How could a man who died 44 years ago have so much insight as to our school system of today?

Question

"What I want to fix your attention on is the vast overall movement towards the discrediting, and finally the elimination, of every kind of human excellence -- moral, cultural, social or intellectual. And is it not pretty to notice how 'democracy' (in the incantatory sense) is now doing for us the work that was once done by the most ancient dictatorships, and by the same methods? The basic proposal of the new education is to be that dunces and idlers must not be made to feel inferior to intelligent and industrious pupils. That would be 'undemocratic.' Children who are fit to proceed may be artificially kept back, because the others would get a trauma by being left behind. The bright pupil thus remains democratically fettered to his own age group throughout his school career, and a boy who would be capable of tackling Aeschylus or Dante sits listening to his coeval's [of the same age] attempts to spell out A CAT SAT ON A MAT. We may reasonably hope for the virtual abolition of education when 'I'm as good as you' has fully had its way. All incentives to learn and all penalties for not learning will vanish. The few who might want to learn will be prevented; who are they to overtop their fellows? And anyway, the teachers -- or should I say nurses? -- will be far too busy reassuring the dunces and patting them on the back to waste any time on real teaching. We shall no longer have to plan and toil to spread imperturbable conceit and incurable ignorance among men." C. S. Lewis

He’s nailed our public schools of the 21st century, hasn’t he?

There are two items in the Communist Manifesto that stick out like sore thumbs.

1. A progressive graduated income tax.
2. Government education of the children.
And guess what? We have both of those here today.

Answer 1

Strike true. My daughter was in a private school up until 4th grade. When we put her into our local public school we noticed she was far more advanced than those in her class. She made A pluses on all of her papers and complained about being bored, about getting done with her work faster than any of the other kids, then having to wait without doing anything. We tried to talk to the teacher, but he was only interested in her social skills, actually saying to me as I was trying to talk about her academics, "She was so shy when she started my class, but I've brought her out of her shell and she's made friends." After that I went to the principal, but he said that they did not advance students because it was a detriment to others who were "left behind", school board's rules. So, I went to the school board, they said, no it was the decision of the individual school, the teacher and the principal who makes those decisions. So, after about 4 months we took her out and put her back into private school up to high school. We struggled, but it was worth it. Our experience was a joke, all they cared about was the kids "feelings". Now, our son is in a private school and there he will stay. We learned our lesson the hard way.

Oh, and Jacob W is correct. Jimmy Carter created the NEA, to all of our detriment! The FIRST thing they did was lower the criteria for passing and graduating high school. I know, I was in high school in the late 70's - early 80's. What a mess. And it's all been down hill from there.

I agree that the system does not work anymore and needs to be changed. Get rid of the NEA. Put education back in the hands of the states and communities where it belongs, create neighborhood schools where everyone knows each other, and concentrate on education, not feelings and being fair. Life isn't fair. Period.

Answer 2

Well people get so tied up with labels they forget the "ist" be it communist, capitlaist, socialist, or facist are all after the control of the Government.
The "ism" are after control of people minds.
Once you have both of those in place the only end game of the Communist because the run out of richess to plunder, the Capitalist because the "interest monster" created by their system eventually collaspes the system, the Socailist because people get lazy and the best and brightest leave, the facist because they kill of the best and brightest to prevent them from rebellion. Power of over their fellow citizens is an ever consuming goal for many in our society.
In the end they all turn to the gun to hold their power over people. Like the Police in the USA today know what the Constitution says but support laws the limit those rights even if it hurt their own family because they fear bucking the system.
The system becomes an ever currupting force if the citizenry does not take an active part. Maintianing a Democarcy is a lot of hard work..

Answer 3

This is exactly the reason why we are already looking into private schools for our kids and they are only 2 and newborn.

This crud was going on in my schools when I was a kid back in the 80's, literally sitting in English Lit class my senior year with others that barely had a 4th grade reading level.

