When Education Becomes Indoctrination

“Curmudge, our topic for today looks rather ominous. Perhaps we should start with an example. Our last discussion ended with the males of the village acquiring enough education to build systems for providing clean water and basic sanitation. Then what?”

“In their madrasa the boys undoubtedly learn reading and writing. However, if their teacher is an Islamic radical, he may also be indoctrinating them with the belief that the United States is the ‘Great Satan’ that must be destroyed by people achieving ‘martyrdom.’”

“So Curmudge, in our eyes these so-called ‘martyrs’ become murderers and suicide bombers by blowing themselves and innocent people to bits. It doesn’t do much good for these people to grow up with clean water and sanitation if their ultimate desire is to be dead before they’re old enough to grow a beard.”

“It’s even worse, Jaded Julie, when a whole nation becomes indoctrinated. Sixty-five years ago (I was 11 years old) American civilians viewed Japanese kamikaze pilots as a small group of deranged zealots willing to crash their planes onto American ships off Okinawa. Only slightly later did we learn that the whole Japanese nation had been brain-washed into believing that Americans were a sub-human race to be resisted unto death. This was clearly demonstrated by Okinawan civilians jumping to their death off high cliffs before the advancing Americans.”

“I can understand the history, Curmudge, but their psychology blows my mind. I hope the Islamic terrorists possess the only remaining vestige of such a warped mindset.”

“Unfortunately it’s not true, Julie. The modern-day North Koreans have been propagandized in much the same way as the World War II Japanese. The North Korean educational system teaches a belief in the unique moral superiority of the Korean race (1); Americans are depicted as an inherently evil race and sketched as jackals with paws and snouts.”

“Golly Curmudge, that would seem unbelievable except that it has been pounded into the minds of North Korean children for the past forty years.”

“There’s more. ‘They are also told that the South Korean masses, for all their material comfort, are ashamed of being under the thumb of the Yankees and yearn to live under Kim Jong-Il.’ The propaganda apparatus continues to assure the North Korean people that their economic sacrifices (over a million starved to death in the 1990’s) are essential to support their ‘military first’ regime and protect them from the Yankees.”

“If we didn’t know authoritatively that all this is the truth, it would seem like some sort of diabolical fairy tale. How will this situation end?”

“For our purpose, Julie, we can conclude that education can be a force for good; but when it becomes propaganda, it can become unspeakably evil. History is full of additional examples. For North Korea, the end game is a total unknown. Watch out for further writings by B. R. Myers to keep up to date on the situation (2). However if you want to sleep well at night, read medieval novels by Ken Follett.”

(1) Myers, B.R. The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves—and Why It Matters. Available from Amazon.com. See also review by William Alexander.
(2) Myers, B.R. North Korea on the Edge. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704100604575145672974954144.html?KEYWORDS=BR+Myers