The Education of a slave

"Their goal was to teach slaves to do their jobs well and to serve the economy. They most emphatically did not want slaves to be able to think for themselves. Free citizens, however - those who were to play an active role and excert leadership in the Greek democracy or roman republic were given what is called a liberal education, the term coming from the Latin word libera, meaning "freedom". To be free, students needed to develop all of their powers as human beings. They needed to learn how to think, how to create, how to contribute to society. Notice that students coming to college simply wanting vocational skills - so that they can, as they say, "get a good job and earn lots of money" - are asking for the education of a slave. In fact, the current trends in education might be summarized as constituting a curriculum of slavery. Such slave virtues such as conformity, passivity, the victim mentality, lack of thinking, unquestioning obedience to the dominant culture - these have become endemic in today's mentality. Citizens who think like this and have good jobs and make lots of money - have little interest in governing themselves, a process which requires knowledge of the issues, critical thinking, and civic responsibility. They would rather believe what they are told and as long as their place in the economy is assured, give their leaders high approval ratings, no matter what. " Gene Edward Veith