# Education as a Social Good By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-06-08 The views on education vary based on time and context. In some societies, at certain times, education was viewed as an elite function. Only those at the highest level in society were educated. Most were illiterate. In other societies, at different times, education was viewed as a democratic right. Regardless of social position, everybody had a right to a quality education. Education and its resulting knowledge are power. Within our society, there is much debate regarding education. Some view public education as a foundational element of society. Others view public education as a tool of the political left to indoctrinate the children of this society to the woke agenda. The battle lines regarding higher education are drawn even more clearly. Some think that college education should be free or highly subsidized. Others think college benefits the individual and is an investment one should make for oneself. Whereas these views conflict, there is at least some truth. Education can lead to more liberal thinking. However, it is worth noting that most right-leaning politicians are also college-educated. So, becoming liberal is not necessarily an outcome of education. However, it is worth considering why so many of the highest-educated members of our society hold liberal views. This could be indoctrination. A more immediate explanation would be that education simultaneously makes one more questioning of authority and less fearful of differences. Societies that are more questioning and accommodating tend to be less susceptible to manipulation. Education, as a social good, is focused on cultivating inquisitiveness. It is focused on developing one’s ability to think for oneself. To determine what one thinks and why one thinks what they think. If education does these things, it benefits a genuinely democratic society. It is potentially not so beneficial for a society with a representative democracy. Educated people can question if the representative is, in fact, representative. Education is almost always a danger to the status quo. Limiting education, making it more costly, and making education available only after an extensive indoctrination program (like serving in the military) is an attempt to tame its radical power. Education will be seen as a social good when those in society stop viewing it as a means to make more money and start seeing it as the only viable means to question power effectively. #### Related Items [[Education]] [[Society]] [[Good]] [[Value]] [[Politics]] [[Democracy]] [[Liberal]] [[Conservative]]