivious to the fact that countless species depend on these precious ecosystems for their survival. This agricultural and economic approach has fueled relentless population growth, surging from 1 billion people in 1900 to over 8 billion by 2025. The oppressive hierarchy we accept favors the top 1% while keeping the majority trapped in distraction, stress, and poverty; thus, immersing the population in ignorance, with little time to reflect, and fostering an education system that promotes ignorance.
Who will genuinely confront the entirety of this dysfunctional system and its manifestation in an individual's consciousness if one remains oblivious to the profound conditioning that engenders a narrative resulting solely in sorrow, given that such a narrative is so deeply normalized?
As individuals ascend the social ladder, they gain more privileges, making it increasingly challenging to detach from those advantages. A white male white-collar worker with considerable wealth and a sense of power may recognize some of the inherent dysfunction and might contribute small amounts back to society. However, it is unlikely that he will take substantial action to enact true change, relinquish materialism, or adopt a non-hierarchical lifestyle.
The traditional educational paradigm has a significant influence on many of the challenges observed globally. Consequently, this educational conditioning frequently leads individuals to adopt roles instilled by our culture. These roles resemble actors participating in a play of which they are not consciously aware. Individuals are propelled by the misconception that humanity occupies the pinnacle of a distorted hierarchy of life. Ironically, they are simultaneously made to feel fundamentally flawed. Having adopted this narrative, we have inadvertently harmed and diminished all that lies in our pursuit of progress.
Our culture, shaped by this ideology of separation, often divides individuals into conflicting, fragmented parts instead of nurturing and celebrating the beautiful wholeness of who we are. Rather than embracing our wholeness, we may feel like mere caricatures striving to fit into a materialistic hierarchy. It's understandable that many of us, influenced by education or our upbringing, have learned to suppress our difficult feelings and thoughts. We may have been led to believe our voices don’t matter, pushing us to conceal our true emotions and cultivate a version of ourselves that feels isolated and anxious. This only serves to intensify the sense of division in our society.
Our societal approach to education has hindered genuine learning and perpetuated the thought patterns that perpetuate false divisions in the world. These societal roles, which we collectively learn, can be referred to as the dream state, as they consist of beliefs and fabricated concepts that are often taken as reality. The conditioned self, both individually and collectively, outwardly expresses what we perceive as our culture, as culture is deeply ingrained in our minds. We've been led to collectively believe in an unhealthy mirage and accept that mirage as our reality. When we fail to recognize this, it is as if we are in a deep slumber, entangled in the dysfunctional, sorrowful drama of our culture’s creation, ensnared in that mirage.
We often learn to shy away from feelings and avoid facing what we think might be uncomfortable. Many of us suppress our true selves, seeking to escape the growing sense of isolation and sadness through various distractions. In our search for fulfillment, we might turn to habits like positive thinking, sports, gambling, alcohol, and perfectionism, trying to fill the void we've come to know. It's a never-ending cycle. We are conditioned to escape, as this prevents us from seeing what is right in front of us and from realizing that we are not who we think we are, and that our hierarchical culture is filled with sorrow and dysfunction.
How does all this suffering happen to us collectively? Our educational system fosters numbness and breeds insensitive individuals who repeatedly invest in the materialistic aspects of capitalism, attempting to find connection or escape from their internal emptiness. This also contributes to the rise of sociopathic leaders who prioritize wealth and power above all else.
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Instead of allowing children the space to learn and explore, we place them in schools with a prescribed curriculum and transitions, put them all on the same trajectory within an authoritarian system, and then test and grade them on the knowledge society believes they should possess.
Attending was not optional, nor was the required content to study. Predetermined questions could be posed, and it soon became clear that most teachers were not open to deeper discussions. While the teachers themselves weren't the primary problem, the rigid school schedule, mandated curriculum, and restricted time for thorough exploration forced many educators to conform to the system.
