Capitalist Indoctrination Centers

[juliusaugustus]

Often right wingers will tell you how public edcation is a system of indoctrination This is indeed true, however in this area they are right for all the wrong reasons. The primary purpose of so called public education is to indoctrinate you into the capitalist economic system. You are conditioned into factory or office like conditions. You are made obedient as not disrupt the power of the capitalist class. The schools condition you into eating poorly prepared food as to create customers for the capitalist food system. The school system always tries to find reasons that you are sick as to enhance the profits of pharmaceutical companies.
Public schools are themselves for profit corporations and their main objective is to drive up costs as much as possible as to receive as much funding as possible.

[Broviet Union]

The very notion of capitalism as an ideology that is everpresent doesn't occur to conservatives. When they talk about schools as sources of liberal indoctrination they generally mean secular values and social liberalism.

[Red Banana]

To be fair, I think we would all still be 'customers for the capitalist food system' even without poorly prepared school cafeteria food. After all, everyone needs to eat.

[Fourth Internationalist]

I disagree with this. Schools really aren't that obedience-oriented, the food is great, and factory or office-like? Are you referring to desks? If so, what's wrong with that? No, they don't try to keep you "sick" or thinking you are. In fact, they can't even give you drugs or make you take anything, nor do they really recommend it except for basic medicines sometimes or if it's serious. Medicine isn't bad. However, I agree that schools are preparing us for this world, this capitalist world. And yes, history and similar subjects are biased for capitalism against socialism.
Edit: this is at least the way my current school seems to me

[LifeIs2Short]

The heart of capitalist indoctrination isnt in getting people to be obedient workers, but rather in getting them to be ever-hungry consumers. Advertisement starting from the moment a kid sees a toy commercial in TV is what the capitalist system uses to ensure people comply with it.

[MarxSchmarx]

One obvious thing schools do to serve capitalism is grade pupils.

A common myth is that grades are administered as a way to provide feedback to students on their performance. This is a lie.

Grades are administered for one reason, and one reason only: to rank students according to some measure of ability (and more rarely, diligence). This allows the next gatekeeper in the pipeline, be it secondary school, university, post-graduate school, and ultimately, an employer, a presorted metric with which to evaluate allocating candidates to scarce positions.

Grades thus promote the capitalist system's atomization and ceaselessly competitive ethos. None of the indoctrinations mentioned so far - conformity, bad food, desks - compare to this fundamental mechanism by which the education system so deeply indoctrinates each new generation into the logic of capitalism.

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

I disagree with this. Schools really aren't that obedience-oriented, the food is great, and factory or office-like? Are you referring to desks? If so, what's wrong with that? No, they don't try to keep you "sick" or thinking you are. In fact, they can't even give you drugs or make you take anything, nor do they really recommend it except for basic medicines sometimes or if it's serious. Medicine isn't bad. However, I agree that schools are preparing us for this world, this capitalist world. And yes, history and similar subjects are biased for capitalism against socialism.
Edit: this is at least the way my current school seems to me

You've never seen an American high school, then.....

[Skyhilist]

I go to an American high school. The number of times i've heard some reactionary or just blatantly inaccurate anti-communist bullshit is too numerous to count

[Fourth Internationalist]

You've never seen an American high school, then.....

I'm 15 and my last day of my 9th grade year was yesterday. It is a high school and I live in the USA.

Edit: Technically it was two days ago because it's 12:41 AM.

[Rugged Collectivist]

One obvious thing schools do to serve capitalism is grade pupils.

A common myth is that grades are administered as a way to provide feedback to students on their performance. This is a lie.

Grades are administered for one reason, and one reason only: to rank students according to some measure of ability (and more rarely, diligence). This allows the next gatekeeper in the pipeline, be it secondary school, university, post-graduate school, and ultimately, an employer, a presorted metric with which to evaluate allocating candidates to scarce positions.

Grades thus promote the capitalist system's atomization and ceaselessly competitive ethos. None of the indoctrinations mentioned so far - conformity, bad food, desks - compare to this fundamental mechanism by which the education system so deeply indoctrinates each new generation into the logic of capitalism.

I don't know how successful grades are as an indoctrination tool. From my experience in school the vast majority of people never gave a damn about their grades. Most would do the bare minimum to get by and some would just fail repeatedly and drop out. Only the kids with really pushy parents legitimately cared about grades. At the end of the year people would brag about their position (the report card told you what rank you were out of everyone in the class) but this was forgotten the next day.

The stuff about forcing kids to accept authority in the op is true, but I get the feeling that starts with the parents.


I'm 15 and my last day of my 9th grade year was yesterday. It is a high school and I live in the USA.

Edit: Technically it was two days ago because it's 12:41 AM.

Your last day of school was June 26? You have my condolences.

[Red Nightmare]

I go to an American high school. The number of times i've heard some reactionary or just blatantly inaccurate anti-communist bullshit is too numerous to count

Yes, I have found that both the students and teachers do this.

[Fourth Internationalist]

Your last day of school was June 26? You have my condolences.

Yeah I'm in Connecticut right next to the shore which was hit by Hurricane Sandy and by a huge blizzard that had chest a high snow. Over two extra weeks added to the end of the school year right there, add in extra snow days and other events and *boom* I'm probably the last school district in the country to get out of school.

[#FF0000]

Yes, I have found that both the students and teachers do this.

I am shocked that people in America 2013 have a dim view of communism. Absolutely shocked.