That's our school systems at work folks. The sad part is while they may not be hurting the feelings of the ones that don't quite muster to the rest of the students in their class, in the long run, they are hurting these kids in the worst way. Telling them they pass then throwing them out here in the real world where they do what? End up on welfare!

Answer 4

I wouldn't say he's 'nailed them' but at times his description does apply to various school districts.

I contest his assertion: "The few who might want to learn will be prevented"

We have libraries. We have the internet. Education is not restricted to the classroom. I know it's rare, and often not as helpful as real education, but self education is real and possible. I do it all the time because things I want to learn are not available in classrooms.

If you think C.S. Lewis was prophetic, you need to read some Aldous Huxley. His work is about 80 years old now, and I find it quite ironic how his description of 'machine generated music' matches the typical music we hear on the radio today. A lot of his assertions on what humanity would become came true in some form or fashion.

Answer 5

The writing was on the wall. Whenever you accept substandard performance and punish success, "as taking advantage of the less fortunate" then you have a recipe for failure. 41 years ago, the school systems were just getting around to this and Lewis knew that if it were allowed to take root, it would be the beginning of the end. I would say that makes his a very wise man, and it does, but there was plenty of outcry besides his that this "new" public education system was doomed to failure. Lewis is but one of many that was proved right, and now we can look back with complete 20-20 and know that we should have listened better.

Answer 6

Once upon a time if you tried out for the baseball team and weren't good enough, you got CUT! If your grades weren't good enough, you got CUT! If you didn't do your homework, if you didnt' test well, or if you didn't pay attention in class, you FAILED! Simple as that!

Today anybody who tries out for a sport is automatically a part of the team, regardless of tallent or ability, because heavin forbig we hurt a child's feelings. If a kid isn't doing well in school, then it must be the rest of the class's fault so teachers are forced to slow things down so that EVERYBODY feels empowered.

Bottom line is that nothing our schools do these days prepares kids for the real world. The real world doesn't care if you woke up late, missed the bus, or can't get your affairs in order. School doesn't teach kids about interest rates, the importance of good credit, or how to balance a checkbook. Maybe that's why we have so many lawsuits these days. Because more and more stupid people are graduating school believing that the world needs to cater to THEIR needs instead of them adapting to overcome life's challenges.

Answer 7

Well well well, Did you attend public school?

You do realize in most areas there are various programs to better educate, better students. Whether the school district utilizes honors, AP, IB classes or Magnet schools, etc. There is an effort within most school districts to provide a quality education to those who wish to obtain it.

I will admit the current system isn't perfect, and we should do what we can to improve our entire educations system throughout the country. But lets not abandon the system. (I see vouchers as abandoning the system). Let's work together to come up with an actual solution.

Answer 8

Absolutely fantastic. I adore CS Lewis. Where is this from? I'd love to read the whole thing (unless this is it, which is fine too). Scary about the Communist Manifesto; we're closer to it than I thought.

Katydid, I support Bush on a lot of things, but I wholly loathe his socialistic ideas about schools. If there's one thing I've learned from my rocky and disjointed school career, it's that government interference only ruins what is good. In Ronald Reagan's words on that subject, "Government's view on the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: if it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

Answer 9

Well I can only judge by what I read in his auto biography and other writings since I didn't know him personally. With that said I would have to say yes; He was a good man. As previously stated his trip to Mecca was eye opening and enlightening. For a man to go from the attitude of completely abhorring interracial marriage and preaching against it, and then to eventually believe that it is up to the couple to do what's best for them regardless of race is a sign of positive evolution IMO.

Answer 10

The Federal Government has no business interfering in our educational system. Jimmy Carter created the Department of Education. It has been downhill ever since.

Try this:

"Every man must be judged for what he is and treated accordingly . . . just as you do not pay a higher price for a rusty chunk of scrap than for a piece of shining metal, so you do not value a rotter above a hero . . . To withhold your contempt from men's vices is an act of moral counterfeiting, and to withhold your admiration from their virtues is an act of moral embezzlement.

-Ayn Rand

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