The Green Book: Part Three

Chapter Eight

              EDUCATION


  Education, or learning, is not neces-
sarily that methodized curriculum and
those classified subjects in text books
which youth are forced to learn during
specified hours while sitting on rows of
desks. This type of education, now
prevailing all over the world, is against
human freedom. Compulsory educa-
tion, of which countries of the world
boast whenever they are able to force
it on their youth, is one of the methods
which suppresses freedom. It is a com-
pulsory obliteration of a human being's
talents as well as a forcible direction of
a human being's choices. It is an act of
dictatorship damaging to freedom be-
cause it deprives man of free choice,
creativity and brilliance. To force a
human being to learn according to a
set curriculum is a dictatorial act. To
impose certain subjects upon people is
a dictatorial act.
  Compulsory and methodized educa-
tion is in fact a forced stultification of
the masses. All countries which set
courses of education in terms of formal

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curricula and force pupils to learn
them, coerce their citizens. All
methods of education prevailing in the
world should be done away with
through a worldwide cultural revolu-
tion to emancipate man's mind from
curricula of fanaticism and from the
process of deliberate adaptation of
man's taste, his ability to form con-
cepts and his mentality.
  This does not mean that schools are
to be closed and that people should turn
their backs on education, as it may
seem to superficial readers. On the
contrary, it means that society should
provide all types of education, giving
people the chance to choose freely any
subjects they wish to learn. This re-
quires a sufficient number of schools
for all types of education. Insufficient
schools restrict man's freedom of
choice forcing him to learn the sub-
jects available, while depriving him of
natural right of choice because of the
lack of availability of other subjects.
Societies which ban and monopolize
knowledge are reactionary societies

biased towards ignorance and hostile
to freedom. Thus societies which pro-

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hibit the teaching of religion as it
actually is, are reactionary societies,
biased towards ignorance and hostile
to freedom. Societies which monopol-
ize religious education are reactionary
societies, biased towards ignorance
and hostile to freedom. Equally reac-
tionary and biased towards ignorance
and hostile to freedom are the societies
which distort the religions, civiliza-
tions and behaviour of others in the
process of teaching those subjects.
Societies which consider materialistic
knowledge as taboo are reactionary
societies biased towards ignorance and
hostile to freedom. Knowledge is a
natural right of every human being
which nobody has the right to deprive
him of under any pretext except in a
case where a person himself does
something which deprives him of that
right.
  Ignorance will come to an end when
everything is presented as it actually is
and when knowledge about everything
is available to each person in the
manner that suits him.

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Chapter Nine   Table of Contents