American Education - Who Decides What We Learn?

Before 1900, schools were mainly controlled by local community School Boards and parents of the children who attended. The curriculum varied from school to school based upon the culture and economies of the town. For example, kids in agricultural areas had an obvious concentration on farming and the hours/days required of the children to attend school revolved around harvesting and work required by helping out in the family farm. Imagine that, kids working after school!

Then in 1902, the ruthless oil tycoon of Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller, Sr. had a change of heart and decided to found the General Education Board (GEB) out of the pure philanthropic motive of giving back to the people. His philosophy was that education served as the solution for most human problems (many of the large capitalists of the time saw independence and self-sufficiency as a huge problem). And, this problem was growing quickly with the abolition of forced labor and slavery. How interesting that the GEB focused almost all of its attention to the south. For most of its history, the GEB spent hundreds of millions supporting and training black Americans through education in the industrial and agricultural arts.

In December, 1865, the last 40,000 slaves were freed in Kentucky by the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment. Slavery, under the name of sharecropping, was outlawed two years later when a law prohibiting the practice of "owning" the descendants of those in debt bondage. Finally, in 1903, the Supreme Court ruled on several cases of debt bondage of black Americans. They solidified the outlawing of sharecropping deeming it unconstitutional (sounds awfully familiar to debt bondage today, whether it be credit cards, mortgages, or the toughest and most oppressive forced bondage we face...taxes).

It's quite remarkable that the General Education Board, which spent almost all of its millions controlling and guiding education in the south began right about the same time a huge market of laborers were being let out into the market. With brilliant men of power controlling the world and its resources for much of history, why would they give that up and allow rule by the people? I guess they did concede to change and simply surrendered and decided to become servants to the people. It seems that they had enough money, it was time to give back to enhance humanity.

In fact, educating America's blacks wasn't philanthropic enough, Rockefeller also had to help "shape" the minds of the children from wealthy families. With all that wealth being passed down to the children, he had to make sure they knew how to spend it correctly. That could be why he was so involved in starting several Ivy League Universities and contributing to the endowments and funding of very specific academic subjects.

In 1901, one year before the founding of the General Education Board, Rockefeller created the Institute for Medical Research (I'm sure it was to help save the people, not profit from pharmaceuticals). Then the philanthropist started the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission in 1909 to be followed up in 1913 with an International Health Board to help all humans of the planet.

If you ever wondered why we do the things we do and you were taught the things you were taught in education, you simply need to follow the money. For those who have eyes to see, the answer to that question is quite obvious. Compulsory education is a tool of the elite, powerful few of the world to "help" condition us into a system of service. For the rest of our lives, currency will flow from us to them. It's quite ingenious if you think about it.

We are taught to go to school, get a job, pay taxes, give money to the banks for retirement and savings, go into debt buying a home and the multitude of other products, and enjoy freedom. Funny, I once learned about the corrupt system of feudalism where the poor serfs had to turn over 25% of all earnings whether in coin, barter items, or food for the right to use land and be protected by the feudal lord. Sounds awfully familiar, but now the 25% is more like 50%! Man, those serfs had it tough!

Get educated people! A great place to start is Beyond Education University (http://BeUniversity.net/). You now have access to more information than ever before in history. That might not be the case for much longer if more oppressive regulations get passed restricting the access of information. In your gut, you know something is wrong with education and the world. Follow your gut and empower yourself with information. You might not be able to change the world. Power and corruption is as old as mankind, and unfortunately, it's here to stay. But you can awaken to the real rules and history of the game and begin to control yourself. It's a great place to start! It's time to go beyond education.

Mark Warhol is an educator with over 20 years experience. His passion for learning goes beyond education and into the esoteric because there is so much more to know than what we are publicly served on a plate. He helps run the sight http://BeUniversity.net where visitors can educate themselves, continue their journey of learning, and go Beyond Learning!