Formative prison experiences

We were never meant to be carved like this

It’s nearly impossible to fully appreciate the depth of diversity among the roughly 8 billion humans on the planet. We are the products of an infinite combination of backgrounds, races, religions, and geographies. The unique characteristics that define each generation are then passed on to the next.

Yet, most children in the world are directed into a single, standardized experience. They spend the majority of their formative years—often more time than with their parents—within the confines of a government-run school that bears striking similarities to a prison.

Contained within the walls of many public schools, we find metal detectors and armed guards, restrictions on phone use, and strict expectations about where students are to be, what they are to wear, and how they are to behave.

Good students are often granted time in "the yard," and they line up for lunch served on a tray. Obedience and conformity are rewarded; disobedience and individuality are punished. The overwhelming majority of the world’s children share this one experience, which gives the government significant power over them. In these environments, children are deliberately and ritually conditioned to pledge their support to the state.

Think of children as uncarved blocks of wood, with the potential to be shaped into anything: a spoon, a bowl, or the boards for a cabinet. When a woodworker chooses to make a piece of pine into toothpicks, he does so to make the wood useful to him, gaining dominion over his creation.

Because it benefits the state, young boys who can't sit still in a classroom are often punished or medicated to "fit" into the system. And to serve the government's interests, young girls may be encouraged to prioritize a career and college over starting a family.

Once carved, the toothpick can never become a wheel or a table. One can only imagine what humanity would look like if children weren't sculpted in such a uniformly harmful way.

Know the strength of man,
But keep a woman's care!
Be the stream of the universe!
Being the stream of the universe,
Ever true and unswerving,
Become as a little child once more.

Know honor,
Yet keep humility!
Be the valley of the universe!
Being the valley of the universe,
Ever true and resourceful,

Return to the state of the uncarved block.
When the block is carved, it becomes useful.
When the sage uses it, he becomes the ruler.

Thus, "A great tailor cuts little."

Chapter 28 Tao Te Ching translation by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English

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