E Pluribus Unum

Don't worry, I have no intention to herein bring praise and/or malice with respect to the United States of America. That may well be the topic of another essay. This time I intend to weigh in on a topic which has been on my mind for as long as I remember, the uniqueness of each individual.

From the very starting point of our lives, we are taught that we are all unique individuals, each with important and relevant "strong points" that will someday "make a difference in the world". At least that is the paradigm instituted in western schools, not only in Europe, but especially in the U.S., where the school is a safehaven of any and all models of morality and achievement, inasmuch as everybody receives a trophy, regardless of actual merit. In other schools grading systems are turning into obsolete instruments of torture, the accent is placed on "personal development" and there is almost no differentiation of merit.

My opinion on this matter will most certainly be considered controversial, especially by those who are members of my generation. They will say that I have narrow views, that I think like an old person whose mind is filled with nostalgic memories, that I am too much of a conservative and I resist change for no good reason. Allow me to make it clear: I like change, I like evolution, I like pushing the boundaries ever further but that which I do not like is the trivialization which has turned much of modern education into a joke.

In the old days, education was reserved for certain cathegories of individuals pertaining to the higher social classes and to this day a higher level of education is most often associated with a higher social standing. More prejudice than truth, unfortunately. However, coupled with the industrial revolution of the 19th and especially 20th centuries, the rise of the middle class meant that "old" education had to be modified to suit more modern needs. This important change led to the two major consequences that are relevant to this day: almost anybody nowadays has access to education. However, as almost anybody had access to education, its level had to sink in order to accomodate the lesser endowed individuals. From this point forward, however, the trend has been nothing but a descending spiral threatening to make the act of education a futile undertaking.

Before you decide to rise against my dissertation on the high horse of equality and equal chances, take into consideration that there are some things which can only be fulfilled by an educative path that resembles a struggle, that some lessons can only be learned through a "master-apprentice" approach to education and that this idea is becoming more and more hated by the second because the people that are in charge of education as we know it today are the not-so-well endowed individuals who should never have polluted the fine art of teaching others in the first place. Higher education is not for everybody. This is not the case today. Everybody wants to major in something, and getting accepted into a higher education institution is uncannily facile and sometimes relies more on the amount of money one intends to spend and far less on the personal virtues which should constitute the most important premise of access into higher education.

Some countries have taken this idea too far, and we bare witness to people of no real capacity having doctorates in intricate fields and even university professors with almost nothing that recommends them for the job, not even pedagogical skill. The "magisters" of the Roman Era, of the Enlightenment, have all but vanished, leaving behind people who turn education into a joke and a business.

My opinion means no disrespect towards the people for whom the ideals of education are unaltered and who continue to do a magnificent job in their respective fields. My view addresses the declining situation of education in general. If you feel threatened by my opinion or react with unwarranted anger against it then you, too, are part of the problem.

So why "e pluribus unum"? Because society wants to falsely instill from a young age inside each individual the idea that he or she is unique, special and has extremely relevant character traits which can shape the world. Everybody is "the One". And the truth is, most of the population inhabitng this planet as we speak is irrelevant and education, instead of managing to make people matter in the reference system, actually manages the opposite nowadays, increasing said redundancy!

Of course I vouch for an educated society, of course people must be taught to behave, to live together, each person's supposed potential must be sought. However, we must differentiate the animals which need obedience training, and who need to be taught just how to behave and nothing more and the Mensch who needs to be turned into an Ubermensch by means of education. Otherwise we are just throwing the baby with the bathwater. Philosophers might well rule society someday, although chances are indeed slim.