ABSTRACT
The need for this essay is rooted in the fallacy that education is a social good that among a variety of social goals emphasizes the promotion of learning. Culturally speaking education is less about learning and more about everything else connected to “the credential society.” Education in America, and speaking institutionally across time, space, and culture, has always been more about training for patriotism, nationalism, and the work and military forces and less about giving students unimpeded, unexpurgated access to the tools for critical analysis and critical access to reality. There have nevertheless always been narrow pathways that have allowed teachers and students to learn above and beyond the institutional goals of education. But the latter part of the twentieth century saw the increasing rationalization of mental labor. It’s unrealistic to think that we are just going to escape the citizenship functions of education. However, we can approach this in a new way through the lens of The Emperor’s New Clothes. Our challenge is to celebrate democracy and ultimately anarchism, citizenship, diversity, and free speech without worshipping flag, anthem, and nation.
