Last Thursday, school and college students from across the country joined together to discuss the #tellthetruth campaign. The campaign is hosting three meetings throughout December, one on economics, one on history and one on politics.
Last Thursday, the topic was economics. The speaker spoke candidly about the lies taught to students in GCSE and A-Level economics, which are easy to find by merely opening a text book. He looked at the statements made in an AQA textbook such as the idea that the economy exists to benefit people, providing the wants and needs of the masses. The speaker combatted this idea, demonstrating the reality of capitalist economics, that everything is done in order to produce profit. The ‘wants and needs’ of humankind certainly come second to this drive for profit.
The speaker also discussed the claim made in these textbooks that poorer countries are given aid from rich countries to help them develop. He cut across this idea by making the point that the transfer of wealth actually goes the other way, from poorer to richer countries, citing a study from 2012 which put this number at 2 trillion a year. The speaker made the point that poorer countries are kept in a state of underdevelopment to benefit richer countries. This, not the moral signalling of these economics text books, is the reality of capitalism.
In the discussion, school students talked about the lessons that they are taught at school, raising the separation of economics and politics, despite the fact that these two things are completely intertwined. There was also a discussion on the fact that economics is presented as something out of our reach, meaning we can never truly understand what is happening. Finally, students discussed the general constraints of capitalist education, not actually acting to educate young people but to mould their mind to the status quo.
The students at this meeting show that nothing the capitalist class does can stop young people from reaching revolutionary conclusions. That is why it’s imperative that meetings like this exist, allowing us to discuss the reality of what we see around us, and break with what the ruling class teaches.
This series of meetings continues on Thursday 10th, with a discussion on History 101 – How revolution changed the world. Register and join the campaign!
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