Overthrowing the New Slavery

[Echo In Light]

Overthrowing the New Slavery
Dr. Norman D. Livergood

"The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it. The ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships, the dominant material relationships grasped as ideas; hence of the relationships which make the one class the ruling one, therefore, the ideas of its dominance. The individuals composing the ruling class possess among other things consciousness, and therefore think. Insofar, therefore, as they rule as a class and determine the extent and compass of an epoch, it is self-evident that they do this in its whole range, hence among other things rule also as thinkers, as producers of ideas, and regulate the production and distribution of the ideas of their age: thus their ideas are the ruling ideas of the epoch."

http://www.new-enlightenment.com/new_slavery.htm

[SharkSquid]

1. SO in short

Smart people are the masters and idiots the slaves...

excellent!

:evilgrin:

[Echo In Light]

5. ...and unfortunately, silence = consent n/t

[annabanana]

2. their ideas are the ruling ideas

Even the really bad ideas.

[Patchuli]

6. Their ideas are *mostly* bad ideas!

I'm no one's slave...!

[notadmblnd]

3. Of course, hence the reason our schools are failing

It begins with the curriculum. They want our children to be idiots.

[groovedaddy]

4. Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire

Pedagogy of the Oppressed is the most widely known of educator Paulo Freire's works. It was first published in Portuguese in 1968 as Pedagogia do oprimido and the first English translation was published in 1970. The book examines the struggle for justice and equity within the educational system and proposes a new pedagogy.

Dedicated "to the oppressed, and to those who suffer with them and fight at their side," Freire includes a detailed Marxist class analysis in his exploration of the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. Rooted in his own experience helping Brazilian adults to read and write, the book remains popular among educators in developing countries. According to Donaldo Macedo, a former colleague of Freire and University of Massachusetts professor, the text is still revolutionary, and he cites as evidence students from totalitarian states risking punishment to read Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The book has sold over 750 000 copies worldwide and is one of the foundations of critical pedagogy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogy_of_the_Oppressed

“For I agree with you that there is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents. Formerly bodily powers gave place among the aristoi. But since the invention of gunpowder has armed the weak as well as the strong with the missile death, bodily strength, like beauty, good humor politeness and other accomplishments, has become but auxiliary ground of distinction. There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents; for with these it would belong to the first class. The natural aristocracy I consider as the most precious gift of nature for the instructions, the trusts, and government of society. And indeed it would have been inconsistent in creation to have formed man for the social state, and not to have provided virtue and wisdom enough to manage the concerns of society. May we not even say that that form of government is the best which provides the most effectually for a pure selection of these natural aristoi to the offices of government? The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government and provision should be made to prevent its ascendancy.” Thomas Jefferson to John Adams - 1813

[Hydra]

7. The aristocracy of talent has certainly given way to "divine right"

We don't appreciate genius as much as we idolize success and wealth. We don't extol virtue, either.

No wonder we're screwn.

[truedelphi]

9. Yep a person woul dhave a hard time finding the genius in Paris Hilton

And those two on the whole are a lot more pleasant that some of the rich Uber-class's offspring.

[starroute]

8. That's what counter-cultures are for

Every era has its dominant ideology, but every dominant ideology spawns its natural opposition. Prophets and philosophers, artists and poets, geeks and general oddballs are always the sources of counter-establishment thinking and creativity.

The court poets and court artists rarely get remembered -- or when they do, it's because they were serving a court that itself had an anti-establishment turn of mind. History is littered with justly forgotten establishment drones. History is changed by those who buck the establishment to offer something new.