It is so, so annoying when people complain about this. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY SAID ANTI COMMUNIST THING I MEAN WUH WHAT"

[Red Commissar]

I disagree with this. Schools really aren't that obedience-oriented, the food is great, and factory or office-like? Are you referring to desks? If so, what's wrong with that? No, they don't try to keep you "sick" or thinking you are. In fact, they can't even give you drugs or make you take anything, nor do they really recommend it except for basic medicines sometimes or if it's serious. Medicine isn't bad. However, I agree that schools are preparing us for this world, this capitalist world. And yes, history and similar subjects are biased for capitalism against socialism.
Edit: this is at least the way my current school seems to me

Your public school(s) is probably better funded if your food is actually decent. Is your community fairly affluent or?

and yeah I've never seen schools force drugs down anyone's throat. I'm assuming what he means is people being diagnosed for things like ADHD and such and being recommended to take ritalin, adderal, and other drugs.

[d3crypt]

My history teacher told the class that communism is a system where a communist party runs a dictatorship. Lol what a load of shit.

[d3crypt]

I told him to teach the class about what communism is, but he said it would just confuse them. :(

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

My history teacher told the class that communism is a system where a communist party runs a dictatorship. Lol what a load of shit.

In practice though, this is what has happened, so you can't really blame people for thinking that is what communism is.

It's not really the fault of the history teacher, the historian, the students or the parents.

The reason people think communism is a system where a communist party runs a dictatorship is because, in several countries in the 20th century, communist parties ran dictatorships under the name of communism. It's ludicrously arrogant to suggest that people are 'stupid' or 'ignorant' for then thinking that this is what communism is.

Really, the failures of communism are, quite simply, the failures of communism, not the failure of people to 'understand what communism REALLY is'. Communists failed in the 20th century and, as their ideological next-of-kin, we are now paying the price for their failure (and indeed for our continued failures).

[A Revolutionary Tool]

When I got kicked out of school my freshman year and had to go to continuation school that shit was a indoctrination camp. They would even tell us that their number one goal is to make good citizens out of us, not education. Which is why they treated the place like a maximum security prison, searched when you get on campus, random searches while in class, had to tuck your shirt in. All the teachers were conservative so we're learning conservative values everyday to make us "better" people. I mean I got in trouble there for arguing against my teacher that we shouldn't bomb Iran. Place was horrible.

[Sky Hedgehogian Maestro]

Their main purpose is to teach eurocentric history, that their model of things is the only good one because it's the only one capitalistic-eurocentricism has allowed to work.

[Fourth Internationalist]

Your public school(s) is probably better funded if your food is actually decent. Is your community fairly affluent or?

Well, I live in one of the richest counties in the US... But I'm in the eastern part of it and the super rich parts are in the west. Though that probably doesn't matter. Plus Connecticut is a pretty liberal state compared to the rest of the country, so it is more liberal on issues such as funding, education, gun control, etc. which makes for better schools.

[Fourth Internationalist]

Really, the failures of communism are, quite simply, the failures of communism, not the failure of people to 'understand what communism REALLY is'. Communists failed in the 20th century and, as their ideological next-of-kin, we are now paying the price for their failure (and indeed for our continued failures).

Communism didn't fail, or at least not because of communism's own fault. Also, your wording seems to imply that "Oh yeah we had communism but it kinda became a shit hole because it doesn't work". I know that's not what you mean, but to a non-communist who is perhaps curious about communism, it does.

[d3crypt]

In practice though, this is what has happened, so you can't really blame people for thinking that is what communism is.

It's not really the fault of the history teacher, the historian, the students or the parents.

The reason people think communism is a system where a communist party runs a dictatorship is because, in several countries in the 20th century, communist parties ran dictatorships under the name of communism. It's ludicrously arrogant to suggest that people are 'stupid' or 'ignorant' for then thinking that this is what communism is.

Really, the failures of communism are, quite simply, the failures of communism, not the failure of people to 'understand what communism REALLY is'. Communists failed in the 20th century and, as their ideological next-of-kin, we are now paying the price for their failure (and indeed for our continued failures).
Thats completely true, however i doubt most communist support these regimes. I think they serve as a lesson for us.

[MarxArchist]

Capitalist indoctrinations centers are called hospitals, where we're born into the "matrix".

[Skyhilist]

Yeah I'm in Connecticut right next to the shore which was hit by Hurricane Sandy and by a huge blizzard that had chest a high snow. Over two extra weeks added to the end of the school year right there, add in extra snow days and other events and *boom* I'm probably the last school district in the country to get out of school.

I can attest to this too, vacation is terrible here in CT, we usually end up with only like 2 months of summer. We get out later than literally any other state and have fewer days off (even when you factor in the storms) than other states. But I digress.

[Rooiakker]

I went to a private high school, where my history teacher was a 30ish year old man with a shaved head, goatee and a tattoo of the hammer and sickle. I liked that teacher.

[Starfish11]

In practice though, this is what has happened, so you can't really blame people for thinking that is what communism is.

It's not really the fault of the history teacher, the historian, the students or the parents.

The reason people think communism is a system where a communist party runs a dictatorship is because, in several countries in the 20th century, communist parties ran dictatorships under the name of communism. It's ludicrously arrogant to suggest that people are 'stupid' or 'ignorant' for then thinking that this is what communism is.

Really, the failures of communism are, quite simply, the failures of communism, not the failure of people to 'understand what communism REALLY is'. Communists failed in the 20th century and, as their ideological next-of-kin, we are now paying the price for their failure (and indeed for our continued failures).

So do you favor a political system heavily influenced by anarchism?