The Learn(-)ed... and 'white trash'.

The Learn(-)ed... and 'white trash'.

Canadians understand themselves as among 'the well-educated" and for the

most part, this is true. However, I find this to be a generalization that is rather

taken for granted and somewhat disputable.

It might be argued that institutional education is largely that of a capitalist

boot-camp yanking kids in and onto a production line that intends only to spit

them out into the work force. However, perceptions of what it means to be

educated, is a matter of subcultural insulation. A true diversity of perception,

can be found there.

For example, tax season falls upon us and while reading and writing levels may

be graciously high, a large majority of citizens do not know how to file their own

taxes or understand the measures and implications of their own laws beyond

'thou shalt not kill, covet, nor warrent the special interest of a tax collector. Yet,

it seems that no one questions this nor cares to. Much the same can be said in

regard to understanding what our gov't is up to daily or on a larger scale - lest

some fantastic scandal arises. So why would those many care to investigate the

more subtle implications of the nature of their education? And yet, so many

opinions are abound and plentiful when addressing the importance and need

of 'education'.

My personal perspective is, in short, that too many Canadians have not been

educated in the finer points of any part of the collective agreement that is our

society nor are they living with a critical appreciation of that society. An

'education' is not (at it's best) the grade-rewarded and habitual process of

swallowing and spitting back up whatever one is fed.

Many folks seem warily informed about the systemic class structure they live in,

except to the extent that they either support or denounce the 'rich' and 'poor'.

But haven't a word to offer in the why's or why not's that hasn't been ill-coined by

a talking head somewhere at sometime for political purposes. In fact, overall, it

appears to be extraordinarily easy to confuse the bulk of the population over

any issue at all. At least, that is what I can surmise from various conversations,

media representation, and online dialogues. Misinformation is in abundance

and is astoundingly effective, marketting strategies are successful. Distracting,

oversimplified, and largely irrelevant debates mold our societal concerns and

awarenesses merely for political purposes rather than to tend to the real needs

present in our society.

Now granted, there is much to be confused about. Of this, there is no doubt.

I am among 'the many' myself, assuredly. But what I have observed, is that

education - as it is so regularily defined - is truly successful only in so far as

it is popularized.

Racism and sexism, for example, are no longer popular and thus are masked

or difused in formal education arena's. But (and contrary to the hype) neo-

conservative social-political values are popular and thus contextually

(directly and indirectly) supported without question. Even political science

students are left wondering amuck in any attempt to envision another

structure outside the 'neo-liberal' one within which we are already immersed.

And economics majors aren't even pressed to study real alternatives. Only

very specific departments of study require 'liberal studies' courses - topics

of history and issues for today that could as easily be addressed in grade

school.

There was a time, in which formal education was an arena that produced

competitive, imaginative, and challenging conceptual invention. Though,

it is true, that such institutions were fashioned by the elite for their own

purposes and that this lasting tradition has shaped our contemporary

understanding of 'education'. While this was once evident to all, it has been

entirely drown in the plight to achieve greater class status through the

education-transportation system.

So it is not surprising then that I've come across some shallow but revealing

idea's about education, over the years. That those whom do not recieve a formal

education, are an unfortunate but isolated minority in Canada - for example.

These poor folks live in 'slums' and are caught up in blackmarket or drug

trades, have addictions and criminal records, or live on social assistance in a

shack in a small town - somewhere else. These are the 'ignorants' of our society

whom should be looked upon with pity or with scorn. I have even been told

that 'these people are just stupid' - simply put. They haven't 'got what it takes'

to make better decisions for themselves. Alternatively, I have been told that

poverty is the only barrier to education.. Which will unto itself, resolve

poverty.

All this, in my view, is fallacy and ignorance with a voice. The voices of the

'educated' - a relatively large but distinctly inexperienced subculture.

Often, folks of similar opportunity and walks of life end up in the same or

similar places. They speak among themselves and even agree to disagree about

the same things. Thus their view of their society is composed nearly of mirror

reflections. Assurances and re-affirmations of norms and expectations that

do not produce the essential ingredients needed to deconstruct 'problems', and

reconstruct solutions. Easy processes of dialogue that merely imitate the habit

of chewing and spewing - like rehearsing answers to exam questions. Only now,

the answers begin to shape the questions posed to begin with. "What should

we do with these people?"

Perhaps a little diversity in the company kept would transform the question

and unearth some more interesting answers, leading to more constructive

questions.

Poverty is apart of the recipe, of Capitalism, in its present form. Look it up.

Talk to an Economist. Observe the plight of history and how it relates to

the place within which you live. The system we live in, is sustained by that

which it takes from or makes upon the backs of others - the reason that

a manager is thought to have a higher status than a stock-boy. The reason

that the employer owns a lot and the employee, a lot less. The system we

live in shapes the cultural attitudes we take for granted as perspectives of

'reality'. But I digress...

