It bites. For a lesson on how we came to be this way, read My Ishmael. It asks and answers how we came to be this way.
To touch on it a little bit.
It’s not a modern thing so much as a cultural thing.
Part 1
Once upon a time we were hunter-gatherers. We only “worked” a few hours a day to feed our families. The rest of the day was spent with our families. Then, it was discovered that if you liked nothing but corn, that you could plant that corn and have it any time you wanted, rather than relying on that day’s hunt for food. This was the birth of farming. Some peoples remained HGs and some went the farming route.
Part 2.
Now that there was farming, and you could choose what to grow, different farms held different crops and livestock. Town A had chickens, eggs and corn and Town B had cattle, root veggies and dairy. This meant that Town A had its property and Town B had its own, and in order from citizens from Town A to get cheese, they had to give something for it. Hunting lands were replaced with farm lands. Now food was under lock and key by the growers.
Part 3.
Now that food is under lock and key, that means if you want something you have to barter or pay for it. Farmers get up at 5 a.m. and work until supper to maintain their farms. So if you want something they’re making, then you had better pay the price. How do you pay? Acquire a skill with which to barter (and eventually exchange IOUs known as currency). This lead to industrialization. Some people were good at making clothing, some people were good at making weapons, some people knew how to fix sick people, etc.
Part 4.
And now there is industrialization and specialization, and therefore, competition. “I’m better at making shoes than this guy. Give me all your business so I may feed my family.” And how do you learn to be better at something? By being more educated and, therefore, more skilled (not necessarily, but that’s the theory) than the competition. Some people are gifted teachers and can make money that way, so now you have school.
Part 5.
You can’t jump into doctor school. You must first know your 3 R’s and make your way up to level of doctor.
Part 6.
In order to keep everyone participating in this system (K-12, then college/military/work to feed the family) you must make it mandatory that everyone have some education. If it’s not mandatory, then you have a society destroyer- unproductive children, poverty, lack of education. So in exchange, we participate in the system. You cannot opt out of the system because you need a way to pay for things. You will never learn basic life and survival skills because you are spending your first 18 years learning your 3 R’s, then scrambling to make ends meet. Now even if you do happen to know how to sew your own clothes, hunt, gather, cook, and everything else you need to survive, you still have to be in the workforce to pay taxes. If you opted out, where would you live? All land belongs to someone now (if not privately owned then publicly or governmentally owned), and if they caught you, wouldn’t be happy that you’re squatting there without paying something. So we work. A lot.
I’m definitely not saying that one system is better than the other. Like @YARNLADY mentioned just above, there are communities which still participate in the hunter-gatherer lifestyle who are not able feed their children. I would not want to live that way, but that’s because I don’t know any different than school and work to provide. There are places in the world where 12 year olds can kill their own food, keep house, dress wounds and survive. But we are in the part of the world where we don’t learn that. We must participate in the system we are given. We could move to a HG community if we wanted, nothing is stopping us. But I’m willing to bet that by the time we are old enough to know that is an option, we are already 18 years behind everyone else our age. So we stay, too ignorant and intimidated to go anywhere.
Composing members:
0
Composing members:
0
