THE EDUCATED ELECTORATE
Thomas Jefferson wrote, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.”
—Fredric Jarrett, “GUEST EDITORIAL: Education of our citizens is imperative for our survival as a free nation,” Herald-Tribune (November 30, 2020)
Quotation: “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.”
Variations: None known.
Sources consulted:
Earliest known appearance in print: 2013
Other attributions: None known.
Status: This exact quotation has not been found in any of the writings of Thomas Jefferson, although it is a generally accurate paraphrase of Jefferson’s views on education.
—Anna Berkes, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people (Spurious Quotation),” Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, March 30, 2010, revised August 24, 2011, January 24, 2020
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” (as cited in Padover, 1939, p. 89) “. . . whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that, whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them right.” (as cited in Padover, 1939, p. 88)
The above quotes were the cornerstones of Jefferson’s interest in education and the franchise. He placed education as the foundation of democracy and a prerequisite to vote. Ignorance and sound self-government could not exist together: the one destroyed the other. A despotic government could restrain its citizens and deprive the people of their liberties only while they were ignorant. Jefferson could never completely separate education from government. With the fullest faith in the ability of man to govern himself, Jefferson nonetheless realized the responsibility of self-government could be assumed successfully only by an enlightened people.
https://www.varsitytutors.com/earlyamerica/jefferson-primer/jefferson-education-franchise
—Professor Thomas Jewett, “Jefferson, Education and The Franchise,” Varsity Tutors
Three uncontroversial points sum to a paradox: 1) Almost every democratic theorist or democratic political actor sees an informed electorate as essential to good democratic practice. Citizens need to know who or what they are choosing and why – hence urgent calls for expansive and publicly funded education, and rights to free speech, assembly, press, and movement. 2) In most if not all democratic polities, the proportion of the population granted the suffrage has consistently expanded, and seldom contracted, over the past two centuries. Most observers, and I, agree that expanding enfranchisement makes a state more democratic. 3) Most expansions of the suffrage bring in, on average, people who are less politically informed or less broadly educated than those already eligible to vote.
Putting these three uncontroversial points together leads to the conclusion that as democracies become more democratic, their decision-making processes become of lower quality in terms of cognitive processing of issues and candidate choice.
—Jennifer L. Hochschild, “If Democracies Need Informed Voters, How Can They Thrive While Expanding Enfranchisement?” Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy (June 2010) 9(2): 111-123
Without an understanding of the issues and being well-informed, it is easy to be fooled by messaging that seeks to manipulate voters. How do we equip students with the skills to be critical consumers of political ads? More importantly, how do we ensure they are ready to fulfill their civic roles and responsibilities as members of a democratic society?
...Thomas Jefferson is oft quoted as having said, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” While there is no evidence he actually said or wrote this exactly as stated, there is widespread agreement it captures the spirit and intent of many of his writings. He was right.
https://edvisions.org/an-educated-and-engaged-citizenry/
—Dr. Nancy Allen-Mastro, “An Educated and Engaged Citizenry: The Foundation of a Democracy,” EdVisions
Thomas Jewett writes, “[Thomas Jefferson] placed education as the foundation of democracy and a prerequisite to vote. Ignorance and sound self-government could not exist together: the one destroyed the other. A despotic government could restrain its citizens and deprive the people of their liberties only while they were ignorant.”
The case of the Philippines illustrates that an educated and well-informed citizenry is absolutely essential to a healthy working democracy.
Past voting behavior indicates that the Philippine electorate is poorly educated in democratic principles and values; or that they are at least badly informed, ostensibly kept that way by self-serving elite interests; or that some character deficiency is at work—whatever may be the underlying reasons for our present political condition, it does not bode well for the future of Philippine democracy.
Something is rotten in the state, and it’s not Denmark.
“Not What the Doctor Ordered”
https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2021/12/not-what-doctor-ordered.html
“We Drink from Our Own Wells”
https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2022/01/placeholder.html
“Moral Rot”
https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2021/12/placeholder-3-of-4.html
Public domain photo
ReplyDeletePhoto link:
https://pixabay.com/photos/election-campaign-poster-street-388312/
Gonzalinho
When we say “education,” we mean civics education. If the state wishes to maintain as a democracy, education in democracy follows.
