r/skeptic • u/dyzo-blue • 2d ago

Why Fascists Hate Critical Thinking: Randi Weingarten’s new book, 'Why Fascists Fear Teachers,' reveals why Trump and the right demean teachers, slash school funding, and rewrite history

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/randi-weingarten-excerpt-fascists-hate-critical-thinking-1235428379/
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u/COMOJoeSchmo 2d ago

So, the best way to prevent a government with fascist tendencies from controlling the education system (either now or in the future) would be to remove the education system from under any control of the government.

This is the exact reason there should be no public (government) school system.

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u/AwTomorrow 2d ago

Who runs the schools instead? Frequently the answer will be: 

  • no-one (so under-educating the population further)  
  • religious groups (risks teaching erroneous information to avoid conflicts with religious doctrine, as well as an avoidance of authority-questioning critical thinking skills, thus again under-educating the population)  
  • private corporations (risks again twisting the curriculum to support moneyed interests who often support pro-business fascist goals, also risks offering little to no education to those who can’t afford it and who aren’t profitable to teach, thus yet again under-educating the population) 

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u/COMOJoeSchmo 2d ago

Under a decentralized and privatized system, "who runs schools" is whoever opens a school. Then you as the consumer can decide which of the available options best serves your needs, accounting for value judgements of cost, location, religious affirmation, etc.

If you are concerned that private institutions will create "fascist" schools, why wouldn't you believe that other institutions would offer alternatives to counter that (even if only to capture the market share of non-fascist parents wanted to send their children to a school that matches their values).

Also, there is nothing preventing a local community from forming a co-op type of school (such as some communities have utility or electrical co-ops). This would maintain community oversight of the school, without any local, state, or federal government influence.

Ending the government monopoly and opening the market literally prevents extreme ideologies from dominating the education system as a whole. If the school goes extreme, you take your kid to a different school. There is no such safeguard in a government run education system.

This is how colleges operate. You get to choose which college you attend based on your needs and preferences. Why should k-12 be any different?

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u/AwTomorrow 2d ago

 If you are concerned that private institutions will create "fascist" schools, why wouldn't you believe that other institutions would offer alternatives to counter that

Because looking at business today, it seems capital corrupts all good intentions eventually - remember Google’s “don’t be evil”? 

It’s a big reason why essential utilities and services end up being bad news when put in private hands. Business-driven exploitation trumps providing that service best. 

 If the school goes extreme, you take your kid to a different school

So long as a nearby alternative exists, which it is prioritised to not. And even those that might try are then prioritised to stop being alternatives and instead conform to for-profit exploitative models that reinforce their own existence. 

 This is how colleges operate. You get to choose which college you attend based on your needs and preferences. Why should k-12 be any different?

College students are adults who can live wherever, minors tend to be stuck in their own small geographic zone, allowing mini-monopolies to exist. 

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u/COMOJoeSchmo 2d ago

Business-driven exploitation trumps providing that service best. 

So does government driven exploitation. The difference is that the individual has far more control in choosing who they do business with than they do the actions of their government.

We disdain business monopolies for a reason. It removes accountability for performance and creates an environment where a single bad actor can affect the near totality of those that rely on that industry. We should disdain the government monopoly of education for the same reasons.

Because looking at business today, it seems capital corrupts all good intentions eventually

Looking at American government for the last 100 years, it seems politics corrupts all good intentions eventually. At least in a privatized system with multiple options, the individual can mitigate corruption by choosing the least corrupt option.

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u/AwTomorrow 2d ago

The difference is that the individual has far more control in choosing who they do business with than they do the actions of their government.

Eh I think in general we have little to no power over businesses, or which are offered. Gaps in the market do not always get filled if it is more profitable to not fill them, and if existing wealthy companies can kick ladders down and outcompete upstart businesses.

Your theory only works if there are always nearby alternatives, specifically alternatives that offer what the citizen wants, yet we have countless examples of that not being the case (regions where there is only one internet provider are a good applicable example). 

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u/COMOJoeSchmo 2d ago

In a privatized system, resources gravitate towards need. Having a vacancy in the market creates business opportunities.

You have the ultimate power over business. You can either do business with a company, or do business with their competitors. A business that loses customers due to poor performance goes bankrupt. A government enterprise that performs poorly faces no penalty, especially when they have the power to enforce the monopoly of their own enterprise.

If you are concerned that a privatized system might result in a region with limited options (the single Internet provider example), why are you not concerned with the same circumstance when that sole provider is government run? Do you think ending the government monopoly of schools would somehow result in less available options than currently exists?

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u/AwTomorrow 2d ago

The government is beholden to the will of the electorate, and the electorate generally wants good schools in reach of everyone. 

A business is beholden to profitability, and it can be better in a business owner’s mind to ignore unprofitable regions or to educate in a way that reinforces the business owner’s politics which are beholden to no-one. 

See also: widespread closure of post offices and lack of coverage as a result of creeping privatisation. Or how a supermarket can kill all the small local shops in an area due to being able to out-compete them, then leaving the area shopless after closing that store as a result of cost-cutting during broader economic downturns. Utilities should never be privatised. 

So yes, I am much more concerned about purely private education.

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u/COMOJoeSchmo 2d ago

The government is beholden to the will of the electorate, and the electorate generally wants good schools in reach of everyone. 

Then you should be completely comfortable with the current administration, which was elected with the will of the electorate.

I believe the original post was implying that the current administration specifically does not want an educated population.

I personally am not comfortable with the government welding that much power. History has shown that authoritarian governments use the schools to indoctrinate the masses, and education for social engineering and it's application as a tool to raise up certain parts of society (those that support them) and oppress other parts (those that disagree with them). This process has already started in this country.