Free Thought and Official PropagandaRussell, Bertrand
Philosophy
Free Thought and Official Propaganda
Russell, Bertrand
Free thought; Liberalism; Propaganda
which education is designed, not to give true knowledge, but to make the
people pliable to the will of their masters. Without an elaborate system
of deceit in the elementary schools it would be impossible to preserve
the camouflage of democracy.
Before leaving the subject of education, I will take another example
from America[2]—not because America is any worse than other countries,
but because it is the most modern, showing the dangers that are growing
rather than those that are diminishing. In the State of New York a
school cannot be established without a licence from the State, even if
it is to be supported wholly by private funds. A recent law decrees that
a licence shall not be granted to any school “where it shall appear that
the instruction proposed to be given includes the teachings of the
doctrine that organized Governments shall be overthrown by force,
violence, or unlawful means.” As the _New Republic_ points out, there is
no limitation to this or that organized Government. The law therefore
would have made it illegal, during the War, to teach the doctrine that
the Kaiser’s Government should be overthrown by force; and, since then,
the support of Kolchak or Denikin against the Soviet Government would
have been illegal. Such consequences, of course, were not intended, and
result only from bad draughtsmanship. What was intended appears from
another law passed at the same time, applying to teachers in State
schools. This law provides that certificates permitting persons to teach
in such schools shall be issued only to those who have “shown
satisfactorily” that they are “loyal and obedient to the Government of
this State and of the United States,” and shall be refused to those who
have advocated, no matter where or when, “a form of government other
than the Government of this State or of the United States.” The
committee which framed these laws, as quoted by the _New Republic_, laid
it down that the teacher who “does not approve of the present social
system......must surrender his office,” and that “no person who is not
eager to combat the theories of social change should be entrusted with
the task of fitting the young and old for the responsibilities of
citizenship.” Thus, according to the law of the State of New York,
Christ and George Washington were too degraded morally to be fit for the
education of the young. If Christ were to go to New York and say,
“Suffer the little children to come unto me,” the President of the New
York School Board would reply: “Sir, I see no evidence that you are
eager to combat theories of social change. Indeed, I have heard it said
that you advocate what you call the _kingdom_ of heaven, whereas this
country, thank God, is a republic. It is clear that the Government of
your kingdom of heaven would differ materially from that of New York
State, therefore no children will be allowed access to you.” If he
failed to make this reply, he would not be doing his duty as a
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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