ReplyDeleteYes, “well-informed” is a better term.
However “education” has been attributed in meaning to Thomas Jefferson, who lies at the ideological foundation of democracy.
Although universal franchise is assumed and not disputed in a democracy, making democracy work involves much more than just granting the population the right to vote.
Among others, regulating and penalizing fake news is important to making democracy work.
Educating the citizenry in democratic principles and values is also essential to making democracy work.
Remember that Nazism arose in democratic Germany. Moreover, Neo-Nazism continues to plague the Western democracies, which are developed countries.
Gonzalinho
Something analogous to Nazism—especially with respect to its strident, hostile, aggressive, and anti-intellectualist character—appears to be happening in the regional tribalism supporting Marcos Jr.
DeleteGonzalinho
An academic degree is unnecessary. What is necessary is civics education in the rights and duties of citizenship in a liberal republican democracy.
ReplyDeleteHow can we expect to establish a working democracy if the electorate in the first place does not understand in what it consists?
It is the anti-democratic elite that want to keep the electorate ignorant.
Gonzalinho
“The problem with the Philippines are Filipinos: the Filipinos who laugh at rape jokes, who applaud the killings, who threaten, insult, and demonize the critical, who can't abide facts and are unteachable, and who elect the same monsters every three years.”
ReplyDelete—Luis V. Teodoro, Twitter, April 15, 2019
Gonzalinho
APPEAL TO FELLOW STUDENTS: LEARN HISTORY, FIGHT REVISIONISM
ReplyDeletePhilippine Daily Inquirer / 05:01 AM February 24, 2022
My 65-year-old aunt, who witnessed the martial law era, argued that the martial law years were the “golden era” since there was peace and order in the country, and Filipinos were disciplined at the time. She added that, in Naga City, there were no human rights violations as far as her memory could recall.
There are still Filipinos, including seniors from my own family, who have romanticized the martial law years’ “orderliness” and believe that Marcos was a great leader — totally disregarding the human rights violations committed during the darkest era in the country’s history.
What “golden age” when there is a lot of evidence documenting the abuses, extrajudicial killings, corruption, and violations of human rights during Marcos’ rule? The numbers speak for themselves: 70,000 incarcerated, 77 disappeared, 3,257 extrajudicial killings, and 35,000 tortured, according to Amnesty International.
These atrocities were further corroborated by Primitivo Mijares, media man of Ferdinand Marcos and author of “The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.” Mijares’ youngest son disappeared, was tortured, and eventually found dead due to his father’s revelations in the said book. This horrific tragedy that happened to Mijares and his son manifests the brutal rule of Marcos.
The Martial Law Museum reported that the debt of the Philippines skyrocketed to $28.26 billion in 1986 from $0.36 billion in 1961. In addition, the infrastructures that Imelda Marcos bragged about were funded by foreign loans that the present and future generations have the burden of paying.
With these historical facts and data, no one should turn a blind eye to the atrocities committed during the martial law years. Now more than ever, it has become even more crucial for students to seek historical truths about this period.
Students are now being targeted to believe in the lies of the Marcos family through historical revisionism in our textbooks. The youth who were not yet born at that time are likely to be susceptible to such lies, while privileged adults can easily dismiss history because they never experienced the cruelty and hardships under the Marcos administration.
It is high time for all of us to be united on what is right. Filipinos should dispel lies and apathy if we want justice to prevail, especially now that the dictator’s son and namesake, Ferdinand “Bongbong“ Marcos Jr., aspires to be the president.
We, the students, must ensure that our educators preserve the historical facts about martial law in our textbooks. This is our responsibility: to preserve history, protect historical truth, and advance Filipinos’ interest first.
PAOLO GABRIEL D. JAMER
paolojamer10@gmail.com
Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/150261/appeal-to-fellow-students-learn-history-fight-revisionism#ixzz7MR7zTFOI
An educated electorate?
Gonzalinho
‘PEOPLE POWER’ UP NORTH: TEACH OUR YOUNG ABOUT THE PAST
ReplyDeletePhilippine Daily Inquirer / 05:04 AM February 26, 2022
BAGUIO CITY—Young activists, some of whom were not yet born in 1986, walked down Session Road with their much older counterparts on Friday to commemorate the day this city staged its own “people power” movement at the Baguio Cathedral.
