• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Some of the most “ignorant” Americans became fixtures of the late 19th/early 20th century labor movement.

      Public education is about building a shared culture and academic understanding of the world. That can be one rooted in secular scientific reason, Christian mythology, or fascist bigotry. But the important thing (from a government level) is that it’s a consensus capable of being reproduced from generation to generation.

      The anti-Communism of the 50s/60s that took place alongside the foundation of the modern higher education system was instrumental win building the Reaganite consensus that won the Cold War.

      But if American plutocrats are just going to tear the wiring out of the walls and sell it for scrap, there’s no knowing what kind of consensus will form in the wake of educational collapse.

      Maybe we get New American Communism. Maybe we get an elite informed entirely by ads on TikTok and Facebook. Maybe an Islamic Renaissance as the Saudis / UAE simply buy us out with our own Petro dollars. Maybe GenA and B go back to the Christian church.

      Idk, but it appears Oklahoma State government is giving up the reins and making it someone else’s problem.