I seem to be immersed in it but at times I feel I'm learning nothing.
I am one to believe we are forced to learn what is worth knowing in
order to be a part of society. Degrees are structured much like
apprenticeships, though they are much more flexible. As a marxist I
think it's my job to see the education system, and universities in
particular, as a factory. We are empty humanoid glass jars filled with a
unique concoction of ingredients. Depending where we are, the spices
used to flavour us will be different, the writing indicating who we are
may be in another language or two. I have admitted that each of us is
unique, my hints may be greener, redder, bluer, black... Take these as
our political affiliations.We are all attracted to ideas, these we throw
in sometimes hastily, when we're forced. Do you know when you throw in
the parsley too soon? Its taste disappears. These ideas lost could be
vital, they could be a glimpse of the machine's technology. Ideas are
never useless, but different. Our ideas can be contradictory, do tastes
not clash?
We too are dated. We go through stages of brewing, in which our main
ideas are thrown into us. Sometimes ideas are forced into us against our
will, or before we can handle them. Most of our ideas are made to fit
to society's tastes. But we too are dated. Our ideas expire. This is not
our fault; can you see that rust on the lever? Has that needle stopped
turning? They've been running full blast on a recipe perfected to fit a
bygone epoch.Though society has changed, education remains the same. It was
made to be very useful, to allow us to fit into the economy, our
culture, our intellectual superiority. We go into uni to think we are
going to get a job, our ideas are nipped in the bud while we breathe
false hope. Where does my creativity stand if I cannot express it... In
our factory, corroded, our creativity is rendered useless. We live to
work, forcing us to forget any restless ideas, or the delusion of a free
spirit.
Society runs on more mental health drugs,
caffeine shots and paradoxically crime then ever before. Though each of
us is a jar, unique in our own ways, we are never allowed to fill the
air with our own conclusions. Capitalism is a system of waste, and we are
wasted. If we were each given time to express, taste our own ideas, test
them and compare them- with no rush- we would find solutions, new
ideas, art. There would be no need to lose our minds. Why should we
overwork? Has the system not missed its deadline? Let it go, taste test
and create- in the process you will also see past your labels and read
others'.
