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Throughout history, rulers and court intellectuals have aspired to use the educational system to shape their nations. The model was set out by Plato in The Republic and was constructed most faithfully in Soviet Russia, Fascist Italy, and Nazi Germany. But one need not look only to extreme cases to find such uses of the educational system. One can see how irresistable a vehicle the schools would be to any social engineer. They represent a unique opportunity to mold future citizens early in life, to instill in them the proper reverence for the ruling culture, and to prepare them to be obedient and obeisant taxpayers and soldiers. Unsurprisingly, rulers and intellectuals jumped at the chance to make the schools a mill for the creation of Good Citizens. That motivation has been part of every effort to establish government schools.
— Sheldon Richman
Reading Time: 5 minutes 45 seconds
Today is Thursday, July 13th, the 194th day of 2023. There are 171 days left in the year. It is Barbershop Music Appreciation Day.
On This Day
In 1787, the Continental Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance, establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also established procedures for the admission of new states and limited the expansion of slavery.
In 1863, in New York City, opponents of conscription began three days of rioting.
In 1897, a patent was granted to inventor Guglielmo Marconi for transmitting electrical signals, leading to the invention of radio.
In 1923, the Hollywoodland Sign was dedicated in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. In 1949, after renovation of the sign, the “land” part of the sign was dropped.
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