There is a legitimate but somewhat confusing trend among contemporary philosophers to extend the conception of technology beyond the already explored material universe into the non-material or only partially material, universe of conceptual thought. Perhaps the most vocal of these universalists is Jacques Ellul. I disclaim any share in the pessimism which Ellul exhibits about the effects of a wide application of technology for the use and convenience of man. Robert M. Hutchins was chairman of the Board of Editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and President of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. The question may perhaps be best introduced by the old Platonic line that what is honored in a country will be cultivated there.
Education is a dependent subject.
It depends on what is honored in the country. It perpetuates and accentuates accepted values. What ought to be honored as distinguished from what is honored is not learned within the country's educational system. Education reflects what the country wants. It is not a means by which a country can raise itself by its bootstraps into a different spiritual world - not where education is democratically or publicly controlled.