The school system prioritized conformity over genuine learning, disregarding a child’s voice. In school, students either form cliques or are shunned. Social groups solidify over time, and an increasingly hierarchical structure within the peer community emerges. Children are subtly conditioned to judge and compare one another. Most of us were unaware that this was our attempt to seek safety in an environment that felt psychologically unsafe. Most children begin to perceive something wrong with themselves, even though they may not be consciously aware of it. Ultimately, the school system functions as designed: stifling wonder and curiosity while training children to obey authority, compare themselves to others, develop hierarchical thinking, and, eventually, become compliant workers or inhumane CEOs
For most children, school eventually feels like a prison, both in appearance and experience, over time. They have little control over how they are educated. Essentially, children either learn to work hard, diligently, and to compete in classes to earn grades that would determine their success in society, or be seen as troublemakers if they defy authority. Evaluations were based on tests, essays, and projects that reflected what they had absorbed. This assessment implicitly gauged their intelligence and how they compared to their friends and classmates. This oppressive educational approach was not truly about learning; instead, it conditioned children to fit into societal norms. Our education system was leaving all of us ignorant and oblivious. It trapped us in ignorance, compelling us to conform to cultural and economic pressures.
We compel children to vie for external rewards through grading, which has little connection to actual learning. Many students might prepare for a test but forget the material weeks later, as it lacks purpose or significance in their lives. Kids focus on achieving grades to succeed, rather than enjoying the learning process itself. When they fail, they may see themselves as failures. Rather than a teacher investigating why a child struggles or considering alternative teaching methods, most educators simply move forward, leaving the child to interpret their situation on their own. This system fosters competition among children over time, as they start to identify who will succeed and who will not. Those who excel become adept at adhering to authority and conforming to the system, often unaware that they are sacrificing their own humanity in the process.
Learning happens when we are open, curious, and feel connected. It is not about gaining or losing, nor does it involve comparison. Learning occurs when there is no coercion or authority. In fact, our education system destroys learning. It makes children anxious about school, encourages competition among them, and leads them to believe that their interests and voices don’t matter, and that authority is what they must respect and follow. “All of us have been trained by education and environment to seek personal gain and security and to fight for ourselves. Though we cover it over with pleasant phrases, we have been educated for various professions within a system which is based on exploitation and acquisitive fear.” Shared Jiddu Krishnamurti. What occurs at the beginning shapes the outcome at the end. We undermine a child’s authentic being and sense of wonder by silencing their voice.
We encourage them to adopt roles that sow division and competition, drifting away from community and harmony with nature. This results in suffering, leads to war, and contributes to sexism, racism, violence against animals, and environmental degradation. Ultimately, it cultivates psychological division and conflict. However, this drama effectively perpetuates the hierarchical power structure.
E.S. Neil established the Summerhill School, a free institution in Leiston, UK, after witnessing the violence and inhumanity of World War I, prompting him to question the role of schools in shaping a society capable of such horrors. At Summerhill, he recognized the potential that arises when children are free to explore learning. We all inherently understand this truth from our own experiences. ES Niel said, “Children should be free to explore their interests, pursue their own paths, and develop self-regulation without adult interference.”
Yet, the primary function of our educational system is to train young individuals to be passive consumers of information. By enforcing authority and a set curriculum alongside a reward and punishment system (grading), we suppress their inherent curiosity and wonder, masking their innate completeness. As a result, we create a misleading sense of separation and prompt them to ignore their true selves, thus continuing a cycle of hierarchy and sorrow.
In schools that lack a democratic and egalitarian environment, students often find themselves caught between seeking attention and trying to remain invisible out of fear of making mistakes. Bullying occurs frequently, with some students being victims while others become perpetrators. Gossiping and belittling peers are common behaviors. Additionally, many students seek various means of escape, a process made simpler by the rise of cellphones.
In this system, children often do not feel truly alive, lack a sense of purpose, and have lost their connection with others. Additionally, they are learning to protect themselves by adopting the roles of anxiety, depression, and personality disorders as a means to cope with their diminished sense of humanity. While this reality may seem harsh, it reflects the impact of our educational system. As adults, we often become entrenched in our roles, which can lead to confusion about our true selves. This explains why many adults fear authority and are hesitant to voice their opinions, resulting in apathy in the face of terrible events and ongoing anxiety. Whether subtle or overt, when these pressures are applied daily, we gradually start to accept and internalize an ideology rooted in separation, hierarchy, and ignorance.
Our education system encourages constant busyness, keeping our minds occupied without allowing time for exploration or play. This limits our ability to pursue our passions and has significant consequences, especially given the widespread ignorance it fosters. As noted earlier, many of us have learned to remain silent and have developed a sense of apathy. Martin Luther King Jr. shared passionately, “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”
Have you ever thought about why a substantial part of our society lives with constant anxiety and tends to stray from their true selves? Our educational system suppresses our voices and encourages us to stay busy, distracting us from connecting with our emotions and the wider world. This leads to a lack of awareness about our surroundings. We are conditioned to remain trapped in our thoughts, worrying about future uncertainties or dwelling on past events. We are taught to suppress our identities and passions.
