Chapter 23: Capitalism and Education

Under the Capitalist paradigm, a typical young person growing up faces the prospect of having to prepare, strategize and plan for the approaching time (the age varies from country to country and culture to culture) when they will have to start coming up with a constant supply of money in order to pay to be permitted to continue living. In such paradigms, college education or training in a skilled trade (carpenter, electrician, machinist, etc) often improves one's chances of being able to survive or thrive. It doesn't guarantee but it does improve one’s chances.

In some Capitalist countries a basic education is officially free, but in practice the quality of education is largely determined by economic circumstances. The United States arguably suffers from the worst educational disparity among what is commonly called the developed or industrialized nations, due to runaway unregulated Capitalism. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the vast majority of schoolchildren in the U.S. are given a primary and secondary education that scarcely or not at all prepares them for college.

As is typical in Capitalist societies, one's freedoms and options are mostly determined, defined and limited by one's economic situation. Depending on where a child’s family is situated on the economic pyramid, their education prepares and programs them for obedience, critical thinking and creativity, or command in an unofficial but very real caste system. There are numerous studies confirming this.

For those who are prepared to function in the college or university environment, the omnipresent financial barriers are always looming. In most Capitalist societies, higher education is extremely expensive even at state institutions and much more so at private schools. Yearly tuition is typically more than most people earn in a year, in an environment where most people have little or no financial resources left after paying living expenses.

Sometimes financial aid is available, but in a Capitalist society the trend over time is for prices to unrelentingly go up while available financial aid dwindles. (See chapter on inflation.) Often there are restrictions on financial aid. One is not eligible until their mid 20's. Often if parents are working, they are expected to pay for the education even when this is literally impossible.

In purely Capitalist societies, government income guidelines for everything from financial aid for higher education to food and housing assistance are notoriously unrealistic, effectively barring most people in need from qualifying. Official poverty income levels in the United States, for example, are typically defined and set far below what is actually possible to live on. To use a metaphor, if sea level were defined similarly to how the "poverty line" is defined, one would have to be at least 40 feet underwater before one was officially at sea level. (See the statistical analysis at the end of this book)

Thus, higher education in Capitalist societies grows steadily more out of reach for an ever-growing segment of the population. To make things worse, as stratification accelerates, more and more college graduates find themselves only able to get sub living wage jobs. Note that while there is the potential for living-wage salaries, the range starts for most majors at sub-living wages and the median is substantially less than the average which is cited in most studies. That means that half of those holding a degree are earning significantly less than the average for that degree. Nearly half of those working in low-wage jobs in the U.S. in 2012 had at least a bachelor’s degree as compared to 17% in 1968, while their wages were effectively over 20% lower. Since then the situation has grown even more extreme.

Capitalist societies have strong reinforcers and pressures on students to choose a course of study based on how it will affect their expected income in the "job market." Pursuing dreams and passions, contributing to the community or improving quality of life for people is selected against, both by economic survival pressures and prevailing social attitudes.

Most students select a course of study based on greatest income potential, even if it is something for which they have no interest, aptitude or affinity. This fosters a society in which the norm and expectation is to place wealth acquisition potential above most or all other considerations and pursue careers which hold little meaning or motivation.

A society in which most people spend the bulk of their time and energy engaged in activities that are unfulfilling for them, while neglecting more fulfilling pursuits, is a society of needless unhappiness and greatly diminished vitality, innovation, and engagement. Such a culture is a crippled, dysfunctional society that reinforces the pursuit of unhappiness in order to survive, that forces its citizens to choose between doing what they love and are good at versus survival. Such people tend to be depressed, apathetic, disconnected, alienated, unmotivated, frustrated, numb, and cynical. Most individuals are never able to make their greatest contribution to the community. Mediocrity becomes the expected and accepted norm. Both the individual and the community suffer as a result.

Productivity itself suffers because the majority of people are doing jobs they don't care about, that give them little or no sense of empowerment, purpose, accomplishment, satisfaction or meaning while being increasingly distanced from their passions in life, in work environments where they are usually treated with little respect. They know only too well that they are being pressured to produce the most possible while being paid the least possible.

Individuals in such paradigms suffer a severely diminished or nonexistent quality of life, and the community suffers from the half-hearted grudging contributions and efforts of people who would much rather be elsewhere doing something else.

