Why the Revolt of the Educated Masses?

         Why the Revolt of the Educated Masses?

 

 

NH:

Two related political puzzles have merged in my mind, to a big one. I write to ask for your perspective.

First consider what I call the “education dilemma”, as follows: during the 60s America educated the masses. This resulted in a booming economy making enormous gains, such as landing on the Moon. But at the the same time there was a cultural revolt by the young. It disrupted America so much that America lost the war in Vietnam. Later, during the 80s, education was drastically cut back. This yielded a more docile population, but also a less productive one. Therefore a dilemma for America’s political class. Are we to educate the masses and get a dynamic but ungovernable nation, or shall we instead cut back education, and get a nation that’s governable but stagnant? And if the two lines cross, then we get a nation neither dynamic nor governable. I say that’s what has happened.

Now consider the ongoing global fertility decline. Fertility rates have fallen to below replacement for 42% of the world’s nations, and the rest will join them soon. The cause for this is unknown. It has resisted all attempts at pronatalism. Some have suggested that this is because when women are educated, they put off breeding, some permanently. Presumably the remedy is to keep women barefoot and pregnant; but any nation trying that would fall behind the others economically.

Note that in both cases, mass education has unintended consequences, in the form of those masses refusing to go with the program. It seems that if you educate young men, then they will refuse to fight and labor, and if you educate the young women, then they will refuse to breed. This is certainly a political problem.

Here I inquire into causes. Why do the educated revolt? What is it about the system of the world that, when the masses learn enough, they refuse to sustain it? How extraordinary for young men to lose interest in fighting, and young women to lose interest in breeding! It comes so naturally to them! What have they learned that dissuades them?

 

 

Replies:

 

DSL:

The reason the educated revolt is that, pace all the contrary propaganda, we don’t get no respect.

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TP:

This is not a side effect, this is policy.

The “educated” do as they told to do by the “educators”.

 

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LF:

As for why the educated don’t readily obey or breed, they expect to have jobs that will give them better pay than the army, and they’ll have plenty of time to breed.  They can also see that a population of 7 billion is not healthy for the planet.  They also -- and this is a big point -- expect that *any* children they breed will survive to breed themselves.  This was not the case with earlier, and poorer, generations.  My great-grandparents bred nearly 10 children in the hope that at least two of them would live to breed -- and three of them did survive.  My grandparents, being Americans and a little more secure, bred five children in the hope that at least two of them would survive to breed -- and, in fact, three of them did.  My parents were content to breed only two, in the certainty that both of them would live to breeding age -- which we did.  However, neither I nor my brother did any breeding;  we left that to our two sets of cousins, who did indeed produce two children apiece.  I suspect that educated people all around the world follow the same logic.

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NH:

All interesting responses. Thank you!

to DSL:

You have a point. The educated get no respect; the masses get no respect; and if the masses get educated, they figure out _how_ they get no respect, and they’re big enough to _do_ something about it.

to TP:

If the educated masses revolt, that could hardly be the intention of the elites, against whom those masses revolt. If education leads to truth, then it also leads to wisdom, and then self-liberation. Clearly a social destabilizer.

It is possible that a faction of the elites are inciting the masses against the rest of the elite; but I counter-propose that this is an unintended consequence of an elite consensus policy. This is per the Peterson/Hellerstein Gentlemen’s Disagreement, you ascribe to the cunning of a wicked few what I ascribe to mass stupidity, and we think each other optimists.

to LF:

You describe the “low-R, high-K” reproduction strategy; meaning a low R, for reproduction rate, but a high K, for quality of care. Elephants and whales use this strategy. Counter to it is the “high-R, low-K” reproduction strategy; meaning a high reproduction rate, but a low quality of care. Rats and roaches use this strategy. So education promotes us from roach to whale.

I have one daughter; Seth has twins, a boy and a girl; Dan has twins, two boys; Marc has two beautiful daughters, one of whom has already had a baby; and Debby has none. Five siblings, seven cousins.

I suspect that there are environmental causes for the fertility drop. Perhaps additives and pesticides in the food; or perhaps hormone-mimicking microplastics; or perhaps the biosphere has evolved, aeons ago, ways to quench any overgrowth of a species. However it is happening, I speculate that fertility rates will rise again after 1) we’ve teched out cleaner and more sustainable technology, and 2) the population falls enough for that technology to support them all.

In the meantime there will be overpopulation of the elderly, and underpopulation of the young. Maybe some of the old will work to the end; or there will be collapses; or there will be robots. Maybe a combination.

I figure that the work of the next generation is to clean up the mess that we Boomers will leave behind, for we Boomers truly suck. This includes rebuilding the entire industrial and agricultural infrastructure on clean and sustainable lines; and to build enough robots smart enough to change Boomer’s adult diapers.

But I return to the question: why the revolt of the educated masses? Surely, when they learn how the world really works, they’ll be grateful to the system that taught them? </sarc>