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Notes -
Employing Ockham's Razor, isn't it likelier that this is just... POSIWID? Hippies have been pointing out for decades that the US public school system, maintained at enormous expense by the state, seems mostly about... serving the interests of the state. And that primarily means raising children to be conformist tools of whatever the state needs.
US public schools were originally designed to get immigrant urchins off the streets, subdue their disorderly tendencies, and get their parents back into the factories; so of course the early curriculum stressed English grammar, commercial arithmetic and romantic-nationalist mythology like "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," in the context of ruthlessly enforced obedience to authority. Need soldiers for the great wars? Phys ed programs and high school football.
Now it's the 50s, the state needs people to instead consume regularly, resist communism, and prep for nuclear war/space race... ok, more home ec, more arts and literature with reminders that creativity is anti-collectivist, more project-based learning because same. And STEM, lots more STEM.
Now it's the 2000s, the economy is contracting, Turchin's cycle is at its maximum "elite value extraction" position, state capacity is at an all-time high with massive investments in surveillance and social engineering (and that's leaving out AI!). Why would the state need or want a citizenry with a lot of self-reliance, initiative, independence and self-awareness at a time like this? Self-reliant people are trouble. Damaged people with enormous needs, by contrast, make great pets.
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