Problem-posing education does not and cannot serve the interests of the oppressor. No oppressive order could permit the oppressed to begin to question: Why?
Indeed, the interests of the oppressors lie in “changing the consciousness of the oppressed, not the situation which oppresses them”; for the more the oppressed can be led to adapt to that situation, the more easily they can be dominated.
Implicit in the banking concept [of education] is the assumption of a dichotomy between human beings and the world: a person is merely in the world, not with the world or with others…In this view, the person is not a conscious being (corpo consciente); he or she is rather the possessor of a consciousness: an empty “mind” passively open to the reception of deposits of reality from the world outside.
https://envs.ucsc.edu/internships/internship-readings/freire-pedagogy-of-the-oppressed.pdf
I understand where you’re coming from. A material analysis of the west in term of immediate environmental impact certainly does suggest that children are a net negative. And if that’s the analysis you’re going with to advocate for an antinatalist life, then you are justified.
I’m sitting in the imperial core right now with a baby in my arms, bottle feedibg and shitposting in my heated home. Why? Because I’m a mediocre parent at best. But I didn’t have children without the knowledge of their impact on the world. Their mere existence will contribute to climate change as mine does. But despite the immensity of climate change and ever other challenge my children will face I chose to being life into this world to experience it in their own way. And hopefully prepare and help them face, surmount, and solve those challenges. And to care on my legacy of shitposting of course.
Don’t get me wrong either, I think we need people like you who reject or move forward while still knowing these facts.
A bunch of childless leftists attempting to or helping centrist and right wingers’ children learn about leftism won’t end well, and while children raised ‘red’ like Pete and Kamala exist, many more like Christian Parenti do too.
I can also see how having children could push others to the left purely because they now must consider the future of our world but it’s a coin flip if they end up as a chud there
Very reasonable. Personally I agree that focusing educating children about leftism will only help so much. I say that as an elementary teacher who tries to incorporate as much transgressive, empathic, and class-conscious content into my pedagogy as possible.
But please reject the notion that a child’s disposition is dictated by chance. I’m my opinion that is a reactionary stance, a deterministic and myopic worldview that dissuades people from caring about the well-being of children. Yes, we are all a culmination of predispositions. Some children will excel in reading or math without any specific intervention. Some will be naturally inclined to charity and other pro-social behaviors. And some will be little shits. But you can’t forget how great of an impact nurture and experience have on people. It is the duty of leftists to cultivate material and social conditions around children such that they will be good people. To me that is worth much more than their weight in carbon.
I’m definitely a nature/nurture combo believer, you can certainly create an environment for someone to become a leftist but ultimately it is up to them to wield what they have learned for the benefit of all. Agreed that we have to create an environment that allows that and without leftist parents then an important area of that environment will be lacking