Greetings all,
As promised, this is the beginning of the RWTH blog. We will be posting updates, news, and our collective thoughts on a variety of subjects on here so if any of these things interest you, be sure to check in every once in a while.
Our next show is The Geonna Gray Benefit Show May 17th at the Brickhouse here in Phoenix. If you are unfamiliar with Geonna's story, a summary of it can be found here. Hometown heroes Where Eagles Dare (one of all my all time favorite bands) will be reuniting and playing this show as will Heroes Dead and Gone. Needless to say, as a community who takes care of its own this show represents a unique opportunity to help one of ours in a very direct and positive way - we hope to see you all there.
As for RWTH updates, we have been busy writing lately. At this point, we have written 3 songs since the release of our first ep in September; while the writing process has been slower than expected, we feel that the quality of the songs more than makes up for this. We are a meticulous (read, anal) bunch of dudes, so getting everyone to agree on things isn't always the easiest thing, but in the end, we feel that our songs show accurately the care and precision we have put into them. We will be playing all 3 of these new songs at the benefit show; we also have a very special, and in my mind, a very fitting, cover lined up. I'm not sure I want to let the cat out of the bag just yet, so keep your ears to the streets on that one.
Onto a few personal thoughts... I am in the thick of my last two weeks of college, and amidst this insane stress and confusion, I have realized a few things about college and education in general. Now that I have gone through the education system of this culture - all 17 years of it - I feel that I can look back and comment on it in a way that I never could have while I was in the process.
First and foremost, the education system of this country is a means for controlling the public. I know, this sounds so simple and obvious I almost shouldn't need to say it. But truly, institutionalized "education" is interchangeable with indoctrination, or assimilation, or even brainwashing if you will... take your pick because the things you learn in the school system are designed, in every way shape and form, to mold you to fit the capitalist, individualist culture of Anglo-America. Do you remember how you started off every single morning of your schooling by singing The Pledge of Allegiance? Looking back, you should be able to realize now that you were being forced to swear your loyalty to a country and its Christian God. But did you ever learn that that little song was originally written by a Socialist? It was then stolen from him and the words "Under God" were interjected to further drive home the fact the America was a Christian nation.
We take for granted that the cultural values we have ingrained into us are not innate, in fact far from it. We have to learn - to be forced - to accept consumerism, nuclear waster, carbon dioxide in our O-Zone, racial intolerance, homophobia, greed, slavery, poverty and a slew of other things that are wholly unnatural to us as human beings. We have to learn to accept these gross injustices that we live with every single day; we have to learn to shut off our natural sense of compassion for the suffering of fellow human beings and sentient animals alike; we have to learn to hate ourselves, to constantly compare ourselves to impossible standards of what is "beautiful," what is "desirable;" we have to learn to hate others simply because their skin pigmentation is different than ours or because they speak a different language or practice a different faith; we have to learn to accept the bloody, violent history of the United States as inevitable, as manifest-destiny, as a God-given right and as something completely... normal. But I find nothing normal about the displacement and genocide of an entire indigenous population in a mere 200 years. I find nothing normal about capturing people from Africa, shipping them across an entire ocean (and this summary makes the conditions sound almost pleasant, I can assure they were anything but) and then selling them - selling them - into a life of permanent bondage. I find nothing normal about the industrialization of a country at the expense of its entire population. The fact is that we have to go through 12 years of schooling to have these things drilled into our skulls, to have all sense of identity that is not tied to the flag of this country wrung out of us like a dirty rag hung out to dry. And once we are finished, well, there are very few who even think to question things. They are to busy pursuing the "American dream," another illusive ideal ingrained in the school system; but such concepts are merely illusions meant to keep you busy and more importantly, to distract you.
I could go on and on about my problems with the education system of this country, but by now I'm guessing you see what I'm getting at. The next logical question then seems to be, How do I unlearn what I have learned? How do I find truth in a lifetime of lies? If I had the answers the questions like these, I would surely be a wiser man indeed - and probably one in prison for dissent, but if you have ever asked yourself questions like these, then I would say you are on the right path. The desire to question that which is beaten into you by authority is a necessary prerequisite for revolutionary thinking, and it is this skepticism of the establishment which has often led to alternative readings of history that have proven far more accurate than the master narrative which is shoved down the throat of every young American.
