Education

Education

A human being is like crops - create the environment of healthy soil, water, air, food, and the crop will do its own work. Figure out what the crop needs, then give it that. When a person’s needs are met then the person can grow, will grow, to their fullest potential. It’s our birthright to be able to grow to our fullest potential as human beings. Anyone who stops us from doing so has a reason.

And that reason

revolves around control.

In our society right now we need children that function on a high level. With our current system what we get is a low level of functioning. We get an emotionally stunted development. We get adults with the emotional processing ability of children. We get adults who are easy to control.

If we can see the world through the eyes of a child, make decisions based on a child’s needs, then we have taken a major step in being sustainable as a culture and in letting go of the things that ultimately keep us imprisoned. Imprisoned in a world of fear, estrangement, abuse, violence, deterioration of our planet’s environment, all for the sake of people we will never see or know in our lives. Those who profit. Those who exploit. Those who take more than they give back. Or simply take and never give anything back at all.

Sustainability is about empowerment and reaching the potential we have as an individuals. Our culture needs sustainable human beings. Our culture needs humans who are able to reach their highest potential.

Our current public education system in the U.S. is not capable of meeting these needs. The stated purpose of this eduction system was to create a “docile” work force. To adapt people to this society. Docile means easily managed or handled. Or for practical purposes, afraid. Education in this culture is designed to minimize human potential. Just like a mono-crop of corn is designed to have uniformity and no variance in gene type, our system for educating our children is designed to produce the same person over and over again. Someone who responds to orders, responds to bells, conforms to the given societal standards, follows the rules, knows their place and most importantly

does not question authority.

People’s own thwarted potential is what scares them. They then impart this notion onto the next generation, willingly.

What does it take for you to be a sustainable person?

We, as inhabitants of this culture need to ask ourselves many questions. Some of which get to the very core of sustainability as an idea. How does this culture affect us as individuals? As people? As humans? How does this culture affect other cultures and their inhabitants? How does this culture affect the natural (real) world around us?

Is our way, our personal way, sustainable? Are we as individuals healthy in mind and body? Is our spiritual way able to live in harmony with the Earth? With others? Are we destructive in our actions and beliefs? Do our beliefs and actions destroy other human’s lives? Do they destroy other living things? Do they destroy the world? Do we take and not give back? Are we disconnected from ourselves? Our true selves? Other humans? The natural (real) world? The Earth? Or, do we prefer to luxuriate in the detritus of our technology? Our distractions? Relate to other humans through a haze of Victorian era morals and etiquette?

By observing the child and meeting the needs of the child we begin to correct the future. By putting the child first and designing environments that meet the needs of the child, we are allowing for the future to have sustainable humans.

There are other models of education. There are those that have the revolutionary and empowering notion that the child’s needs come first. If we’re going to have a revolutionary education, then we are going to have a revolutionary society. The problem for those in power with this notion is, there can no longer be a mono-crop system in place. Within an education system where children are empowered, there must be diversity. Diversity makes people difficult to manage and

difficult to control.