aworldsman
21st September 2011, 05:42
I just wrote this as a kickoff to my own intellectual explorations; any thoughts, criticism, feedback, or discussion - totally welcome =).
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I believe that literacy, particularly civic literacy, is a requirement for anyone who wants to see the world improve. We can understand all the intricacies of any given issue but if we can’t express ourselves effectively then we’re not very useful at all.
Civic literacy also implies an ability to defend ourselves against the rhetorical tricks that politicians and other persuaders might use to manipulate our convictions. Public education and mass media have rendered us vulnerable to indoctrination.
We need to evolve from “schooled” to “educated” so we can defend ourselves, express ourselves, and so we can begin to build within ourselves an ability to make positive change happen.
We first need to make the choice to pursue “social enlightenment” as individuals. This choice will inevitably lead to a type of personal evolution, whereby your mind regains its natural, sponge-like consistency. I believe that one way for this to happen is through the study of language and its effective use: rhetoric.
Then – once we develop ourselves as independent intellectuals – we’ll be able to mesh together like a perfect puzzle and we’ll witness the emergence of a popular quiet consciousness, as has already begun.
If you feel like the world is messed up, and if you think that it could be better, then you’ve already overcome the toughest obstacle there is: awareness. Now all you need is to make a choice.
We can either actively investigate and influence this uncomfortable existence, or we can just accept it and meander through a totally prescribed lifestyle without ever understanding the reason behind our fortunes or – more commonly – our misfortunes.
If we decide to take the first path, we should be prepared to learn quickly, to write effectively, and to argue persuasively. I believe that these are prerequisites for any revolutionary curriculum. We can’t just haphazardly approach these problems and hope for the best; we need to engineer a set of comprehensive solutions and pursue them strategically. This will take effort. It will take commitment. It will take skill. But it is far from impossible.
One way to acquire the skills we need is through the study of language. If we improve our use of language, we improve the way we think, speak, learn, read, and decipher the events around us. It’s an intellectual investment for our future.
Take, for example, a simple problem: A man wishes to get from one side of a lake to the other. He has a few options:
1) He can learn to swim on the fly and risk drowning,
2) He can walk around the lake and risk tiring, or
3) He can take a few moments to think about the history and science behind his problem, read some books, build a sailboat, and glide across the lake with a skill acquired.
We need to take the time to study the history and science of society so we can build a kickass solution. But first we need to learn how to learn. We don’t have time to walk to our destination. We need to invest a little time into our momentum. And with a focused study of language, I think we can do that quite effectively.
George Orwell, in Politics and the English Language, suggests that this is possible, and necessary:
Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible. Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step toward political regeneration: so that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writers.
Orwell’s analogy of the drunk man illustrates a phenomenon called a vicious circle. Other examples of vicious circles can be seen in popular participation in politics (the more people believe politics is hopelessly corrupt and obscure, the more corrupt and obscure it will be), education (if instructors teach ineffectively, the students that fill teachers’ roles will teach more ineffectively), and intellectual maturity (if you treat people like children, they will behave like children, and will raise men as children).
Another example can be seen in our confidence as individuals and as groups. If we think that we can’t change the world, then we’ll never take any measures to try to change it, and the status quo expires, rots, and contaminates the world without ever being purified.
We can break out of these vicious circles of social decay if we first become aware of the problems, dissect their causes, articulate proposals, and engineer solutions.
We need to be able to employ expression that corresponds to the circumstances of our environment. We have a vague understanding that things aren’t right. We might even know what the problems are, and how to solve them. We just need to find the words to pull that intuition out of our gut before it expires.
We see that we’re being played right now. We feel it; we know it. The governments, banks, and corporations have engineered a solution to their problems: profit, power, and preservation. We need to respond. But how can we?
As a nation of well-behaved children, we’ve got quite a challenge on our hands. We’re set against ourselves and each other; this is one of the many convenient consequences of the socially, culturally, and environmentally destructive power structures that currently taint our lives. We spend more time consuming sports statistics, chasing pseudo-romance, and taking sides on false issues and their false choices, than we do inquiring and investigating.
But we aren’t dumb.
To say that we’re dumb is to say that we’re intellectually deficient. We’re not deficient – we’re malnourished. We’ve been muzzled and indoctrinated.
It’s not the fault of the students or the workers or even the politicians. It’s not the American voter’s fault that he votes for a candidate that supports unjustified military adventurism and goofy bailouts. It’s not the CEO’s fault that he was born into a rich family that taught him profit over compassion. It’s not the thief’s fault that he was born into a community that sees “crime” as a means of physical and social survival.
We need to transcend the typical verdicts and realize that these are all effects – symptoms – of an institutional disorder. The problems are systemic. Instead of placing blame on a single person, we should focus inquiry on the systems that produce the need for these behaviors. I think if we focus on that question – “what’s to blame?” – rather than “who’s to blame”, we’ll be able to work towards a cure instead of a treatment. You can’t cure cancer with a band-aid.
This method of questioning can apply to abortion, gay marriage (and marriage in general), bailouts, wars, elections, and other popular issues. Rise above the prescribed choices and develop your own.
This also applies to our intelligence, confidence, and ability. We’ve been given choices – schools, universities, professions, specialties – that force us into a well-rounded lockstep. Our success, worth, and self-image are defined by quantities – how many years of school have you purchased, how much money do you make, how fast is your car – over qualities.
Fuck being a well-rounded number. I want a razor-sharp uniqueness. I think that’s natural.
My contention is that it’s in our best interest to educate ourselves and each other in ways that enhance our civic literacy so we can dissect the socially destructive artifacts of yesterday’s antiquated institutions. It’s time to evolve.
