188. The
Illusion Of Punishment: The Underground History of American Education by John
Taylor Gatto from archive.org
The
Illusion Of Punishment
What
Western spirituality says is paradoxical — rather than avoiding these
hardships, it asks you to embrace them.
It taught the counter-intuitive response that willing acceptance of these burdens was the only way to a good,
full life, the only way to inner peace.
Bending your head in obedience, it will be raised up strong, brave,
indomitable, and wise. Now let me go
through the list of penalties from this perspective.
About labor, the religious voice says that
work is the only avenue to genuine self-respect. Work develops independence, self-reliance,
resourcefulness. Work itself is a value, above
a paycheck, above praise, above accomplishment. Work produces a
spiritual reward unknown to the
reinforcement schedules of behavioral psychologists like B.F. Skinner, but if you tackle it gladly, without
resentment or avoidance, whether you're digging a ditch or building a skyscraper, you'll find
the key to yourself in work. If the secular
aversion to work is a thing to be rationalized as schools do, requiring
only minimal effort from children, a
horrifying problem is created for our entire society, one that thus far
has proven incurable. I refer to the
psychological, social, and spiritual anxieties that