Friday, February 17, 2023

They Don't Need No Education

The Republicans have organized a full-throated attack on higher education. Paul Krugman writes:

Not that long ago most Americans in both parties believed that colleges had a positive effect on the United States. Since the rise of Trumpism, however, Republicans have turned very negative. Recent polling shows an overwhelming majority of Republicans agreeing that both college professors and high schools are trying to “teach liberal propaganda.”

But what actually happened here? Did America’s colleges — which a large majority of Republicans considered to have a positive influence as recently as 2015 — suddenly become centers of left-wing indoctrination? Did the same thing happen to high schools, run by local boards, across the nation?

Of course not. What happened was that MAGA politicians began peddling scare stories about education — notably, denouncing high schools for teaching critical race theory, even though they don’t. And right-wingers also greatly expanded their definition of what counts as “liberal propaganda.”

Thus, when one points out that schools don’t actually teach critical race theory, the response tends to be that while they may not use the term, they do teach students that racism was long a major force in America, and its effects linger to this day. I don’t know how you teach our nation’s history honestly without mentioning these facts — but in the eyes of a substantial number of voters, teaching uncomfortable facts is indeed a form of liberal propaganda.

And once that’s your mind-set, you see left-wing indoctrination happening everywhere, not just in history and the social sciences. If a biology class explains the theory of evolution, and why almost all scientists accept it — or, for that matter, the theory of how vaccines work — well, that’s liberal propaganda. If a physics class explains how greenhouse gas emissions can change the climate — well, that’s more liberal propaganda.

Education is one of the great dividing lines in American politics:

It’s a familiar fact that U.S. politics is increasingly polarized along educational lines, with the highly educated supporting Democrats and the less-educated supporting Republicans. This polarization is often portrayed as a symptom of Democratic failure — why can’t the party win over working-class white voters? But it’s equally valid to ask how Republicans have managed to alienate educated voters who might benefit from tax cuts. And the party’s growing hostility to education is surely part of the answer.

In any case, one sad thing is that this turn against education is taking place precisely at a time when highly educated workers are becoming ever more crucial to the economy. This is especially obvious when you look at regional data within the United States: The college-educated percentage of a city’s population is a powerful predictor of both its current prosperity and its future growth.

So why demonize education? Krugman says the answer is simple:

[They] are attacking education, not because it teaches liberal propaganda, but because it fails to sustain the ignorance they want to preserve.

Image: Twitter


12 comments:

zoombats said...

"[They] are attacking education, not because it teaches liberal propaganda, but because it fails to sustain the ignorance they want to preserve".

It's pretty hard to teach "critical race theory" when you don't even teach "critical thought" from the get go.

Owen Gray said...

Critical thinking is a concept -- like critical race theory -- that is foreign to these folks, zoombats.

Anonymous said...

Another way of looking at the division may be that it's also a problem of social esteem and not merely an intention to "dumb down" a segment of the population, although the effect of not supporting higher education does that. Is it possible that the relatively lower educated class sees investing resources for higher education as unfairly favouring people other than themselves? A misplaced, envious reaction? Are we seeing people who have been "left behind", a group that Trump targetted, many of whome seem to have found a home in the Republican Party, not wanting to fall further behind?

CD

Owen Gray said...

I think that the anger comes from people who really do believe they've been left behind, CD. Unfortunately, they don't see education as a way up and out.

Anonymous said...

A good point, Owen. If those left behind don't see education "as a way up and out", perhaps the Democrats' intention to increase prekindergarten schooling to increase children's academic success and their sense of accomplishment is one way of changing the minds of their parents.

CD

Owen Gray said...

Let's hope so, CD. Apparently, Biden wants to expand public education to include a two year diploma from a community college.

jrkrideau said...

Unfortunately, they don't see education as a way up and out.

Reading about the level of student debt that many US students and graduates are carrying they may see it as more a kind of debt slavery than a way up and out.

There also seems to be an elitism in tertiary education that would shock the English "Eton-to-Oxford" graduates. One's career chances if you graduate from an Ivy or a very few other institutions seem a "lot" better than if you come out of a good but not famous university.

Then the US has this concept of "legacy" student applicant which seems to mean that if some of your ancestors attended that school you get bonus points toward admission. I do know how many universities do this but I think a lot of the Ivy League colleagues do this do.



Owen Gray said...

Education has become a brand, jrk. It has become a sign of worthiness. It should be a way up and out, not a symbol of moral worth.

Like so much else, its true value has been misconstrued.

Northern PoV said...

I love Roger Waters.
For his courageous stance on world politics toady and for yesterdays great songs of the past.

Was this one parody or prescience?

We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teacher, leave them kids alone
Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone
All in all, it's just another brick in the wall
All in all, you're just another brick in the wall
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers, leave them kids alone
Hey, teacher, leave us kids alone
All in all, you're just another brick in the wall
All in all, you're just another brick in the wall
If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?
You! Yes, you behind the bike stands
Stand still, laddy!

Anonymous said...

Notwithstanding Owen, that Another Brick in the Wall will stream through my head for the next several hours thanks to your post title (lol) this whole "war" on education in the US continues its race to the bottom. Considering that 74 million Americans still find that the biggest fraud in the history of their nation is worthy of the presidency, this war is working! I have to wonder how long the latest trope "woke" will last, it is so beyond ridiculous. Unfortunately, these anti education predators have their new scapegoat in trans youth who they will be driving up suicide statistics in the coming months, and many more millions of stupid people. The other side to this is the multi-tiered justice system where a beautiful man minding his business is killed by cops while Trump seeks another delay and gets it, for his many years of criminal activity is beyond anything that normal critical thought can comprehend. The US hasn't seen the last of this and the you know what will hit the fan come January 6 of 2025 where the war on education comes home to roost. BC Waterboy.

Owen Gray said...

A good education should teach you to beware of those who call you laddy, PoV.

Owen Gray said...

The man who wrote the Declaration of Independence -- Thomas Jefferson -- also founded the University of Virginia, waterboy. He knew that democracy would only last as long as its citizens were truly educated.

I wonder what he would have to say about the present situation.