Henry Rollins: Education Will Restore A Vigorous Democracy

According to Henry Rollins, education is the great leveler of the playing field, which is why the punk rocker says that elites are fearful of it. What would happen if our educational system did succeed in leveling the playing field? According to Rollins, for one thing, the prison population will plummet. The temptation to rob a liquor store, for instance, would be greatly reduced, Rollins says, if our schools succeeded in teaching all students aptitude -- the ability to learn. That means "someone can open any book and have the ability to obtain knowledge." What other benefits would reinventing education have? Rollins says that democracy would be a much more vigorous thing. "We would expect much more of our politicians," he says, "and Thomas Jefferson would finally stop rolling in his grave."

Transcript--
Henry Rollins: The way out is education. It always has been, always will be. It is the great leveler of the playing field. That is why some politicians and some people who are of a certain bent not only fear education, they hate education because they realize that minorities, whole demographics will become educated and when they do that the prison population will plummet, equality and the burden of equality. These people will have a slightly narrowed pie slice of wealth. They'll have to give up a little. They will still be filthy rich, but they won't be super-duper, filthy, obscene rich.

And people of different skin tones will be making better choices with their life, that is to say minorities who fill American prisons, who do big amounts of time, who end up having shortened life spans - and some of this is death by misadventure, bad choices, but a lot of it is a lack of education. And so that's why people who worked in the government for education like my mother who worked for health education and welfare and national education and planning until, I think, two different Republican administrations came and wiped them both out, education, no, no, level playing field, eek, so that is the way out.

So what do you teach in school? You teach aptitude. You teach the ability to learn. You teach discipline, focus, application and how to read and basic mathematics, so someone can open up any book and have the interest, the focus and the discipline to pursue the knowledge contained therein and that way they can become a plumber or an astronaut because they have the mindset that says I can achieve, I want to achieve and I'm going to sit here with this damn book for eight hours and I'm going to get it because I learned the aptitude, I learned how to sit down, shut up and apply myself and with that the world of knowledge fairly throws itself into your lap and so that is the great dismal failure of "No Child Left Behind". When you teach to a test you're basically just trying to get reelected. You're looking good at tax time. You're looking good when they come through the building and evaluate you, well they learned the test. They learned the test, but they didn't learn how to learn and so that's what I find as a breakdown in teaching systems. They don't teach you how to think because as soon as you get that under your cap books are books, information is information. You just find what pleases you. But if you have the ability to learn you're going to make better choices and you'll have an intellectual confidence that will allow you to really maximize your potential. It's where the idea of robbing a liquor store or putting a gun up to someone's head. You would have literally better things to do with your time and that's where you see real progress. That is the America you could have and you could have it in this century, but it would be an America that is a much more level playing field. Democracy would be a far more vigorous thing. We would be expecting much more of our politicians. Congress would not have these amazing vacations they have. They would be smarting from getting caned by the people because if they didn't do the people's will like they are supposed to they would be out of office in two to four or six years. I like that and Jefferson could stop finally turning in his grave.

Directed / Produced by
Elizabeth Rodd and Jonathan Fowler

http://bigthink.com/

• Category

  Education

[etuberalism]

Mr Rollins,I listened to your message when i was 12-15yrs of age. I got it. 30 years ago. Thanks for this one.

[Jak Vokun-Sos]

"we dont understand it yet? well lets say it was (a) god and be done with it"

[sdwone]

Mr Rollins is absolutely right but I would even go one step further and decree that Education is the Key to unlocking the full potential for the entire Planet and thus our very Survival. Human Minds that are empty and devoid of Knowledge tend to be more primitive, more primal and indeed, more prone to superstitious beliefs and religion. This is an overtly simplistic picture of course but the verdict is clear: Education Matters... And at this critical phase, now more than ever...

[Leon Corbusier]

hey!! why didn't you tell me that you knew Rollin's Band??...i'm 30 now and i'm just beggining to listen his music and messages!!... ;)

[Vivian Richards]

lol we choose homeschooling/unschooling because we get too choose what we educate ourselves with and learn how to think for ourselves , It seems that the ability to be authentic has lost its way in today's Society one of my sons favorite novels is Animal farm great read if you have to few individuals you have a mob but if you have more individuals then you have less of a mob

[twistedfocus100]

One must have an education to realize such things and thats where mom and dad come in.

[twistedfocus100]

Quality will always be lower. This is due to the system it's self. It's not about building the best product. It's about building the cheapest product and charging as much as people will pay. It's based on unlimited growth. Only one problem, It's built on finite resources. Welcome to our economy. Your way of thinking is out dated. Don't you get it. The system is setup to fail, It's all based on debt. So by that merit alone you will have bankruptcy and house forclosures.

[PaulCHarris]

I see from your youtube page you like some intellectual material, so may I direct you to a movie called "Waiting for Superman" which, while kind of dry, does an Excellent job describing the problem with public education, and only stars actual students, principals, teachers, NEA union folk, etc. I don't listen to Fox, but I'll agree with anything that makes sense spoken by left, right or center. Would be forced into going to a free Govt grocery store and taxed the amount you spend on groceries?

[PaulCHarris]

Well if these people are mostly the Govt, then having free choice will allow you to only shop for goods are services that meet your needs. If you hate ex-govt owners, then shop at the NON-govt place. Ultimately, if the govt can forcibly take your money and give you something for it, it won't be as good as somebody who has to woo you amongst other competitors. If people HAVE to buy at your store, prices will be higher, and quality lower. Do you disagree with anything I've said?

[PaulCHarris]

Oliva, the govt does a terrible job in many cities, New york for example, and has a monopoly on education because you can't take the money earmarked for your child's education and shop where you feel is the best school. Would you let the government tax you their estimated grocery amount for your family, and then force you to buy groceries at a government grocery store? Please watch the movie "waiting for superman" on netflix.

[PaulCHarris]

Teachers are in unions which give almost all of their money to the Democratic party, who protects their monopoly on education money by not allowing free choice (vouchers), or accountability (firing bad teachers). Private education is enormously cheaper and better than public education. You just think public education is cheaper because the government pays for it, so you don't see the cost. If the government gave you that money to shop around for your own education, you can do far better.

[jt6572]

education as commonly accepted, is the ability to regurgitate what you are taught. the real threat to oligarchy is those of us who can think freely. not going through the system as we are conditioned to.