Men are encouraged to stifle their emotions, sensitivity, and vulnerability, resulting in insecure men prone to embrace patriarchy and toxic masculinity. Women, on the other hand, must be exceedingly vigilant to feel safe, particularly around father figures who unwittingly perpetuate patriarchy at home while navigating a school system that feels cold and uninspiring. Many women endure sexual and emotional trauma due to toxic men in their lives.
Consequently, we are taught how to escape, how to don masks, and how to create defense mechanisms that shield us from the risk of traumatic or hurtful situations. As a result, we find ourselves seldom in the present moment. Even when we believe we are present, we often remain ensnared by our thoughts without realizing it. Thoughts cannot exist in the present; they are intrinsically linked to the past. True presence is achieved solely through the stillness of the mind. Yet, as Rachel Carson articulated, “Most of us walk unseeing through the world, unaware of its beauties, its wonders, and the strange and sometimes terrible intensity of the lives that are being lived about us.” We are unconscious because we are stuck in enculturated thinking, which is taught to us.
By the time we become adults, most of us unknowingly exist in a state of ignorance, confined to our respective roles and oblivious to what lies directly before us. Our conditioned thinking is the root cause of many of the challenges facing our planet. As we navigate through life, we enact the dreams and sorrows of our past, ensnared in a predetermined cocoon of beliefs, remaining unaware of our true identities and the influence we exert upon all beings, both great and small. This journey begins with our education.
The manner in which our educational system shapes and conditions individuals, frequently suppressing their sense of wonder and self-expression, significantly contributes to the establishment of a dysfunctional cultural dream state. This cultural framework within which we are instructed cultivates an unsustainable and divisive worldview that obscures our inherent wholeness.
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We can relinquish our conditioned thinking, engage in awareness and wonder, and awaken from our cultural dream state. As educators and adults, we must relinquish the reins of control and transform our educational practices, as well as our perceptions of children, in a holistic manner, to nurture wholeness and love rather than separation and fear.
We shouldn't control children; we must trust them, listen actively, and allow them the space to truly experience childhood. If we don't initiate change, we will continue to educate in ways that subtly traumatize a child’s psyche, gradually steering them away from their natural sense of wonder and completeness. Our educational methods often misguide children, leading them to adopt beliefs and values that compromise their integrity and freedom. As a result, sorrow seeps into our lives and reflects in the world, mirroring our thoughts and perceptions. These cultural beliefs are projected from within us, rooted in concepts of division, hierarchy, and fear.
As parents and educators, many of us struggle to find the courage to relinquish control. Consequently, without realizing it, we are so deeply entrenched in our enculturation that we continue to educate in ways that perpetuate ignorance and suffering. This scenario is reminiscent of Dickens’ notable character from A Christmas Carol, Marley, who constructs a substantial chain forged by his avaricious actions and is encumbered by his ignorance.“You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?” “I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.”This reflects on the educational system: it burdens our children to the extent that they lose their authentic selves, subsequently affecting their development into adulthood, resulting in increasingly constraining limitations. These limitations continue to become more restrictive, metaphorically represented by additional karmic chains. As is widely acknowledged, waking up tends to grow more difficult as one ages, particularly as individuals become more mentally and materially constrained.
As adults, many individuals frequently set aside their true passions to pursue professional success, enhance their earnings, and conform to societal standards of achievement. This change, however, often leads to greater dissatisfaction with life. By the time they reach their thirties and forties, individuals may struggle to find time for self-reflection, becoming ensnared in the pressures of family and career. Cultural expectations have ensnared them. Meditation may seem intimidating, as it requires confronting one's thoughts, which can be a daunting task. This situation reveals that many do not live joyfully and struggle with self-acceptance. As a result, people often distract themselves without considering the long-term consequences or the limitations they impose on themselves over time.
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It is exceedingly challenging to relinquish control and place complete trust in oneself and one's students.
Have we ever considered that if we seek to exert control, then the underlying fear is what drives that facade? If fear shapes our perception of the classroom, it will, like a contagion, begin to permeate the essence of each student.