In short, never under any circumstance accept what your teachers tell you as an infallible truth. They are merely pawns in an institution which is intent on bending you to its will; they merely regurgitate the curriculum that has been approved by their superiors, and they will not stray from it for fear of severe repercussions (this is the type of education system which reprimands teachers for thinking for themselves, for actually teaching and forces the compliance of everyone involved). As you go through life, question everything. Look into things for yourself. The best teachers we have are our own experiences and there is no reason you cannot seek out and find the truth for yourself.
I'm afraid this post is getting to long for the shortened attention span our culture has given us so I will end it here.
-Drew and RWTH
Thank you for reading this. I leave you with a quote:
"They schools can't teach us shit, my people need freedom, we tryin' to get all we can get. All my high school teachers can suck my dick, tellin' me white man lies straight bullshit. They schools ain't teachin' us, what we need to know to survive. They schools don't educate, all they teach the people is lies."
-Dead Prez, They Schools
продюсерский центр
7 years ago
4 comments:
I had been thinking the same thing a while ago - how 'they schools' are just there to cram the same things down every citizen's throat. To take every child whose mind is young and malleable and shape it into an 'American' mind. I believe it's all just a way to make every person generally the same and to keep this society going. These are the topics that make my heart feel heavy. The topics that make me believe... actually, know that I was meant by those ruling to be a pawn to move their culture through the future.
And I actually laughed when I read that quote, 'cause, though I've never heard the song, my friend had been saying a bunch of lines from it, and it brought up some fun memories. What a coincidence. :)
- Frank
I disagree with school making everyone the same. I think ultimately, it allowed me to think out of the box- to reject what my elementary/middle school/ even high school teachers taught me. I heard things from my teachers that didn't make sense to me, did research, and proved them wrong in some cases. In others, I was proved wrong, etc. College is a place that allows a more liberal thinking than conservative. At least that's what I've experienced from my classes...though I am a liberal arts major.
I enjoyed reading this post. I have to tell you though that being a high school teacher it can get upsetting at times when I hear so much negativity about not just the educational system, but the teachers who do the educating (which includes me!). I'd like to share a couple of things.
You said (in regards to teachers), "They are merely pawns in an institution which is intent on bending you to its will; they merely regurgitate the curriculum that has been approved by their superiors, and they will not stray from it for fear of severe repercussions (this is the type of education system which reprimands teachers for thinking for themselves, for actually teaching and forces the compliance of everyone involved)."
I do have to disagree with this generalization. Generalizations are tricky things- I'm sure you wouldn't want to be lumped into a negative generalization just because you are a male, vegan, straight edge, whatever. I do want you to know that I am not taking what you say personally, and that I do in fact fully realize that many teachers are doing their students a disservice. In fact, I have had many teachers who have done so. However, you need to recognize that there are teachers out there who aren't merely "pawns," and are actually allowing kids to grow and learn and become better people. In the school I teach at, there are brilliant teachers sharing so much knowledge with their students. I see kids exploring different types of books and thinking outside of the box. Kids are challenged to question everything, and to think for themselves. For instance, in my classroom we read a section on Transcendentalism, which conveys that very message. I work in a public school district and if they were so against this idea, I can guarantee you they would have (sadly) "banned" the books. You also mentioned that "they merely regurgitate the curriculum that has been approved by their superiors," and this is absolutely not true. We are able to teach what we want, as long as it covers the "standards." And by standards, I mean literary techniques, writing skills, etc. I am sure many schools/teachers are ruled by fear of deviating from a set curriculum. But like I said, don't generalize to make a point. I just think you need to look at the whole picture before judging a large group made up of many different individuals.
That's it!
<3Danielle
As Danielle pointed out, you made a lot of generalizations. Your experience is not necessarily the same collective experience that many people have. You present the same argument that people pose against "organized religion", but the fact of the matter is that schooling and religion both affect the person in profoundly individual ways. While some people use religion to control, others (like myself) have found it to be uplifting and positive. Same goes for schooling. I think your point never to take anyone's word as infallible is important, but there are far bigger enemies to people's well being than school.
-Josh
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