Carrying red flags, about 100 people reenacted the parade staged 36 years ago by ordinary citizens, nuns and priests, and civic leaders here when news erupted that the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos had fled the country.
At that time, disparate groups of people spent a whole day camped out at the cathedral, since renamed Our Lady of Atonement Cathedral, to protect a group of soldiers who defected to the side of rebels led by then Armed Forces of the Philippines vice chief of staff Gen. Fidel Ramos and then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile instead of joining an augmentation force from northern Luzon sent to Metro Manila to protect Malacañang.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who joined the marchers at Malcolm Square, recalled he was one of the soldiers who sought sanctuary at the cathedral.
…Among the people who shielded them were hard-line militants, who wore red shirts and who are now being Red-tagged by the military.
‘We quickly forget’
“We quickly forget,” said Fr. Marlon Urmaza when he led the People Power Revolution’s commemoration Mass at the cathedral.
Like old World War II stories shared by Filipino grandparents that are played down with each retelling, the young generation may no longer find relevance in abridged and false accounts about the bloodless revolution, he warned in his homily.
“We will move in circles if we fail to learn the lessons of the past … Teach our young [about the people power movement] and teach them well,” the priest said.
Urmaza said he was 8 years old when television broadcasts showed thousands of people converging at Edsa to protect the rebel soldiers in an act of civil disobedience because of cheating at the snap presidential elections, which saw Marcos winning over Corazon Aquino, the widow of opposition Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino.
It was the killing of Ninoy upon return from exile on Aug. 21, 1983, that sparked the public outrage that culminated in the Feb. 22-25, 1986, peaceful revolution that ousted Marcos from power.
One of the priest’s most vivid memories about that event was confetti raining down on Session Road from Army helicopters on Feb. 25 while people chanted “Laban, laban (fight, fight)” and the ubiquitous line, “Tama na! Sobra na! Palitan na! (Enough! It is too much! Bring about change!)”
The priest said he was bothered by an online question, “Will this be the last celebration of the people power?”
Although he did not name the former president’s son who is running for president, Urmaza acknowledged that it would be difficult to celebrate the moments that led “to the downfall of his family.”
Magalong, who shared the same concern, told the marchers: “Our goal was to restore democracy but did we achieve it? People forget what they learned too quickly.” —VINCENT CABREZA and KIMBERLIE QUITASOL
Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1560034/people-power-up-north-teach-our-young-about-the-past#ixzz7MR8sZntU
An educated electorate?
Gonzalinho
‘EDUCATE, NOT HUMILIATE’: FIGHTING BACK HISTORICAL DISTORTIONS
ReplyDeleteBy Jezah Mae Bagsit, Kim Balasabas, Deo Cruzada
November 18, 2020
…[According to] Jose Alain Austria, a History professor from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde… historical distortion, is the “deliberate changing of the narrative in order to perpetuate a lie that would serve the interest of a person, a regime, an administration, [or] a dictatorship” with an intention of erasing a portion of history.
These distortive practices tend to come from those who “are taking advantage of [what they know is] a gap in the knowledge of people,” explains Dr. Jose Victor Torres, a Full Professor from the DLSU Department of History.
For instance, the Martial Law era, arguably one of the darkest periods in Philippine history, remains a hotly contested topic in the public eye because “not all people knew about the abuses during the time because of censorship,” explains Xiao Chua, an Assistant Prof. Lecturer from the University’s Department of History. By taking advantage of these knowledge gaps, the appeal of historical distortions is strengthened, giving them a heightened sense of legitimacy.
What makes these distortions dangerous, Austria says, is that it often feeds on what people want to hear about their country’s history. “We want to believe that there was once a time in the 1970s when the Philippines was allegedly the richest country in Asia,” he cites. “I was a kid at the time. I never experienced that kind of golden era.”
Torres remarks, moreover, that while some statements based on data may be true, one must also learn how to properly interpret the data “because if you just accept [it], it will create something that will also amount to a lie.”
“It is also the very reason why the Marcoses came back…Because [people] held onto the belief that the Marcoses were good,” he adds.
