The Futility of School

Gatto argues that school is an exercise in futility due to its repetitiveness and tendency to breed complacency in students rather than free-thought. I agree with many of the points Gatto raises, however in the interest of playing devils advocate, I shall endeavor to present a varying point of view on this topic: is it necessarily a bad thing that the majority of our population is not thinking for themselves? The obvious is answer is, "yes, of course it's a bad thing" but if we are to look at this more closely, we come to the realization that things are never so black and white. The majority of people never engage in free thought, relying on institutions such as school to direct them in the right direction. This may not be the most desirable outcome, but it may be necessary. Take for example, the French Revolution. Arguably the majority of people engaged in free-thinking, and what ensued was an extremely bloody conflict. This is quite likely due to the fact that with the majority of the populace thinking and acting, no one could come to a consensus when it came to what form the country should take. Ideally, everyone would be able to think as they wished, but we have seen that the results of this can often be disastrous. I see no immediate solution to this problem, but it is obviously not as simple as "we need to teach everyone to think for themselves". Another point to mention is related to consumerism. It is important to note that consumerism is needed in order to maintain an industrial nation. Consumerism is not wholly black and white, and we must bear that for all it's evils when taken in extreme circumstances, it is still necessary.