BLogarithm

The constituent components of capitalism have changed vastly over time. Today’s definition may be the unfettered, unregulated, and unbridled pursuit of profit at any cost. Capitalism, by any definition, is amoral and the pursuit of profit is often promoted as the ultimate American ideal, even when such an ideal infringes upon the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness of others. Ironically, or not, capitalism at its zenith can be completely anti-democratic and anti-American. Regrettably, public and private primary and secondary schools have been co-opted by corporate elites in efforts to mold America’s most impressionable citizens into conspicuous consumers and rabid capitalists who uncritically go through life without ever questioning the social, environmental, or ethical implications of the widespread acceptance of an amoral profit-at-all-costs culture.

One reason for the possible assault on public and private primary and secondary schools ( not to mention colleges and universities ) is the fallacious assumption by most Americans that democracy and capitalism are not mutually exclusive. True democracy and American capitalism are actually strange bedfellows as American capitalism tends to reduce everything to a commodity that can be bought and sold including political office, the votes of the citizenry, and popular opinion. No one can deny that modern political campaigns increasingly resemble ad campaigns whose simple slogans and catch phrases turn a particular candidate into a product to be consumed rather than a public servant to be held accountable for his or her actions. The candidates sole purpose becomes reelection for the maximum number of terms rather than service to his or her constituents. Today’s political arena is no different than the Coke vs. Pepsi wars of the 1980′s with your favorite political party/candidate selling his or her party platform every election season.

American schools (as an extension of our government), being beholden to corporate elites, do students and teachers a social disservice by treating teachers and students as inputs and outputs whose outcomes can be predicted and standardized if only each has the right training. The implications for our culture are already manifesting as test scores are being used to place value on certain schools, teachers, and students. Capitalist thought, theory, and practice, having infiltrated the schools, has reduced people to mere outcomes. Individual worth of students, teachers, and schools is now tied to what each is able to “produce” on so-called objective standardized tests ( which are often created by for-profit testing companies and textbook publishers ). The reduction of people to products is anti-ethical and immoral.

So, what is the solution? The influence of American capitalism must be removed from the American democracy or our entire culture will be reduced to so many commodities to be bought, sold and traded and the best place to begin the removal process is in our schools. Return the authority and autonomy for educating students to trained professionals and keep the marketing gurus out of the school house.