To be continued
Gonzalinho
‘EDUCATE, NOT HUMILIATE’: FIGHTING BACK HISTORICAL DISTORTIONS
ReplyDeleteBy Jezah Mae Bagsit, Kim Balasabas, Deo Cruzada
November 18, 2020
Continued
Another danger that these distortions pose, Austria says, is their ability to reshape public opinion and catalyze groups of people to take dangerous actions. He cites how in Rwanda, historical distortions through propaganda were used to seed hatred among ethnic groups, culminating into what is now known as the Rwandan genocide, which saw the mass slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people in 1994.
…“The combat for historical truth is happening [on] YouTube [and] social media. [It is] about time for historians to leave their ivory towers and to go to this so-called battlefield,” he urges.
For Chua, bringing history closer to the people would mean simplifying key concepts to make an analysis and a narrative that is “more relatable” to the people without belittling them for their supposed ignorance of the topic.
“Educate, not humiliate,” Austria succinctly summarizes.
…Do your research
While some may intentionally spread historical distortions, Torres argues that the blame falls “not only [on] the people who transmit the lie, but also [on] the people who receive the lie.” He adds, “The information has always been there in a click of a button; the problem is we don’t know how to use it.”
To catch these distortions, Chua emphasizes the importance of doing one’s own research, adding that people should question the source and reliability of a claim. “You don’t just share [information]. You have to be critical [of] what you share and what you believe,” he stresses.
Austria also adds that how an assertion is “packaged” also matters: if the headlines are catchy—“almost libelous, very personal”—and the ones making the claim cannot show their sources, then it is possible that the claim might not be true at all.
“We are now entering the post-truth era, wherein people are sick and tired of conventional truths,” he argues. “They are literally embracing lies, which would give them comfort, and what would lies give to you? Nothing. It will destroy you.”
https://thelasallian.com/2020/11/18/educate-not-humiliate-fighting-back-historical-distortions/
—Jezah Mae Bagsit, Kim Balasabas, Deo Cruzada, “‘Educate, not humiliate’: Fighting back historical distortions,” The LaSallian, November 18, 2020
An educated electorate?
Gonzalinho
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
ReplyDeleteROBREDO DAUGHTERS TO ‘KAKAMPINKS’: STOP NAME-CALLING, CONVERT UNCONVINCED
Rappler.com
March 23, 2022 7:53 PM PHT
Mara Cepeda
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Two of the daughters of presidential candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo gave a sobering reminder to their supporters: The huge rallies for their mother these past weeks is a good thing, but not enough to convert the votes needed to guarantee a win.
In separate Facebook posts on Wednesday, March 23, Aika and Tricia Robredo sought to explain to their mother’s “Kakampink” supporters that voters’ sentiments on the ground tell a different story from the rallies that tens of thousands have been attending to promote their mother’s candidacy.
Aika and Tricia agreed: If Kakampinks want their mother to win, holding these rallies aren’t enough. The real fight is still on the ground, to change the minds of the unconvinced.
They asked supporters to end the name-calling, as Kakampinks would often criticize the other side of the fence as being paid by their chosen candidates or that they are just outright stupid.
“Be more mindful of comments that do come off as offensive and elitist. Avoid name-calling (i.e. bobo, bayaran). Maraming nabiktima lang din ng disinformation. Maraming hirap, kumakayod at naghahanap lang ng maiuuwi sa pamilya. Ipaglaban din natin sila,” said Tricia.
(Be more mindful of comments that do come off as offensive and elitist. Avoid name-calling i.e. calling them stupid or paid to show support. Many of them were just victims of disinformation. Many of them are suffering, working, and looking for ways to earn a living for their families. Let’s fight for them, too.)
Aika also hopes more Kakampinks would knock on their neighbors’ doors, as nothing beats face-to-face interactions.
…The Robredo siblings admitted they were slightly disheartened when supporters of other candidates would heckle them during their door-to-door activities these past weeks.
“…nung nagsimula kaming mag-ikot this year, may mga hostile communities talaga. Kung dati may paisa-isa lang na NR, ngayon may mga hecklers na. We encountered several when we made rounds right before #PasigLaban,” she added.
(When we started going around this year, there really are hostile communities. Before some of them would just have no reaction, but now there are hecklers. We encountered several when we made rounds right before #PasigLaban.
…Aika and Tricia acknowledged it might be difficult for their supporters to be sober considering the vitriol the Robredo family has had to endure these past six years.
