Why ask "why"?
It is important for people to ask “why” the world is the way it is because without this knowledge, people are unable to think for themselves, be completely human, and create change.
As humanity reaches the twenty-first century, there has been an increase in the amount of people needed that can fill roles in society that require great knowledge and a lot of experience. People without college diplomas have found it harder to obtain quality jobs because of the rise in expectancy for education. Asking “why” in this new world is necessary to go as far as necessary to create better lives for ourselves and our loved ones. Without asking “why”, people would not be able to create the advancements in the world that we have now. The power to think for oneself is vital to humanity. Had no one thought of the reasons why we have no indoor plumbing, how to bring water into households, or ways to improve cleaning laundry, there would be no modern technology letting people use toilets that flush, showers, or washers and dryers. Asking why, how, and what was necessary for the world to be a better place was something that was revolutionary.
Something that is revolutionary is something that has not been thought of before and works to achieve change. Being able to think for ourselves is something necessary so that people can be individuals. In America, the colonists wanted it to be a place where people could be who they want and have as much say in the way their lives were ruled. A group of people thought of why they were so unhappy with their government and decided to make way to America and make rules for themselves that let them lead the way their lives went. Had someone not thought of “why”, America would not have been founded.
According to Freire, being “truly” human involves being able to think for oneself and not limiting others’ ability to think for themselves. Pedagogy of the Oppressed explains there are two types of people in our world; the oppressed and the oppressors. For a long time, the oppressed—different groups of people who hold the majority of the power—have limited another group from achieving complete humanization—the oppressed. To be oppressed means to be held back and under constraints, whether they are physical or psychological and that a person or object is disrespected. In Freire’s terms, the oppressors are no better than the oppressed but it is the oppressed that have to make radical change. The only way for equality to be achieved by both groups of people is if the oppressed can realize their oppression by critically thinking and learning, and inform the oppressors of their newfound knowledge. The oppressed cannot become the new oppressors, although this is what has happened previously and continuously. Neither group of people has proven to be completely human. By having their ability to become critical thinkers taken away from them, the oppressed are not given all the tools necessary to revolt and by oppressing others, the oppressors have lost their ability to be human; one group has not had humanity and the other has had too much humanity. In the example with the creation of America, this cycle is seen when colonists moved from Great Britain and came to America with slaves from Africa and other places. By limiting the freedoms of Africans and other groups and oppressing them, colonists lost what made them revolutionary. Colonists proved to be no better than British rulers. The cycle entered a new phase. The first phase was colonists declaring independence from British rule and then the colonists turned around and lost their progress by oppressing another group for their own gain. Completely being human means that a person can progress without limiting another human. This is a daunting task because people cannot leave one another alone. Human nature has proven to be violent and always searching for a problem. Every time something does not go the way people want, a war is started between countries, gangs, or debates start amongst politicians. Fighting goes deeper than wars and military involvement, however, it is also about psychological battles and the problems people have with one another about beliefs. In the French and Indian war, colonists fought for their right to move west in America under British protection. Yet, because Britain knew others inhibited the land, Britain decided not to take part in the expansion west. For several years, colonists fought for their rights to expand and would not leave the Native Americans alone. Native Americans were then dehumanized as Americans tried to eradicate their people to have the land for themselves. This is when assimilation became the ultimate goal of America. Instead of completely getting rid of the Indians, American laws were created to help them assimilate to the majority culture of America’s beliefs. The fights were very ironic and similar to the way Britain and colonists fought. Ultimate humanity is still a process today as other groups are now being oppressed by America and similar governments.
Revolution, change, is the only thing that is necessary for the oppressed and oppressors to be more alike. Change happens by asking “why”. With the washer and dryer example, change was not about groups of people, but it was about the appliances and the things we use today. I used this example to prove revolution was not all about humanity. Revolution is not a specific term for specific change but just change in general. Change happens within three forms; economic, political, and social—similar to the three types of knowledge people can obtain from school and within their community. Classical knowledge, critical knowledge, and community knowledge are all necessary to understand change and what would be most beneficial in positive change. Take, for example, the economic crisis America currently faces. With the bureaucracy and state level governments, as well as the way each district is run, there are plenty of loopholes with the way America’s government is designed. Nothing can get done with the deficit America faces when there are plenty of rules and things happening globally that America is involved with. Classical knowledge of politics shows that Americans are not big fans of war but a lot of the money we have goes to war. Community knowledge shows that Social Security is important to people because those benefits go to the elderly, who, from deduction of critical knowledge have proven to be the most likely to vote in elections. Many things tie into where the budget gets broken down to and with everything, it has become harder for America to keep its deficit under control. Logical change would state politicians should try to control its own nation before going into other countries and trying to “fix” things there. Change is necessary but the only way it will happen is if more people can understand where the majority of the budget goes and how tax payers’ money is being used in politics.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed brings to light more than issues of education as a way to learn who is on top of the social hierarchy and who is at the bottom. Learning the different ways critical knowledge can be applied to everyday life and large-scale operations also prove to fall under the umbrella that is learning about the world around a person. However, everything starts with the one question that revolves around every movement in history, every decision people subconsciously make when doing simple tasks, and even the government today. Asking “why” brings to light this idea that people are becoming more aware of the things happening around them and what they feel should be done in the situations they are in. Oppressors will not always have their way and the oppressed will not always be limited, but until the line between acceptance of others’ knowledge and learning things for one’s self become the norm of society, things will never change.
