Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1905-05-18
CHAPTER Mi.
THE EDUCATION roR SIMPLICITY.

of mind, 1t is natural that cdu
n cation should have much to dc
with 1t. In general. but two methods
or rearing children are practiced. The
/ hrst Is TO bring them up for ourselves
the second to bring them up for them.
| selves.
In the first case the child is looked
| upon as Il complement of the parents:
he IS part Of their property, occupies a
place among their possessions. Some.
times this place IS the highest, espe.
cially when the parents value the life
OF the affections. Again, where ma
tcrlal interests rule. the child holds
second, third or even the last place.
In any case he IS nobody. While he
is young he gravitatcs round his par
cnts, not only by obedience. which is
right, but by the subOrdination Of all
his originality, all his being. AS lie
grows older this subordinatfon be-
comes veritaDle ConliScation, extend.
ing 70 his ideas, his feelings, every
thing. His minority becomes perpet-
ual Instead Of slowly evolving into
independence the man advances into
slavery. lie is what lie is permitted
10 be, what his fathers business, re.
ligious beliefs, political opinions or
aesthetic tastes require him to be. lie
viii think, speak, act and marry nc
cording to the understanding and linn
It's Of the paternal absolutism. This
family tyranny may lie exercised by
people with no strength of character.
1t IS only necessary for them TO he
convinced that good order requires the
child to be the property of the parents.
In default Of mental force, they DOS
sess themselves Of him by other means
by signs, suppllcations or base Sc
auctions. If they cannot fettcr him
they snare his feet in traps. But that
he should live in them. through them,
for them, is the only thing admissible.
EC1catiOa Of this sort is not the
practice Of families only, but also OF
great social organizations whose chief
educational function consists in putting
a strong hand on every newcomer, in
order 10 tit him, in the most iron
bound fashion, into existing forms. 1t
IS the attenuation, pulverization and
cial body, he it theOcratic, communis-
tic or simply bureaucratic and routi-
nary. Looked Mt from without, a like
system seems the ideal Of simplicity
in education. It's processes, in fact,
are absolutely simplstic, and If
man were not somebody, If he were
only Il sample of the race, this would
be the perfect education. AS all wild
beasts, all fish and insects of the same
genus and species have the same mark
ings, so we should all be identical,
having the same tastes, the same Ian
EuaGe, the same beliefs, the same tend
encics. But man is not simply a
specimen Of the race, and for that rea.
son this sort of education is far from
being simple i'm its results. Men so
vary from one another that number
less methods have to be invented to
suppress, stupcfy and eXtlnguish in.
diYidual thought. And one never ar
rlves at it tSen but In part, a fact which
Is continually deranging everything
At each moment, by some flssure,
some interior force Of initiative is
ducing explosions, upheHvals, all sorts
Of grave disorders. And where there
are no outward manifestations the evil
lies dormant; beneath apparent order
are hidden dumb revolt, flaws made by
an abnormal existence, apathy, death.
The system is evil which produces
such fruit, and, however simple it may
appear, in reality it brings forth all
possible complications.
The other system is the extreme OPP
pOsite, that of bringing up children for
themselves. The roles are reversed; the
parents are there for the child. No
sooner is he born than he becomes the
center. White headed grandfather and
stalwart father bow before these curls.
His lisping is their law. A sign from
him suffices. If he cries in the night
no fatigue is of account; the whole
household must be reused. The new
conner is not long in discovering his
omnipOtence, and before he can walk
he is drunken with 1t. AS he grows
older all this deepens and brOadens.
Parents, grandparents, servants, teach
ers, everybody is at his command. He
accepts the homage and even the inn
notation of his neighbor; he treats like
a rebellious subject any one who does
not step out of his path. There is only
himself. He is the unique, the perfect,
the infallible. Too late it is perceived
that all this has been evolving a mas
ter, and what a master! Forgetful Of
sacrifices, without respect, even pity.
He no longer has any regard for those
to whom he owes everything, and he
goes through life without law or check.