Disinformation networks by the Marcoses and President Rodrigo Duterte have primarily targeted the Robredos, subjecting them to the most vicious attacks online.
But Aika and Tricia hope Kakampinks would take a cue from their mother herself, who has pushed her supporters to “radical love” to help get more voters on their side. – Rappler.com
https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/aika-tricia-robredo-ask-kakampinks-stop-name-calling-aim-convert-unconvinced/
To be continued
Gonzalinho
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
DeleteContinued
Bluntly speaking, the problem bedeviling conversion is in no small part an electorate that is unable to make an informed, ethical choice. It is a people afflicted by cognitive incapacity and moral deficiency. It is a population that embraces murder and plundering by political leaders, that is unable to distinguish fake news from truth, and that believes blatant lies and feeds on fantasy. It is a population unable to grasp abstracted political, economic, and historical truths with direct bearing on their own personal, individual condition.
Denying the plainspoken truth about the electorate will not solve the problem. Understanding the problem, which requires us to brutally name it, is the beginning of a solution.
I agree with Tricia Robredo in this respect. You cannot convert the concomitantly deaf, blind, unreasoning, deluded, obstinate, and reprobate.
No doubt there is no purpose in talking down to anyone but neither is it productive to delude ourselves by denying the ugly reality.
We have to accept the problem and work towards solutions wherever possible.
Some things that work:
Rallies
Social action
Komiks, T-shirts, bags, and sundry collaterals
Celebrity endorsements
Millennial Tiktok and Instagram
“Microinfluencing” is being undertaken belatedly.
The struggle for democracy and good governance does not end with a degenerate outcome. It continues until we leave this earth.
No prayers are wasted.
Gonzalinho
The decision to vote for Marcos Jr. rewards plunder and wrongdoing.
ReplyDeleteGonzalinho
EMPATHY FOR PERSUASION, KNOWLEDGE AND ANALYSIS FOR UNDERSTANDING
ReplyDelete…Despite my machinations, my father didn’t budge. While he takes pride in my being a lawyer, he doesn’t subscribe to my views on democracy or the rule of law. My attempts to convert him have proven futile. He was not the type to be intimidated by someone whose Ivy League education he considers elitist.
For the last five years, I have been trying to change my father, convinced of the superiority of my personal views. Later, I realized that it was my own stubbornness and failure to acknowledge my father’s unique experiences that made me an ineffective advocate. So, again, I changed tack. This time, instead of trying to change my father, I began to change the way I approach our differences.
I discovered that the power of persuasion depends less on the facts at one’s disposal but more on one’s capacity for empathy, that is, the ability to understand what the other person feels, to look at an issue from their perspective, detached, at least to some degree, from one’s rational and emotional construct. Empathy begins with trying to figure out why rational people would hold a different opinion. What information do they care about? What life experiences might lead them to disagree with you?
My father had once recounted how life had been hard for him as a child. He, along with four siblings, grew up in the mountains of Camarines Norte. Their mother died when he was only 12 years old, and their father, a coconut farmer who lost his hearing at a young age, single-handedly raised them. He recalled how, under threat of force, members of a rebel group would take their hard-earned produce. To him, these rebels are nothing but terrorists who prey on the weak, and their suppression is fully justified.
…I was tempted to argue that the problem of the armed struggle in the Philippines is quite complex and cannot be resolved by force alone. But how was that going to sound, coming from someone who has never had to deal with such a traumatic experience? Imagining how terrified my father must have been during those times, I restrained myself. Instead, I listened, validated his emotions, and acknowledged the wrong that he suffered. I was surprised that the conversation ended with him being more open to admitting that addressing the root cause of the problem would more likely lead to lasting peace.
…Recently I learned that my father intends to vote for Leni Robredo after all because “she’s a Bicolana.” He thinks that if Leni wins, there’s a higher chance that the longstanding proposal for the construction of a highway directly connecting our small, obscure town to Naga City will finally get a green light. This highway is expected to facilitate trade and thus create jobs for our kababayan. One could say his reason sounds parochial. But it could also be interpreted as an expression of hope that someone who came from the same region can better empathize with its constituents.
