School erases our natural relationship with work
We will always need to work to survive.
In school, work is handed down by an authority.
To a kid’s mind, work is placed in front of the child by an authority who orders him to do it. Without that authority, the child would be free to play and do whatever she wanted.
They desperately wait for the day when nobody pesters them to do homework.
As they become an adult. Most are disappointed to encounter yet another authority figure who hands them more work. It feels nearly as pointless, too. Trained for over a decade, they don’t know any other way. They settle in. “I guess this is what life is like….”
So they live for the weekend. We all know how that life plays out. Consumer debt. Layoffs. Unengaging work. Financial instability. Wasted potential.
That cycle is started by the school system.
We can end it there, too.
The truth about work
The stark realities are somewhat hidden by our hyper-wealthy modern world, but on a fundamental level: you’re a maker or a taker.
Schools are far removed from the necessity of producing real value. The state props them up. Even if they ruin a generation of kids, they never go out of business.
But, on some fundamental level, someone has to cultivate value from the environment. Thus, a tiny minority of hyper-productive people prop up our entire society.
But the reality is still there, hidden under the layers of wealth: takers and makers.
Takers tend to live those lives of “quiet desperation” like the consumers living for the weekends.
Makers are always looking for how to give a little more.
How can we train more kids to become makers?
The entrepreneurial spirit is so abstracted now. There is padding between us and harsh reality. Even the poorest among us are unlikely to starve. In fact, it's the only time in history when poor people are more likely to be obese. That’s amazing.
But this safety net also creates a deadly illusion. The one that says you can exist without producing value.
To see through the illusion is to thrive.
Kids can thrive, not just survive
Instacart direct to your door eliminates all fear of scarcity. Amazon Prime can bring you anything you want overnight. It's easy to philosophize away the idea that you need to work.
Kids are sheltered from the brutal reality of the world, which demands that you either find or grow your own food and build your own shelter OR make something valuable to trade. Your goods don’t have to be physical – they can be stories or ideas – but others have to actually value them for you to survive.
More and more people are becoming takers because the makers are becoming more and more efficient at providing for everyone else.
Even though we live in the most prosperous time in history, a shrinking percentage of people provide all the value. That’s a disaster when you realize people need to feel useful to be happy.
But there is good news.
Your kid being a giver is more valuable than ever.
By taking responsibility for their lives, they can become wealthy doing nearly anything they want. It’s a great time to be alive.
In the past, most people had to learn to farm the land. That’s admirable. But our kids can use all the leverage of the modern world.
We live in a world where David Perell can become a celebrity writing teacher and make millions of dollars. Somebody can get obsessed with making hyperrealistic cakes and entertain millions of people on YouTube. The leverage of niches is enormous, and your kid can thrive as a giver.
Too often, they are taught they're oppressed and ought to demand that the world give them more. Maybe there’s truth to it, but it’s hurting our kids.
They should be doing everything within their power to figure out how to make useful things for others.
Some people are content to hold a fishing pole all day if they're getting paid "well enough," regardless of whether they catch a fish.
The person unwilling to wait and see if fish will come builds a new kind of net or a whole hatchery. He creates surplus value for all around him because he is determined to do better than mere chance provides.
Challenge your kid to create something that the world can see and judge. Pick something they’re interested in and try their hand at building it.
When they see what they’re capable of, their perspective on what’s possible will change forever.
Thanks for reading,
Taylor + rebelEducator team
P.S.
What we're looking at:
Should we let kids do whatever they want at school?
Have a 15-18-year-old and willing to let [Caleb Hicks] buy you some Doordash for a 30-50m Zoom?
Quotes we're pondering:
"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel." -- Socrates
"Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds." -- Plato
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” -- Aristotle
I see a lot of this helplessness in my students, as they expect things to just happen but they don't want to do the work to make those things happen. I believe there is a lot to be optimistic about with this generation, and a lot to be pessimistic about. The question is: how do we, as educators, turn this around? It can't just be us and it can't just be happening in select classrooms. Our students come to us the product of a world outside of our classroom walls. How do we help our students see that learning opens doors for them and others instead of school just being part of the machine?
Spot on. In school, you’re taught to be passive, memorization robots doing the bare minimum to get the grade. In the real world, you need to be active, learning instead of memorizing, dynamic and hardworking.