ABSTRACT
Mohandas Gandhi once identified the seven social sins: politics without principle, wealth without work, commerce without morality, pleasure without conscience, education without character, science without humility, and worship without sacrifice. Education is not a product to be swallowed without reflection and struggle, nor is it information poured into an awaiting, but empty, brain. Education is a path to knowledge and wisdom. To be real, education is always personal, passionate and difficult. Not only is education deeply personal, it is inescapably political. As Aristotle noted, we are political animals. Our brains are products of social relations, social intrigue, and social bonding. A genuine definition of equal educational opportunities suggests— or demands—that all children must be offered curriculum, teaching, and support that favors all rather than the few. Within education, democracy is more honored in the breach than in practice. Most schools are hierarchical and authoritarian, even more so than most businesses.
