Schools Teach You to Think for the Government, Not for Yourself
- Madhukar Dama
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
I. INTRODUCTION
Modern schooling, for all its talk of empowerment, often functions less as a space for critical thought and more as a factory for obedience, conformity, and systemic survival. It trains minds not to think freely or deeply, but to think in ways that benefit existing structures—especially the government and corporate machinery that thrives on predictable, manageable, rule-abiding citizens.
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II. GLOBAL CONTEXT: EDUCATION AS A TOOL OF CONTROL
1. Historical Roots: Prussian Model
The modern school system is largely inspired by the Prussian education model (early 19th century).
The goal: create disciplined soldiers, factory workers, and obedient bureaucrats.
Core features: punctuality, uniformity, rote memorization, hierarchy, obedience to authority.
Outcome: citizens who follow orders, not challenge them.
2. US & UK: Standardized Obedience
No Child Left Behind (US) and Ofsted system (UK) push standardized testing, not personalized growth.
Schools are graded, teachers are graded, students are ranked. The system rewards compliance, not originality.
Critical thinkers are often labeled as troublemakers.
3. Global Economic Alignment
Schools create workers, not creators.
Curriculum favors STEM or "market-relevant" skills, often decided by corporate lobbying, not human need.
Questioning systems (capitalism, consumerism, nationalism) is not part of the syllabus.
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III. INDIA-SPECIFIC CONTEXT: FACTORY OF CLERKS
1. Colonial Legacy
The British designed Indian education to produce clerks who’d obey, write English memos, and respect hierarchy.
Lord Macaulay’s infamous 1835 “Minute on Indian Education” called for creating "a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals and in intellect.”
2. Post-Independence Copy-Paste
After 1947, India kept the same model.
Schools became training grounds for UPSC, IIT, NEET — feeding the government, MNCs, or emigration pipelines.
Thinking differently = failure. Obedience = success.
3. Nationalism over Humanity
Textbooks glorify wars, ancient kings, and "motherland" while ignoring caste atrocities, ecological collapse, and farmer suicides.
Students are taught to be proud citizens, not wise humans.
Critical topics like sustainability, emotional intelligence, food politics, or local governance are ignored.
4. Language and Hierarchy
English-medium = elite. Vernacular = backward.
A system where you think in one language (mother tongue) but must express in another (English), breaks your inner voice.
Results in self-doubt, dependency, and status anxiety—easier to control.
5. Exams over Experience
The most "important" years of life (Class 10, 12, entrance exams) are reduced to scoreboards.
No reflection, no creativity, no exploration.
By 18, a student knows how to follow rules, but not how to question why those rules exist.
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IV. WHAT DOES “THINKING FOR YOURSELF” MEAN?
Thinking for yourself means:
Asking uncomfortable questions.
Refusing to follow the crowd blindly.
Making choices that may not be financially optimal but are spiritually truthful.
Questioning why you believe what you believe.
School often teaches the opposite:
Stick to syllabus.
Don’t question the teacher.
Success = marks + placement + passport.
Failure = dropout, rebellion, unemployment.
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V. CASE STUDIES & EXAMPLES
1. The Engineer Who Wanted to Farm
A 25-year-old IIT graduate wants to do organic farming in Karnataka.
Family says: “Why waste your education?”
Society taught him farming is backward; only city jobs are progress.
School never taught him soil, only software.
2. Student Suspended for Questioning Textbook
A student in Delhi asked why caste isn’t discussed more in the civics book.
Teacher reported him for "disruption."
School teaches democracy, but not how to practice it.
3. Young Girl Memorizes the Constitution, Doesn’t Know Her Rights
She can recite Articles, but doesn’t know she can file an RTI or question unfair hostel rules.
School makes her a reciting machine, not a free citizen.
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VI. WHY GOVERNMENTS LOVE THIS MODEL
A population that can read but not reflect is easy to rule.
Voters who memorize slogans, not policies, keep bad leaders in power.
Obedient youth feed the army, IT industry, bureaucracy—systems that serve the state, not the soul.
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VII. SO WHAT’S THE WAY OUT?
1. Unschooling and Alternative Education
Schools like Swaraj University, Shikshantar, and Creatnet are challenging this model.
Emphasis on self-designed learning, local livelihoods, real-life skills, inner inquiry.
2. Community-based Knowledge
Learn from elders, artisans, farmers, healers—not just professors.
3. Reclaiming the Inner Voice
Journaling, meditative practices, and open dialogue help rebuild the capacity to think originally.
4. Educating for Freedom, Not Fear
Real education sets you free from identity cages: caste, job title, rank, salary, passport.
It doesn’t prepare you to work for the government. It prepares you to govern yourself.
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VIII. CLOSING THOUGHT
"If your schooling ends in a salary slip and a voter card, but not in freedom, love, and truth—
then you were not educated. You were programmed."
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Chalk Dust and Chains
(in the style of Bukowski)
they lined us up young—
shoes polished,
mouths zipped,
eyes front.
the bell rang like god’s whip
and we sat,
hour after hour,
learning how not to think.
they fed us alphabets
like tranquilizers,
numbers like pills,
and rules like religion.
don’t question.
don’t wander.
don’t dream too loud.
a boy asked why the sky was blue—
they made him stand outside.
a girl wrote a poem about loneliness—
they marked her down for spelling.
we became machines
clapping for medals
and dying for grades,
good little soldiers
for someone else’s war.
by the time we left,
we knew how to fill forms,
check boxes,
nod when scolded—
but we’d forgotten
how to scream.
they don’t want minds,
they want mirrors—
reflecting flags, orders,
and goddamn job security.
school was never
about truth.
it was a factory
with uniforms,
bells,
and just enough hope
to keep us
from burning it down.