It is the System

It is the System
by Harold Jarche | Fri, 01/02/2009 - 08:09

There is desperation in the way in which we are trying to save our current education and health care systems but in light of the near collapse of our financial systems we should reconsider this. Perhaps the system is the problem. The Support Economy diagnoses managerial capitalism as the primary cause of the disconnect between corporations and markets (people). This form of capitalism robs us of our ability for self-determination:

Psychological self-determination is expressed in three different
dimensions. In the first dimension people want to live their lives the way they choose to live it. This is the sense of sanctuary. The second way people express their psychological self-determination is in the widespread desire for voice: we want to be heard and we want our voices to matter. The third way we want our psychological self-determination to be expressed is in our desire to be connected: we want to be part of communities.

Through our large, corporatist systems we have created self-perpetuating monopolies in both health and education. Ivan Illich had it right over 30 years ago - we have seen the enemy, and it is us. This quote is from 1970, but even more pertinent today:

Everywhere the hidden curriculum of schooling initiates the citizen to the myth that bureaucracies guided by scientific knowledge are efficient and benevolent. Everywhere this same curriculum instills in the pupil the myth that increased production will provide a better life. And everywhere it develops the habit of self-defeating consumption of services and alienating production, the tolerance for institutional dependence, and the recognition of institutional rankings. The hidden curriculum of school does all this in spite of contrary efforts undertaken by teachers and no matter what ideology prevails.

Christopher Sessums has also revisited Illich and reviews Deschooling Society, asking questions like:

• Why do I still feel like many schools are still operating against social needs as opposed to solving them?
• Do we expect medical doctors to see 20 patients at one time and to diagnose and treat everyone equally? Is this what's happening in our schools?
• Did students have attention deficit problems 50 years ago? Is this deficit genetic or man-made?

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