Real education starts when the State stops holding your hand
People are lying to you when they claim real education starts in the classroom. Want the truth? It begins with self-directed learning.
Go back to when you were in school. How much of what you “learned” have you held onto? Unless you’re working in a niche field, probably next to nothing.
Now think about your unique skills and interests. Chances are, you pursued learning them, even if that learning never happened in a classroom. How much of it did you retain?
I’m guessing more than anything, they tried drilling into your head while you sat at an uncomfortable desk, waiting for the bell to ring. For me, taking the latter route starting in my twenties made all the difference.
What school really taught me
Want the short answer? Sit down, don’t speak unless spoken to, recite and repeat what I tell you, walk in a single-file line, eat, and use the bathroom only when permitted.
That’d factor in as the long answer, too. School never taught me:
- That math could be interesting when tailored to my interests
- Ditto for reading and language arts
- Same for science
- Or that multiple sides to historical narratives exist
It also never taught me how:
- To run a freedom-based online business
- Public speaking
- Write conversationally
- Personal finance
- Taking care of a household
- Change a tire, check oil, or even pump gas
I know my parents taught me bullet points two, four, five, and six. As for bullet points one and three? Maybe if schools didn’t put Enrollment, Enlistment, and Employment front and center while spurning entrepreneurship, they would’ve.
And you know what? I use all of those above bullet points today. Wanna know what I use these days from my time in public school? Nothing.
My day job:
- Makes me write in a conversational style
- Math relegates me to sports stats and analytics
- Sports science pops up every now and again
But school taught punctuality, right? Yeah, I’ll admit it. But here’s the catch: It taught punctuality to be somewhere I never wanted to be 100 percent of the time. At least in life, you choose to make appointments, your job, and what time you’ll meet friends for leisure.
When I started learning
I know a lot of people who’ve lost that desire to learn because public school, and by extension the State, snuffed it outta them.
In 2014, my creativity started returning, and I knew I wanted to write books and let others know my opinions on matters like economics, politics, and sports. The red pill dropped before that in 2011, when I first heard of Austrian Economics and thought, “They never even mentioned this in school.”
That’s when I realized they force-fed us the State’s narrative. And while I (stupidly) graduated from college and earned a degree I’ve never used, that one microeconomics class a dissident teacher led set the stage for the self-sufficient anarcho-capitalist I am today.
Okay, so maybe I learned something valuable in school. Except, as I said, a dissident teacher led the class. One who spat on the State’s narrative.
It motivated a self-directed approach over the next 12 years, when I learned:
- How to write fiction
- SEO
- Write conversationally
- Start a website and blog
- Monetize a website
- Make money online with remote work
- How worthless fiat money ultimately is
- Why it’s smart to invest in metals, Goldbacks, and crypto
- Read statistical charts and advanced sports analytics
I can go on and on here, but you get it. If I went by the book and stuck to what public schools jammed down my throat, I’d be pulling steel at a warehouse near Pittsburgh or filling orders at a grocery store distribution center.
The payoff
Realizing that real education started with me and my interests created a ripple effect. I can share this experience with parents of kids who may struggle in public school.
Instead of Mom and Dad getting strict and telling their kid to “buckle down,” or “you better get those grades up,” I can show them that alternatives exist. And best yet, those kids could kick things off at half the age I was.
How it inspired a book series
When I attended government school, I saw one common denominator: People with different personalities, learning styles, skill-sets, and interests, clumped into a one-size-fits-few curriculum.
Not everyone’s programmed to sit in lectures all day, then shift their focus to something else when the bell rings, and repeat the process six, seven, or even eight times. It’s even truer when most of what they “learn” exits their memory bank when it’s no longer relevant for passing a test.
Unfortunately, it’s how most schools – public and mainstream private – operate. And is it any wonder that kids, especially when they reach their teenage years, lose interest in what they used to find exciting, grow short-tempered, and lose their creative drive?
Until those who treat mass schooling like religious dogma understand that people are individuals with unique learning styles and interests, not one collective blob, nothing will change.
But it motivated me to put my interest and skills to good use, so I concocted the Arcane Elemental Academy series, a young adult fantasy featuring an overshadowed protagonist who, while good at traditional schooling, hadn’t even begun to unlock her full potential.
Real education at Arcane Elemental Academy
At least not until she attends Arcane, a school for Elementals like her that tailors programs to meet one’s individual needs. Yote Diamondback’s shocked at the way Arcane operates, since they don’t hand out grades, homework, or even written exams.
Still, her peers love school, something she never saw during her time attending the more traditional Kenborne Elemental Jr. Prep School.
But I’m not taking a fiction work and talking only about school. That would be boring. Book I, The Arcane Prophecy, brims with an action-packed story where Yote learns one chilling and disturbing revelation. Market-based education is just the theme.