…Indeed, the power of empathy is extraordinary. It leads to a higher chance of building trust and helps us relay information in a way that best reaches the other person. To be sure, it is easier to persuade someone who feels understood and acknowledged than someone who is made to feel stupid or evil for their views.
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/opinion-secret-persuasion-empathy-not-facts/
—Graciela Base, “[OPINION] The secret to persuasion is empathy, not facts,” Rappler.com, February 2, 2022
Graciela Base is a lawyer who currently works at an international organization. She earned her JD from the UP College of Law and LLM from Yale Law School.
We agree with the author if your objective is persuasion. However, if your objective is scientific understanding or ethical inquiry, then it’s necessary to look hard at the data, to strive for objectivity, and to acknowledge moral failings for what they genuinely are.
Paradoxically, the author herself advocates just such an approach—applied to the opposing sides of an argument and to multiple perspectives on an issue.
Gonzalinho
ON LIBERTY THROUGH EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY
ReplyDeleteBy Mia Seleccion
“Only the educated are free.” — Epictetus
…my country, the Philippines, is currently in a dire and frightful state. Misinformation and disinformation are widespread; good governance has been decisively trashed with the recent election of incompetent leaders, and defenders of free speech and factual information are being mocked and silenced. I cannot stop myself from feeling this impending doom about what the future holds. Or if the future still holds anything worthwhile in a nation that refuses to acknowledge its own history and value posterity. With that, I would like to extend a conversation on how education plays a pivotal role in protecting democracy and fostering freedom.
…For knowing the truth and having lost it despite standing up for it is grief unlike no other. Truth is not meant to be lost because it’s embedded in history and history is documented. But when history is undermined by propaganda, revisionism, and disinformation, the truth we seek to preserve becomes unfortunately and mercilessly warped.
Now, where does it go? Where does truth go when it is being reconstructed and shaped in the contemporary time to frame a bloody political history as a “golden era?”
The practice of truth becoming recasted in a different light is a sad reality but this is redeemed by people who do not simply refuse to believe in propaganda-driven lies but actively fight them—fueled and driven by both anger and empathy to stand in solidarity with those who have suffered and died because they fought for what’s fundamentally right—for their human rights.
We are collectively called humanity but there is nothing human about the justification of killings, corruption, and human rights violations. There is nothing human about using power to bring down others; power does not need to have an absolute implication—to be exhausted to its brim. Power, in whatever position or advantage, is aligned with humanity when it is utilized to empower and encourage, not deceive nor use others because when the latter is exercised that is no longer power, that’s manipulation—Machiavellianism.
To be continued
Gonzalinho
ON LIBERTY THROUGH EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY
DeleteBy Mia Seleccion
Continued
…democracy is a double-edged sword.
When we make well-informed choices both guided by facts and human values, we make use of our freedom. I find that exercising freedom aligned with the common good is one of the best ways to demonstrate patriotism. I’ve always believed that part of what makes a healthy democracy is dissent, this is something that’s been reinforced in my beliefs as I learned this from Howard Zinn, one of my favorite authors and historians. Dissent can cut both ways, but if it intends to defend what’s right, equitable, and fair—if it means to safeguard the truth—then dissent becomes a great act of love for one’s country. As such is the nature of real love, it is corrective and protective, it does not enable but teaches and learns, like how history is meant to be understood despite all its flaws.
But the other side of this sword reflects a grim reality when people use their freedom mindlessly and recklessly, as freedom in making social and political choices is not merely a personal decision, but a collective one because politics permeate all aspects of life and society. What could either uplift us or bring us down can become a shared reality that will reverberate not just in the present but in the future too.
…We cannot have a successful democracy when the community that wields it is ignorant, unjust, and blind to the truth. Democracy and education are inherently and inextricably intertwined.
We are not short of factual resources, but many still choose to believe in falsehoods and information that merely confirms their biases. I guess people prefer to consume easy content than spend time learning and researching facts and reasoned insights. I also think this has something to do with our substandard education on media and information; it takes more than just functional knowledge in using media but also analytical and cross-checking skills.
…nobody really won here. There’s no victory when we just lost a promising future—when we’ve failed the victims of the Martial Law. This shows how we can be our greatest hope yet also our greatest downfall. It’s foolish to want change and progress yet choose the same kind of leaders who set us back.
