Education is Power - And Freedom

"Education is inoculation against disruption-" Robin Sharma.   
This quote has always resounded with me and it came to mind once again on my recent visit to the Philippines in August 1019.  When prospective immigrants are having issues getting their visa, I often get called in to rectify the situation before the US Consul. For this reason, I have become quite familiar with the US Embassy in Manila.  Waiting time at the Embassy is notorious for being long, so I had plenty of time to kill. I found myself initiating a conversation with a Philippine historian who happened to be waiting on his own visa. Naturally, the conversation turned to education.

Education is Paramount

When it comes to immigration, natives of the Philippines are among the most educated of immigrants. This is because families place a higher value on education than almost any other trait. Parents will work themselves to death in order to see their children are educated. Filipino immigrants are often the most proficient English-speaking immigrants to enter the country. In many cases, Filipino parents have no money to leave their children, but if they have been able to give their children a good education, they feel the inheritance they have provided is priceless. This emphasis on education comes about because it wasn't always possible for the general population to get an education and many suffered because of this.

Education and Power

Throughout history, we are reminded of how important those who held the power felt education was. When Spain invaded the Philippines in 1521, the Spanish influence in the Filipino culture went deep and wide.  Many records of customs, manners, traditions of the Filipino race prior to the Spanish discovery were wiped out by Spanish Conquistadors. My new friend, the Filipino Historian, who taught at the University of the Philippines shared that as Spain indoctrinated Filipinos with Catholicism, Spanish leaders also opposed the education of the Filipinos.  The education system was controlled by the Church.   The Spanish Friars and missionaries feared that if Filipinos were educated, the progress of the holy mission of the Church would be obstructed and possibly curtailed, and the people would refuse to convert to Catholicism. Another friend reminded me that the Catholic Church spent centuries killing anyone who tried to translate the Bible from Latin.  Ordinary people who don't understand Latin could only learn from the priest about the bible.  The priests held that power.

History is full of examples of this suppression of education by those in power. Slaves in the United States were forbidden to learn to read and death, or at least a staunch beating, was the punishment for any who were caught trying. Diving even further into this idea, if one looks at world history, many dictators such as Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong-il,  and Fidel Castro, all used propaganda to sustain their rule and used censorship to control the flow of information thus blocking the knowledge from the masses. The common equation here is in order to protect an institution, a system, a government, you make sure that people remain ignorant. One prominent Filipino educator said it well,
"The most effective means of subjugating a people is to capture their minds" (Professor Renato Constantino).

To Be Free, We Must Be Educated

​Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that "To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education."  
It seems to be a cliché that the value of education is priceless but nonetheless its importance can never be under emphasized.  Ignorance is not bliss.  In order to live free, one must be educated because the alternative could be life in solitary confinement.  The value of learning and educating yourself remains paramount if one is to be content in life. It was true then and it is absolutely true today. Seeking knowledge, training our minds to be critical, refining our insights, and continued learning are keys to a meaningful life. It is only through education that we can ever hope to rise above the suppression of the past.