Comments on: And on to the next atrocity: Trump administration to seek merger of Education, Labor departments https://www.habitablezone.com/2018/06/20/and-on-to-the-next-atrocity-trump-administration-to-seek-merger-of-education-labor-departments/ Fri, 03 Apr 2026 22:41:18 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: hank https://www.habitablezone.com/2018/06/20/and-on-to-the-next-atrocity-trump-administration-to-seek-merger-of-education-labor-departments/#comment-41644 hank Sun, 24 Jun 2018 00:32:51 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=71513#comment-41644 The new Agency will be the Department of Child Labor. The new Agency will be the Department of Child Labor.

]]> By: ER https://www.habitablezone.com/2018/06/20/and-on-to-the-next-atrocity-trump-administration-to-seek-merger-of-education-labor-departments/#comment-41635 ER Thu, 21 Jun 2018 03:36:11 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=71513#comment-41635 The entire Conservative world-view sees education as primarily a means of training the workforce in useful and narrow skills. They want factory and office workers--productive, that is, profitable workers. The idea of a general education that allows cross-disciplinary, non-specialized thought and action is vaguely threatening. Creative thinking may be of use in the higher level management and executive positions, but not in the general population where it can only breed resentment, rebellion and critical attudes. You know, troublemakers. The traditional, historical idea of education has morphed from a means of preparation for life and citizenship to a sort of vocational training process. You know how that works; "So what can you do with a degree in astronomy, anyway, teach? Maybe you should get a minor in math so you can always get a job as a programmer if the astronomy doesn't work out." As if math and programming had anything to do with one another. Or as one Florida educator put it, "We should remember that the purpose of education is to teach our youth what they need to know, not how or what to think." The obvious conclusion being that no one really needs to know how or what to think. The entire Conservative world-view sees education as primarily a means of training the workforce in useful and narrow skills. They want factory and office workers–productive, that is, profitable workers. The idea of a general education that allows cross-disciplinary, non-specialized thought and action is vaguely threatening. Creative thinking may be of use in the higher level management and executive positions, but not in the general population where it can only breed resentment, rebellion and critical attudes. You know, troublemakers.

The traditional, historical idea of education has morphed from a means of preparation for life and citizenship to a sort of vocational training process. You know how that works;

“So what can you do with a degree in astronomy, anyway, teach? Maybe you should get a minor in math so you can always get a job as a programmer if the astronomy doesn’t work out.”

As if math and programming had anything to do with one another.

Or as one Florida educator put it, “We should remember that the purpose of education is to teach our youth what they need to know, not how or what to think.”

The obvious conclusion being that no one really needs to know how or what to think.

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