[Continuing Year in Review - reposting from archives...] When a method of doing things becomes so deeply associated with an institution that we no longer know which came first -- the method or the institution -- then it is difficult to change the institution or even to imagine alternative methods for achieving its purposes. – from “Technopoly” by Neil Postman. Oh, yes. I can think of so many examples where this applies. Getting a cure for the sickness is so deeply associated with the institution of Modern Industrialized Medicine as we know it that most people just cannot imagine any other way. Stay in bed, drink lots of tea with lemon and honey and have chicken soup when you have fever? Pft! Old wives tales! No, better rush to the nearest ER! Having a baby is deeply associated with going to the institution of the hospital. Are you having a baby at home with only a traditional midwife in attendance? Only in the Third World they do that! Or – gasp! – having a baby ALONE? Without even a midwife? Woman, are you nuts? Getting an education is deeply associated with the institution of school or college. Want to know all about history? Take a course. Want to learn a foreign language? Take a course. Want to open your own business? There’s a course on that, too. The institutional learning infringes even on the most intimate human activities. Want to be a good parent? Go to parenting class. What to improve the relationships with your Significant Other? There are “relationship classes”. Seriously, there are. I just googled “relationship class” and got 800,000. I’m sooo not making this up. But perhaps you have no use for the relationship class, for you have not found The Love of Your Life yet? Perhaps you are feeling a bit desperate whether you’ll ever find him or her? Well, despair not – there are classes out there that will help you with that, too. (I’d like to make clear that all these examples are mine, not Neil Postman’s. Whether he would agree or disagree with my examples, I will never know). Yet, alternative, non-institutional ways of achieving the worthy goals of good health, healthy babies and good education are entirely possible. I’m convinced that we can take charge of our health, the birth of our babies, our children’s and our own education, our relationship and raising our children. We can, and should, put ourselves in the driving seat, and put the professionals of all kinds where they belong – to the place of the consultants, so we can ask their advice as needed, but never let them give us orders and tell us how to live our lives.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 18:00:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015