Consider the implications of class sizes. How can one educator truly connect with thirty students? How can a single teacher understand each student's unique strengths and challenges, the interpersonal relationships within the group, their concerns and hopes, and their potential in different areas when managing such a large class? Moreover, how can we ensure these students learn about democracy and freedom without a voice in their education?
If the day is divided between ensuring that all students meet the established standards in mathematics, reading, writing, social studies, and science, where is the opportunity for students to listen within, reflect, and slow down, to follow their interests? Where is the time for students to explore their paths of wonder? Where is the time available to delve deeply and recognize the interconnections among all academic disciplines learning?
Due to the fragmented, accelerated, and hierarchical nature of conventional education within our culture, individuals are conditioned to perceive the world similarly—the lack of holistic education results in outcomes including oppression, ignorance, confusion, and violence. Consequently, fundamental aspects such as voice, authentic community, depth, love, freedom, truth, self-understanding, wonder, and democracy are significantly diminished. As a result, our sense of wholeness is considerably undermined and lost.
The educational system acts as a breeding ground for fostering and perpetuating ignorance. It mirrors our society and encapsulates the realm of ignorance, with both being fundamentally intertwined. How could they ever be distinct? However, this state is not predestined. Education can either maintain ignorance or eliminate it.
Our culture perpetuates a distressing reality that pits us against the world. This educational conditioning is evident in the historical drama that has unfolded over countless years. We have been engaged in a series of devastating wars for millennia, which appear to be interminable. By " our culture, " I refer to the global context we observe today. We cultivate a culture that has nearly obliterated all indigenous cultures and significantly harmed every ecosystem we encounter through its relentless expansion and fear-based ideologies. Over the past five centuries, as a result of the profound consequences of brutal colonization and relentless population growth, we have imposed our dominating, fear-driven conditioning, anti-nature agricultural practices, and ecological degradation upon all continents of the Earth.
For years, we have contended with persistent division and animosity towards those perceived as different, both as individuals and as a society. We have observed rampant population growth that continuously encroaches on land for food production, neglecting the sustainability of this trajectory. This method is not only unviable but also detrimental to other living beings and the environment, exacerbating conflicts driven by human actions.
Some governments prioritize their quest for global power and wealth over serving their citizens. In the process, citizens, often swayed by a blind patriotism, follow these agendas without questioning the real implications of their loyalty. Consequently, they find themselves on a path that undermines the essential principles of what is profoundly right. Furthermore, we have devised and justified an escalating campaign of warfare against the wilderness, which constitutes our fundamental habitat. Our actions have had a significant impact on the environment, and we have sought to exert control over every aspect of our planet.
If we remain unaware of this or are untroubled by it, it suggests that we have developed a state of ignorance regarding the nature of existence. This phenomenon arises from the fractured roots of our culture, leading us to internalize its ideologies centered on sorrow and despair. This is evident in the global manifestations of our cultural actions. We persist in undermining the fundamental fabric of our existence and that of all other species. Our culture exhibits signs of dysfunction, a condition perpetuated collectively by all members of society.
The momentum of our hierarchical culture is robust and influential, characterized by maladjusted conflicts and discontent. Addressing these issues necessitates a subversive approach. Upon recognizing that our challenges are intricately interwoven within the educational framework, it becomes evident that resolving these problems is contingent upon altering our perceptions of children, the learning process, and our educational methodologies. Accordingly, we must first confront our perspectives, beliefs, and conditioning.
We must confront the prevailing cultural narratives with considerable courage, as they often perpetuate myths that lull us into ignorance rather than awakening us to reality. Educators and parents bear a significant responsibility in this regard. We must challenge the narratives we have been indoctrinated with. Through heightened awareness, critical questioning, and the resolve to resist conformity to authority, we can prevent our progression toward self-destruction, foster inclusive and interconnected stories, reflect the Earth's life cycles, and live authentically.
If we genuinely care for our children and the planet, it is imperative that we take a decisive stance. We are not independent entities. We don't have to continue expanding economically, agriculturally, militarily, and spiritually to succeed. The narrative that we have been conditioned to accept is fundamentally flawed.
Collectively, we can transform the very fabric of the world by altering our perceptions, thoughts, and how we educate our children. I invite you to pause with me, listen intently, and release the patterns of thoughting. Engage in deep listening. Allow your mind to find tranquility and recognize that we are united rather than disparate. Fragmentation arises from culturally ingrained thought. Wholeness is the essence of existence. Freedom must be established at the outset, not as a concluding consideration.