Through it all, the enforced need to constantly come up with money to pay to be allowed to live is a palpable chain that keeps the situation static, keeps the serfs and slaves of the modern feudal society playing their parts in holding up the economic pyramid. They have little time or energy left for much else.

On the surface of it, Capitalism may superficially appear to produce higher productivity than a synergistic egalitarian cooperative paradigm. This appearance is an illusion in the same way that taking amphetamines appears to render a person more productive on fewer hours of sleep with less food than does eating and sleeping enough to sustain optimal health. We all know, however, that the stimulants are doing irreparable damage to the user over time and the quality of what they produce is inferior. It is preferable to produce 10 good results in an hour than 100 botched and rushed results.

In the new paradigms, education and training in all areas at all levels will be free for all seeking it. Anybody with the motivation, discipline, and ability will be able to complete their chosen courses of study and training, then find a niche or niches in which they can ply their knowledge, skills, expertise or trade and make their best possible contribution to the community in ways to which they are passionately connected.

Such a society of highly empowered, motivated, fulfilled people pursuing their true interests and passions will be populated by thriving, deeply engaged individuals putting forth their best efforts willingly, enthusiastically and happily. Individuals will enjoy a vastly higher quality of life. A community of empowered, educated, highly-trained people will enjoy high quality of life in every aspect. Everybody will benefit from a large reservoir of people with high levels of expertise and knowledge.

Quite likely the distinction between "work" and “play” or "life" will fade with time as the norm shifts from feudalistic thralldom to meaningful productivity. People will likely go eagerly to their jobs doing what they love and are good at, among peers who share their passion, working together collaborating in pursuit of excellence. The community will benefit from the higher level of vibrancy, innovation, dedication, and engagement of such citizens.

Would you rather be operated on by a surgeon who loves healing people and takes strong pride in their craft, or by a surgeon who is in the field for the money, prestige and perks? Would you rather drive a car designed and built by people who are passionate about making the best car they can make, or a car designed and built by people who are underpaid, driven obsessively to meet arbitrary deadlines, micromanaged, and apathetic because they know the company only cares about profits and stock prices? Would you rather eat food prepared by someone who is passionate about the culinary arts and loves to see the smiles of enjoyment on the faces of people eating their food, or eat food prepared by overworked, poorly compensated people driven to work in a constant rush, who in response at least fantasize about spitting in the food?

Already many countries with social-democratic paradigms do offer free education at every level - Norway, Slovenia, Germany, France, Finland, Sweden and others. (Brazil does as well but its paradigm falls short because its overall infrastructure suffers from the same kind of economic stratification as the U.S., so that applicants from lower socio-economic strata are at a distinct disadvantage in the application process.) This only makes sense. A community that supports and encourages its members to follow their passions, develop their talents and abilities, and apply their knowledge and training in everyday life will reap the benefits of the best possible contributions of its citizens.

Capitalism puts major barriers in the way of prospective students and muddies the waters of opportunity for graduates to pursue the careers for which they were trained. The community suffers immeasurably when increasing segments of the population are under-educated and un-self-actualized. Likewise, the Community suffers when many who have attained high levels of training and education end up having to do poorly-paid jobs in or outside their field. In the new paradigms with no such barriers in any area of life, productivity, fulfillment, job satisfaction and quality of life will go hand in hand rather than pulling in opposite directions.

Students, relieved of the burden and constraint of having to always focus on how to be "marketable" upon graduation, will be free and able to devote themselves purely to their studies and to innovation, excellence and creativity in their chosen fields. Freed of the need to constantly come up with money to pay for living expenses while studying, they will be less stressed and more able to learn and develop in their chosen fields.

Even financial aid carries with it considerable pressure and stress. Students are aware that they are accumulating debt that will be waiting for them upon graduation. They will enter the job market already owing major amounts of money. There are scholarships, grants, work-study and other forms of financial aid that do not involve debt, but these are rarely enough on their own to cover the cost of study plus living.

Graduate and doctorate level education in Capitalist cultures generally has little or no financial aid available and is even more expensive than undergraduate study. The new paradigm will release higher education from the chains and constraints of profit motive and "market forces" to engender a highly-educated, motivated, thriving society of self-actualized people. All countries and communities that embrace the new paradigms will rise to the top of world productivity, innovation, and quality of life and be shining examples and proof of their superiority and practicality.