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Everywhere we find the same result。 The imprisonment； the beating； the
taming and laming； the breaking of young spirits； the arrest of
development； the atrophy of all inhibitive power except the power of fear；
are real： the education is sham。 Those who have been taught most
know least。
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
Antichrist
Among the worst effects of the unnatural segregation of children in
schools and the equally unnatural constant association of them with adults
in the family is the utter defeat of the vital element in Christianity。 Christ
stands in the world for that intuition of the highest humanity that we； being
members one of another； must not complain； must not scold； must not
strike； nor revile nor persecute nor revenge nor punish。 Now family life
and school life are； as far as the moral training of children is concerned；
nothing but the deliberate inculcation of a routine of complaint； scolding；
punishment； persecution； and revenge as the natural and only possible way
of dealing with evil or inconvenience。 〃Aint nobody to be whopped for
this here？〃 exclaimed Sam Weller when he saw his employer's name
written up on a stage coach； and conceived the phenomenon as an insult
which reflected on himself。 This exclamation of Sam Weller is at once
the negation of Christianity and the beginning and the end of current
morality； and so it will remain as long as the family and the school persist
as we know them： that is； as long as the rights of children are so utterly
denied that nobody will even take the trouble to ascertain what they are；
and coming of age is like the turning of a convict into the street after
twenty…one years penal servitude。 Indeed it is worse； for the convict may
have learnt before his conviction how to live in freedom and may
remember how to set about it； however lamed his powers of freedom may
have become through disuse； but the child knows no other way of life but
the slave's way。 Born free； as Rousseau says； he has been laid hands on by
slaves from the moment of his birth and brought up as a slave。 How is he；
when he is at last set free； to be anything else than the slave he actually is；
clamoring for war； for the lash； for police； prisons； and scaffolds in a wild
panic of delusion that without these things he is lost。 The grown…up
Englishman is to the end of his days a badly brought…up child； beyond
belief quarrelsome； petulant； selfish； destructive； and cowardly： afraid
that the Germans will come and enslave him； that the burglar will come
and rob him； that the bicycle or motor car will run over him； that the
smallpox will attack him； and that the devil will run away with him and
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
empty him out like a sack of coals on a blazing fire unless his nurse or his
parents or his schoolmaster or his bishop or his judge or his army or his
navy will do something to frighten these bad things away。 And this
Englishman； without the moral courage of a louse； will risk his neck for
fun fifty times every winter in the hunting field； and at Badajos sieges and
the like will ram his head into a hole bristling with sword blades rather
than be beaten in the one department in which he has been brought up to
consult his own honor。 As a Sportsman （and war is fundamentally the
sport of hunting and fighting the most dangerous of the beasts of prey） he
feels free。 He will tell you himself that the true sportsman is never a
snob； a coward； a duffer； a cheat； a thief； or a liar。 Curious； is it not； that he
has not the same confidence in other sorts of man？
And even sport is losing its freedom。 Soon everybody will be
schooled； mentally and physically； from the cradle to the end of the term
of adult compulsory military service； and finally of compulsory civil
service lasting until the age of superannuation。 Always more schooling；
more compulsion。 We are to be cured by an excess of the dose that has
poisoned us。 Satan is to cast out Satan。
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A TREATISE ON PARENTS AND CHILDREN
Under the Whip
Clearly this will not do。 We must reconcile education with liberty。
We must find out some means of making men workers and； if need be；
warriors； without making them slaves。 We must cultivate the noble
virtues that have their root in pride。 Now no schoolmaster will teach
these any more than a prison governor will teach his prisoners how to
mutiny and escape。 Self…preservation forces him to break the spirit that
revolts against him； and to inculcate submission； even to obscene assault；
as a duty。 A bishop once had the hardihood to say that he would rather
see England free than England sober。 Nobody has yet dared to say that
he would rather see an England of ignoramuses than an England of
cowards and slaves。 And if anyone did； it would be necessary to point
out that the antithesis is not a practical one； as we have got at present an
England of ignoramuses who are also cowards and slaves； and extremely
proud of it at that； because in school they are taught to submit； with what
they ridiculously call Oriental fatalism （as if any Oriental has ever
submitted more helplessly and sheepishly to robbery and oppression than
we Occidentals do）； to be driven day after day into compounds and set to
the tasks they loathe by the men they hate and fear； as if this were the
inevitable destiny of mankind。 And naturally； when they grow up； they
helplessly exchange the prison of the school for the prison of the mine or
the workshop or the office； and drudge along stupidly and miserably； with
just enough gregarious instinct to turn furiously on any intelligent person
who proposes a change。 It would be quite easy to make England a
paradise； according to our present ideas； in a few years。 There