When I looked up the stats in Alberta (the wealthiest province in the nation),

more than fourty percent of residents did not get a high school degree. So much

for an 'isolated minority"... But, just more than half of this number returned to

school, the majority of which were women. The average income of women who

got a degree was notably higher than those whom did not. But this was not the

case for the men in the same age bracket. The 'bracket' refers to the earliest

fruits plucked from the first wave of baby-boomers who stepped up to the

batters-box in a sparkling fresh new post-second-world-war Canada.

I found this interesting because, it supports my observations, and is really

very contrary to popular belief. Everyone who lives here, is middle class or doing

much better than that. So, what about those stats? How can so many appear to

have no post-secondary education while the median income remains so high

among wage-earners? Firstly, millionaires greatly boost the median. Secondly,

the stats reflect temporary flux's evident in a soon-to-be short lived cycle that

I myself have observed, even in my short time spent on this planet to-date.

I think that by explaining further, it may help dispell one or two lofty myths.

I know that in my family, young men from agricultural communities were

expectantly removed from grade school, to assist in the ever more challenging

business of self-sustainance - living on the land. This relates directly to trade

agreements and tax incentives given to corporations, in the agricultural

industries. I also know that young adult males were then quickly desperate to

join the labour force (mines, forestry, transport and industrial trades) for the

same reasons. I know that the 'lucky' were inticed by the higher wages offered

in the oil fields and that this meant they could make what an urban masters

student couldn't fathom earning in a single year, in his entire lifetime. I know

that the destruction of unions has ensured that the hard-labour force remain

at the bottom of the food chain, as well as corrupting those unions which fight

now only for their own protection, in the oil fields and many a government

office (to name but a couple of sectors).

This creates the observable cycle of prosperity on one end and poverty on the

other. Many on this graph - are the same men. At their wage-earning pinacle,

they are a shining example of the glory of our economic progress. Their

images are displayed prominately in media, artwork, pr material and even

in painted murals on buildings in Albertan cities and towns.

However, men among them who start families cannot preserve them while

working up north for most of the year. They tuck away their cash for property

purchases and return to the towns and cities with no degree but an opportunity

to train in the trades via employment insurance. Despite popular belief, the

program does not sustain indefinate support income to clients. In fact, young

able bodied men are generally turned away and expected to find other means of

getting training, or paying bills inbetween contracts. The cities are short of

tradesmen, due to the tactics employed to diminish their working conditions.

So men are generally not supported in enrolling into non-trades related

training programs - which is in fact all that EI offers training support for.

From here, most will work without protection, health benefits, paid holidays or

retirement packages. Most will work out their lives in lessor and lessor paid

jobs as their physical strengths become less superior than the younger men now

stepping in to take their place.

This cycle matches up with the statistics and even the voting trends of the one

age group predictably change with the next and older one. One bracket is

concerned more about their jobs specifically, the other has long since grappled

with that issue and turn to more bleak and fundamental issues.

Somewhere in the process these men are culturally demoted from shining

examples - to "white trash".. Which is refering to a group of folks that are

not entirely composed of Caucasions (but is a term suggesting that evolution-

inherited white supremacy has been foiled by the overwhelming inadequacies

of the individual in question). It would be good also to remember that if

these folks had a little time on their hands, they could shatter your world into

the likes of energy, cloths and food rations - just by refusing to work. Someone

has to cut that wood, lay that cement, cut that glass, and transport just about

everything you put in your vehicle, home and office.

I was there, so I can also report that these are not 'stupid' men. Nor would they

leave you standing if you were to express your pity for them. They can usually

tell you straight-up which trade agreement, labour dispute, or privatization deal,

when, how, what for and remember which Prime Minister was in office at the

time. They read and watch the news, they vote with a faith in democracy and

ever-thinning belief that whomever uses those key words in their interests, will

honour them... Heck, these fella's fill out their own income tax forms.

In part, it is the current version of their former selves whom contribute greatly

to the median income reported in Alberta (which makes it's riches from oil) and

throughout this country. And as the population ages, there rises also a rather

unified, hearty grumble among them when our political 'leaders' speak of tax

breaks while also "fucking around" with healthcare, privatizing sectors only to

drive down wages and drudge up rebates and literally ignoring retirement issues.

That's not to mention what manifests from the chorus in the face of outright

fiscal corruption utilizing their tax investments.

From my experience, these men are keenly aware that the globalisation of the

Market has not aided them in their journeys. It startling how informed they are

about what company from what nation bought out that plant, or owns that firm.

This used to be an opportunity for racist policy-making surrounding immigration

issues - but it isn't anymore. This used to be an opportunity for rhetoric

surrounding the creation of jobs via corporate tax breaks and lower wage levels,

but it isn't anymore. Now, even the card-carrying religious voters are starting

to twitch their "x marks the spot" finger...

Those whom aren't already are damn near ready to pick up the pitch fork and

do a little 'educating' themselves.