What will education be in the future? Well, I believe that one of the most important things that education will be able to do is to rule the world. Now, what will you say? Won’t education be next to impossible? Won’t humans just give up and die out from disease any minute?
No, I don’t think so. The other day, I was talking to an acquaintance in India who was traveling there on holiday. He was a graduate student in college, and he was quite impressed with how well-off people were in India. He was quite upset with all the poor people in Africa and Asia, saying that there was absolutely no reason for anyone to be upset with them. And also, he said that education in those underdeveloped countries was getting better every single year.
There are large populations in the third world that are extremely poor. They have very little income or even nothing at all. Yet they still live respectable lives. Because of the incredible power of education, not only can these poor countries afford to invest in their students, but they can afford to provide education that leads to a high-paying job.
So, if all of this is true, and it appears to be true, then where is the problem? Many say that poor education leads to poverty, and in fact, that’s true in some cases. But in other cases, I’ve been told, the opposite is true. If you’re smart, you end up becoming more valuable than your income would indicate.
Indeed, I also believe that the United States has a negative impact on world income as well. This is because we are a country that allows poor countries to borrow huge amounts of money and then repossess those assets when they are no longer of use to the United States. As a result, the poor countries become poor again, but they don’t have access to the kinds of technology and higher education that the rich countries have.
All of these are arguments that I have often considered, and I am sure many others do as well. But there is one thing that I haven’t thought about. Why should we allow uneducated people to reproduce? Isn’t that line of reasoning similar to the argument that says slavery is okay so long as it is practiced by the consent of the slave owner?
Of course, the logic could be extended to mean that poor people should have no voice or ability to express their views. And that is wrong. Those who say that education should be limited are not saying that everyone should be denied access to education. Rather, what they are saying is that those who lack education should suffer because those without it do not know how to contribute to the world. And the only way that they will learn is through real-life experience.
In the end, education is a very good thing. It opens the world up to you. But if you have never experienced any real-life education, you shouldn’t worry about it. You can go to any school that you want to, go to college, get a degree, and make a lot of money in the process. If you are rich enough, you might even end up having your own television show, play a lead role in a movie, or be a billionaire.
Now, then, those who say that education is a privilege granted to the poor are not just being unfair. They are also misinformed. Because if you ask a poor person what his or her opinion on free education is, he or she will almost certainly say that it is a horrible thing. Poor people don’t want free education.
In addition, the argument that those who don’t have the opportunity to receive higher education are somehow denied the right to participate in free enterprise simply isn’t true. After all, those who are born into poverty cannot compete for jobs with those who have the skills and education to obtain those jobs. If an individual doesn’t have the ability to pursue higher education, shouldn’t that person just give up on that particular opportunity? The answer is no.
Those who say that poor people have nothing to gain by getting an education are just using that argument to further marginalize and abuse the poor. They are saying that those who can’t afford an education shouldn’t be allowed to pursue any sort of higher education at all. Is that a reasonable argument? No, it isn’t.