As humanity reaches the twenty-first century, there has been an increase in the amount of people needed that can fill roles in society that require great knowledge and a lot of experience. People without college diplomas have found it harder to obtain quality jobs because of the rise in expectancy for education. Asking “why” in this new world is necessary to go as far as necessary to create better lives for ourselves and our loved ones. Without asking “why”, people would not be able to create the advancements in the world that we have now. The power to think for oneself is vital to humanity. Had no one thought of the reasons why we have no indoor plumbing, how to bring water into households, or ways to improve cleaning laundry, there would be no modern technology letting people use toilets that flush, showers, or washers and dryers. Asking why, how, and what was necessary for the world to be a better place was something that was revolutionary.
Something that is revolutionary is something that has not been thought of before and works to achieve change. Being able to think for ourselves is something necessary so that people can be individuals. In America, the colonists wanted it to be a place where people could be who they want and have as much say in the way their lives were ruled. A group of people thought of why they were so unhappy with their government and decided to make way to America and make rules for themselves that let them lead the way their lives went. Had someone not thought of “why”, America would not have been founded.
According to Freire, being “truly” human involves being able to think for oneself and not limiting others’ ability to think for themselves. Pedagogy of the Oppressed explains there are two types of people in our world; the oppressed and the oppressors. For a long time, the oppressed—different groups of people who hold the majority of the power—have limited another group from achieving complete humanization—the oppressed. To be oppressed means to be held back and under constraints, whether they are physical or psychological and that a person or object is disrespected. In Freire’s terms, the oppressors are no better than the oppressed but it is the oppressed that have to make radical change. The only way for equality to be achieved by both groups of people is if the oppressed can realize their oppression by critically thinking and learning, and inform the oppressors of their newfound knowledge. The oppressed cannot become the new oppressors, although this is what has happened previously and continuously. Neither group of people has proven to be completely human. By having their ability to become critical thinkers taken away from them, the oppressed are not given all the tools necessary to revolt and by oppressing others, the oppressors have lost their ability to be human; one group has not had humanity and the other has had too much humanity. In the example with the creation of America, this cycle is seen when colonists moved from Great Britain and came to America with slaves from Africa and other places. By limiting the freedoms of Africans and other groups and oppressing them, colonists lost what made them revolutionary. Colonists proved to be no better than British rulers. The cycle entered a new phase. The first phase was colonists declaring independence from British rule and then the colonists turned around and lost their progress by oppressing another group for their own gain. Completely being human means that a person can progress without limiting another human. This is a daunting task because people cannot leave one another alone. Human nature has proven to be violent and always searching for a problem. Every time something does not go the way people want, a war is started between countries, gangs, or debates start amongst politicians. Fighting goes deeper than wars and military involvement, however, it is also about psychological battles and the problems people have with one another about beliefs. In the French and Indian war, colonists fought for their right to move west in America under British protection. Yet, because Britain knew others inhibited the land, Britain decided not to take part in the expansion west. For several years, colonists fought for their rights to expand and would not leave the Native Americans alone. Native Americans were then dehumanized as Americans tried to eradicate their people to have the land for themselves. This is when assimilation became the ultimate goal of America. Instead of completely getting rid of the Indians, American laws were created to help them assimilate to the majority culture of America’s beliefs. The fights were very ironic and similar to the way Britain and colonists fought. Ultimate humanity is still a process today as other groups are now being oppressed by America and similar governments.
Revolution, change, is the only thing that is necessary for the oppressed and oppressors to be more alike. Change happens by asking “why”. With the washer and dryer example, change was not about groups of people, but it was about the appliances and the things we use today. I used this example to prove revolution was not all about humanity. Revolution is not a specific term for specific change but just change in general. Change happens within three forms; economic, political, and social—similar to the three types of knowledge people can obtain from school and within their community. Classical knowledge, critical knowledge, and community knowledge are all necessary to understand change and what would be most beneficial in positive change. Take, for example, the economic crisis America currently faces. With the bureaucracy and state level governments, as well as the way each district is run, there are plenty of loopholes with the way America’s government is designed. Nothing can get done with the deficit America faces when there are plenty of rules and things happening globally that America is involved with. Classical knowledge of politics shows that Americans are not big fans of war but a lot of the money we have goes to war. Community knowledge shows that Social Security is important to people because those benefits go to the elderly, who, from deduction of critical knowledge have proven to be the most likely to vote in elections. Many things tie into where the budget gets broken down to and with everything, it has become harder for America to keep its deficit under control. Logical change would state politicians should try to control its own nation before going into other countries and trying to “fix” things there. Change is necessary but the only way it will happen is if more people can understand where the majority of the budget goes and how tax payers’ money is being used in politics.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed brings to light more than issues of education as a way to learn who is on top of the social hierarchy and who is at the bottom. Learning the different ways critical knowledge can be applied to everyday life and large-scale operations also prove to fall under the umbrella that is learning about the world around a person. However, everything starts with the one question that revolves around every movement in history, every decision people subconsciously make when doing simple tasks, and even the government today. Asking “why” brings to light this idea that people are becoming more aware of the things happening around them and what they feel should be done in the situations they are in. Oppressors will not always have their way and the oppressed will not always be limited, but until the line between acceptance of others’ knowledge and learning things for one’s self become the norm of society, things will never change.