Free education for all is one-dimensional flaw

In 1964, Herbert Marcuse, then known as the father of the New Left, published a magisterial book entitled One-Dimensional Man.

The book was an attempt to free mankind from the shackles of one-dimensionality, which is a dangerous proclivity to approach life from an either/or standpoint.

The logic of one-dimensionality accustoms people to assume that you are either a Christian or heathen, a capitalist or socialist, either black or white, a revolutionary or counter-revolutionary.

Marcuse was anguished by the voluntary submission of multitudes to such contrived ideological nonsense, which was busy converting mankind into One-Dimensional Man.

When this work of conversion is complete, says Marcuse, "We submit to the peaceful production of the means of destruction, to being educated for a defence which deforms the defenders and that which they defend."

This deforming of mankind is in full swing in South Africa today. The theatre in which it is taking place is called #FeesMustFall.

The mental world of the #FeesMustFall champions is one in which there is either "free education for all" or nothing.

These one-dimensional people are not prepared to entertain the possibility of a number of options in the space between "free education for all" and nothing. For them, it is either/or.

Viewed from the perspective of its unconfused normative appeal, the #FeesMustFall campaign ought to be a call by the Left for education to be rendered accessible not to all, but to those who have historically been excluded.

In education the historically excluded are children of workers and the poor, and they are overwhelmingly black.

It makes sense for black children to call for fees to fall. What boggles the mind is why do black children of the working class and the poor fight for the children of millionaires not to pay for their education.

Without realising it, the black children who are calling for "free education for all" are now defending that which deforms what they are defending.

The most sensible call to make should not be "free education for all", it should be that the child of a worker or an unemployed parent, a child who is academically deserving, must be given full financial support by the state to study all the way to post-graduate level.

Linked to this must be another call, for the state to improve the quality of education in poor and working-class communities, so that when the children get to university, they are as intellectually prepared as those from rich families.

We know that there is a very high failure rate at our higher education institutions - about 50%. We also know that this, in the main, affects children from poor backgrounds.

It should be expected for a child from a rural school who has not operated a computer before reaching university to experience difficulties when studying for a degree.

In other words, children of the poor experience unique problems at university. When they fight for their unique problems to be resolved, it does not make sense for them to include children of millionaires who don't experience the same problems.

If children of the rich feel morally impelled to show solidarity with their poor counterparts, it is well and good, but they must not pretend to be affected and they must not expect to benefit from interventions tailored for children from poor backgrounds.

In a world where multitudes are ruled by an either/or mentality, it is not easy for sense to be given a hearing. The noisiest are the most powerful.

If South Africa were not under the spell of one-dimensionality, it would not be difficult to make a rational case for addressing the ills that bedevil our education system.

The first principle would be that the rich must pay for the education of the poor, and that, given that they can afford it, the rich must pay for the education of their own children.

In any case, the rich in South Africa have extracted their wealth from the sweat of the poor. Go underground to see who produces gold.

The second principle would be that the state must pour massive resources into primary and secondary education to close the knowledge gap between the children of the poor and those of the rich. This would arrest the high failure rate among children of the poor.

The third principle would not be "free education for all" at higher education level, but free education for the children of the working class and the poor. Indeed, the working class includes the so-called missing middle.

The last principle would be that, upon completion, and when they are employed, the children of the poor must contribute financially to the education of more children of the poor.

Alas, #FeesMustFall has turned people into One-Dimensional Man, multitudes driven by an either/or mentality, people educated to defend that which deforms what they are defending.