=======================
I believe that literacy, particularly civic literacy, is a requirement for anyone who wants to see the world improve. We can understand all the intricacies of any given issue but if we can’t express ourselves effectively then we’re not very useful at all.
Civic literacy also implies an ability to defend ourselves against the rhetorical tricks that politicians and other persuaders might use to manipulate our convictions. Public education and mass media have rendered us vulnerable to indoctrination.
We need to evolve from “schooled” to “educated” so we can defend ourselves, express ourselves, and so we can begin to build within ourselves an ability to make positive change happen.
We first need to make the choice to pursue “social enlightenment” as individuals. This choice will inevitably lead to a type of personal evolution, whereby your mind regains its natural, sponge-like consistency. I believe that one way for this to happen is through the study of language and its effective use: rhetoric.
Then – once we develop ourselves as independent intellectuals – we’ll be able to mesh together like a perfect puzzle and we’ll witness the emergence of a popular quiet consciousness, as has already begun.
If you feel like the world is messed up, and if you think that it could be better, then you’ve already overcome the toughest obstacle there is: awareness. Now all you need is to make a choice.
We can either actively investigate and influence this uncomfortable existence, or we can just accept it and meander through a totally prescribed lifestyle without ever understanding the reason behind our fortunes or – more commonly – our misfortunes.
If we decide to take the first path, we should be prepared to learn quickly, to write effectively, and to argue persuasively. I believe that these are prerequisites for any revolutionary curriculum. We can’t just haphazardly approach these problems and hope for the best; we need to engineer a set of comprehensive solutions and pursue them strategically. This will take effort. It will take commitment. It will take skill. But it is far from impossible.
One way to acquire the skills we need is through the study of language. If we improve our use of language, we improve the way we think, speak, learn, read, and decipher the events around us. It’s an intellectual investment for our future.
Take, for example, a simple problem: A man wishes to get from one side of a lake to the other. He has a few options:
1) He can learn to swim on the fly and risk drowning,
2) He can walk around the lake and risk tiring, or
3) He can take a few moments to think about the history and science behind his problem, read some books, build a sailboat, and glide across the lake with a skill acquired.
We need to take the time to study the history and science of society so we can build a kickass solution. But first we need to learn how to learn. We don’t have time to walk to our destination. We need to invest a little time into our momentum. And with a focused study of language, I think we can do that quite effectively.
George Orwell, in Politics and the English Language, suggests that this is possible, and necessary:
Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible. Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step toward political regeneration: so that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writers.
Orwell’s analogy of the drunk man illustrates a phenomenon called a vicious circle. Other examples of vicious circles can be seen in popular participation in politics (the more people believe politics is hopelessly corrupt and obscure, the more corrupt and obscure it will be), education (if instructors teach ineffectively, the students that fill teachers’ roles will teach more ineffectively), and intellectual maturity (if you treat people like children, they will behave like children, and will raise men as children).
Another example can be seen in our confidence as individuals and as groups. If we think that we can’t change the world, then we’ll never take any measures to try to change it, and the status quo expires, rots, and contaminates the world without ever being purified.
We can break out of these vicious circles of social decay if we first become aware of the problems, dissect their causes, articulate proposals, and engineer solutions.
We need to be able to employ expression that corresponds to the circumstances of our environment. We have a vague understanding that things aren’t right. We might even know what the problems are, and how to solve them. We just need to find the words to pull that intuition out of our gut before it expires.
We see that we’re being played right now. We feel it; we know it. The governments, banks, and corporations have engineered a solution to their problems: profit, power, and preservation. We need to respond. But how can we?
As a nation of well-behaved children, we’ve got quite a challenge on our hands. We’re set against ourselves and each other; this is one of the many convenient consequences of the socially, culturally, and environmentally destructive power structures that currently taint our lives. We spend more time consuming sports statistics, chasing pseudo-romance, and taking sides on false issues and their false choices, than we do inquiring and investigating.
But we aren’t dumb.
To say that we’re dumb is to say that we’re intellectually deficient. We’re not deficient – we’re malnourished. We’ve been muzzled and indoctrinated.
It’s not the fault of the students or the workers or even the politicians. It’s not the American voter’s fault that he votes for a candidate that supports unjustified military adventurism and goofy bailouts. It’s not the CEO’s fault that he was born into a rich family that taught him profit over compassion. It’s not the thief’s fault that he was born into a community that sees “crime” as a means of physical and social survival.
We need to transcend the typical verdicts and realize that these are all effects – symptoms – of an institutional disorder. The problems are systemic. Instead of placing blame on a single person, we should focus inquiry on the systems that produce the need for these behaviors. I think if we focus on that question – “what’s to blame?” – rather than “who’s to blame”, we’ll be able to work towards a cure instead of a treatment. You can’t cure cancer with a band-aid.
This method of questioning can apply to abortion, gay marriage (and marriage in general), bailouts, wars, elections, and other popular issues. Rise above the prescribed choices and develop your own.
This also applies to our intelligence, confidence, and ability. We’ve been given choices – schools, universities, professions, specialties – that force us into a well-rounded lockstep. Our success, worth, and self-image are defined by quantities – how many years of school have you purchased, how much money do you make, how fast is your car – over qualities.
Fuck being a well-rounded number. I want a razor-sharp uniqueness. I think that’s natural.
My contention is that it’s in our best interest to educate ourselves and each other in ways that enhance our civic literacy so we can dissect the socially destructive artifacts of yesterday’s antiquated institutions. It’s time to evolve.