They paid for tutelage,
because it was the thing to do.
Once the instruction had
begun, they owed
their patrons and teachers
obedience. What a gift
had been bestowed on them!
Then those others
began to expect that obedience.
Ungrateful students
were dismissed.
Only correctly appreciative youth
deserved the education
provided by the great teachers.
This turned the process
into something mechanical:
place student.
Open mind.
Fill with knowledge.
Garnish with skills.
But what of Socrates?
He lived for dialog and
died for freedom. He
cast education as a balanced discussion
of questioned assumptions.
That is the freedom
to learn together. But
such a radical concept
was corrupting,
and deserves death.
4/30/08