The Learner is the Tool of Power, the Student Tries to Resemble the Powerful to Gain Power
This is not how it should be, but unfortunately, it is our legacy. As humanity, we could give more power to young learners in the future, but within the holistic structure of culture, this might not be good for them.
Of course, the parent is the first hero.
How heroic our mothers and fathers were when we were children, then we learned that they weren’t all that heroic or even good. Even if our father was unemployed and immoral, we imitated him in our preschool years. Even if he was the worst criminal or person in the world, we admired him. Even if our state engaged in the most vile and disgusting actions, we became soldiers of that state and took pride in it. Even if our culture was in a remote corner of the ocean and produced nothing, we still tried to spread it. Because we are such a tool, such an extreme. Starting from childhood, imitating the power around us has been our first choice throughout our lives.
The Learner Appears Weak for Their Own Good.
The learner is weak, waiting for about twenty years for their brain to be washed. Since it is the surviving branch of humanity, we see this as a good foundation. No one questions education or the weakness of the learner. The learner’s lack of power—such as not challenging their elders—is a taboo for society. One of the three main pillars for organizing and educating society is “power,” in which the learner seems to be a victim. However, civilization has emerged from this victimhood; in other words, permanent cultural products have been imparted because people were open to being conditioned. If individuals had not been weak and passive in their youth, societal order could not have been maintained.
Power is a Useful Narrative, Like a Repentant Thief.
Even though powers oppress the weak, an economy has been created from this exploitation. Just as we consume other living things for the sake of science, the strong consume the weak, as if accidentally bringing about the state. In social organization, alongside many achievements such as social security, welfare, and societal organization, education stands as the greatest opportunity for the weak. This is because it enables transitions between social classes. While initially, one could only climb the social ladder through military service, this increased with the clergy and trade. Later, through education, we began to attain better positions in the social hierarchy. The learner must fully utilize education, the most important power opportunity offered by the state.
What Should the Learner Pay Attention To?
While trying to become take part in power, the learner must do what power dictates. Power does not like competition and does not favor diversity of opinions. While receiving education, being statist or pro-power and part of the system seems inevitable. This is not just about being a citizen; it’s related to being a living creature. The learner can direct their state’s or humanity’s trajectory by aligning with it. The lines they draw on their own remain invisible, causing their efforts to be seen as bizarre. Power may not always be the powerful people but a powerful idea. A political label that has a future projection may be more powerful than armies.
While Serving Power, One Must Not Cease to Exist.
One must not do everything power says for the sake of power itself. All societal lines need to be corrected and critiqued. If the individual, forced to be the tool and object of power, loses their individuality—that is, ceases to be a subject—it even harms power. Because powers are like a large individual, made up of individuals.
Individualization is One of the Biggest Problems in Mass Education.
The biggest problem in the educational environment is that uniform and standardized education is given to the masses. This education ignores individual differences. Teachers, especially civil servants, don’t make much effort to free individuals from the homogenizing and simplistic directives of central authority. They take the easy route, giving the same education to everyone.
Bureaucrats in state positions expect the individuals they use as tools to be stable, stagnant, and uniform. The biggest expectation is that you have a profession, that is, you are useful. For the individual, this is often not advantageous. Because once they transition from being a product of their environment to becoming a subject, their desires might take them elsewhere. It is easier for power if we have a specific identity number, address, name, and profession, but it is not beneficial for anyone.
After Being an Object, One Must Transition to Being a Subject.
The learner can only gain power by transforming from an object into a subject. To be beneficial both to themselves and to power, they must become a responsible entity. Just like growing from a child to a young adult, the learner must transition from being a learner to a teacher and a figure of power. Avoiding becoming a figure of power or shirking responsibility is voluntarily accepting to remain an object. Subjects make choices, take responsibility, and with that, they also take power.
One Must Learn and Teach, Gain Strength and Empower.
For the learner, who is the weakest part of power, the result is to be as active after being passive. To be as strong as they were weak. The learner’s power is a future power. First by being part of the system, then by pulling the system’s trajectory elsewhere as a limb of it, they create change. The biggest challenge is remaining an individual. What will prevent them from being just a tool or a simple imitation of power is taking responsibility when the time comes.
Confronting Parents and the State.
A good child can only be helpful to their father by realizing that their father is not the greatest man in the world. A good citizen must also, in time, realize that their nation doesn’t do everything right so that they can guide and save it. The learner is without power, but for the sake of acquiring power later on. Power is made possible by the individual directing themselves from being a tool to a purpose, from being an object to a subject—by taking responsibility. Awakening will be painful, but surely no one thought power would come freely.
Education limits people who are there to be liberated. The greatest paradox of education has to be handled with soft limitations and soft liberations. The individual must preserve its power as a learner, but submit to the greater power as well. It’s a fine tuning.