They are not in charge
The bricks are still standing, but the walls contain nothing. (Image by Noah Haggerty)
Across the United States and the world, institutions that rose to prominence over the last century or two are still enjoying their ubiquity.
Humans have always sought power and freedom. But it must also be true that we seek someone to lead us. How else would those who have sought power have been able to wield it so successfully, even when goals were nefarious?
It used to be a lot easier to get people to do what you wanted them to do. All you have to do is limit their education and indoctrinate them instead. The culture becomes self-perpetuating as they indoctrinate each other, everyone playing their required role.
So here we are in 2020. These days, you can educate yourself with a wide array of books, plus the entire Internet.
And yet, we’re still, as a culture, buying into the whole “do well in school so you can get into a good college and get a good job” narrative. Even in the midst of the pandemic, we are clinging to the promise of stability that this story offers.
In this same pandemic, schools and businesses have had to figure out how to function. Many are being flexible and generous, finding ways to create positive experiences for their students, customers, or staff.
Other institutions are trying to hold onto the way things have always been done, using intimidation to control people’s behavior. In this approach, if you’re struggling, the problem must be you.
This strategy still works because people don’t want to let go of the stories they are familiar with, even when these stories are causing pain for them and their children. They still want to please the authority figures they have been taught to revere.
However, we are seeing the cracks in the facade. This week, I got a call from a parent who is seriously questioning the new private school she chose for her kids this year. The traditional and strict standards of this school allow it to project an air of confidence, but this has been undermined by the frazzled and frustrated teachers on the video feeds, the lack of clear expectations and support for students, and the absurdly high workload requiring memorization as opposed to actual learning.
In the past, a parent might be able to assume that the school knows best, that her children need to work harder, or find reassurance among fellow parents. But now, with the reality of the school day exposed, she can’t be fooled. Just as Dorothy glimpsed an ordinary old man working the controls and discovered that the great and fearful Oz was just a trick, this mother is seeing that behind the fancy sports fields and massive endowment is a run-of-the-mill class.
If ever there was a time to be patient with the organizations we are involved with, the coronavirus pandemic is that time. But this needs to go both ways. Our schools, corporations, and government institutions can’t hide behind the curtain and dictate the terms. We won’t fall for it this time.
Ultimately, they are not in charge. These institutions depend on our buy-in, and they won’t have it if we choose not to participate. We know better. We can take away our support if we want to. It’s happened before, and it will happen again.