…Truly, it’s just a matter of confronting the past, recognizing its horrors, and acknowledging its goodness. We must be guided by the past to prevent us from making the wrong choices and believing in the wrong people. When we fail to look back, we hold ourselves back from moving forward because there could never be progress if we make the same mistakes twice.
https://medium.com/@miaseleccion/on-liberty-through-education-and-democracy-d2f9d9d533cf
—Mia Seleccion, “On liberty through education and democracy,” Medium.com, May 18, 2022
“…We cannot have a successful democracy when the community that wields it is ignorant, unjust, and blind to the truth. Democracy and education are inherently and inextricably intertwined.
“We are not short of factual resources, but many still choose to believe in falsehoods and information that merely confirms their biases. I guess people prefer to consume easy content than spend time learning and researching facts and reasoned insights. I also think this has something to do with our substandard education on media and information; it takes more than just functional knowledge in using media but also analytical and cross-checking skills.”
Gonzalinho
We should be asking what is profoundly wrong with a culture in which far too many people are willing to do anything, even the most evil deeds, for money, in total disregard of both truth and the country’s future. Poverty and need alone cannot account for it.
ReplyDeleteLuis V. Teodoro, @luisteodoro
Philippine Daily Inquirer (May 28, 2022)
Moral rot is indeed an important reason for our underdevelopment as a nation.
In no small part it was monstrously cultivated by the Marcos regime, the legacy of which is plunder and corruption.
Gonzalinho
There are moral aspects to the struggle between autocracy and democracy in the Philippines, indeed, worldwide. An awareness and understanding of this inescapably mortal conflict involves education in democracy vis-à-vis competing systems. Education entails promoting democracy as a preferential moral regime, however imperfect, in contrast to autocracy, while asking us to investigate hybrid alternatives.
ReplyDeleteGonzalinho
There are moral aspects to the struggle between autocracy and democracy in the Philippines, indeed, worldwide. An awareness and understanding of this inescapably mortal conflict involve education in democracy vis-à-vis competing systems. Education entails promoting democracy as a preferential moral regime, however imperfect, in contrast to autocracy, while asking us to investigate hybrid alternatives.
DeleteGonzalinho
EDUCATION: MIRROR OF A DEEPER CRISIS
ReplyDeleteBy: Randy David - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:02 AM February 04, 2024
One of the most useful insights on education I have come across sums up the function of education as the preparation of individuals to live in future social systems. I’m paraphrasing the sociologist Niklas Luhmann, but the key word in his concept is “future.” It’s hard enough to prepare our children to live in the present. It’s harder to imagine what form of education would minimally equip them to live in the future.
Given the pace of development in artificial intelligence and the biological sciences alone, our young people would have to be equipped with a robust mathematical and scientific foundation to enable them to handle increasingly complex problems and emerging innovations in science and technology. At the same time, in the face of the myriad challenges posed by globalization, they would have to develop a special quality of mind and a steady moral compass that could keep them oriented through periods of technological and social disruption.
…For people of my generation who went to elementary and high school during the golden years of the Philippine public school system, it is difficult to imagine how the Asian region’s most modern educational system could have deteriorated so completely as to be left behind in all areas of basic literacy by nearly all its neighbors. We used to be the model of public education and the undisputed center of higher learning in the region. At the University of the Philippines and other universities in the early ’60s, foreign students formed a sizable presence in the academic community. The top public high school graduates from every province competed with the best from the elite private high schools. All were driven in their studies by a clear sense of nation and a vision of personal growth closely intertwined with that of the nation’s progress.
Today, we are confronted by educational outcomes that are as unimaginable as they are unacceptable. We can only hope that our political and business leaders, our academics here and abroad, and leading scientists and professional practitioners in all fields, whether or not they benefited from the country’s educational system when it was in much better shape, would see in its present crisis an invitation to review what has happened to the whole country in the last 50 years and to urgently act to reverse the drift to comprehensive national failure.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/170547/education-mirror-of-a-deeper-crisis
Education in science and technology, yes, but also education in “a special quality of mind and a steady moral compass” that prepares “individuals to live in future social systems.” If the future social system we are contemplating for the Philippines is democracy—not dictatorship or autocracy in its various forms—then education in democracy is a necessary part of the formula for national development.
Gonzalinho