Nation-Building Education
One of the more convoluted threads that has spun out of my research is the story of national education in this part of the world. You might think that the whole matter is simple: teach the young about what the city-state is, why it exists, what its values are, how it should continue. The problem of course is that when a nation is also a city-state, a polis, then a single political viewpoint is likely to dominate.
What's wrong with that?
Well, in the abstract, the main problem is that a single political viewpoint has a single memetic payload. All too often, a list of bullet points is produced which are plausible, rational, and easy to justify. Of course, there is nothing wrong with having a consistent message. But the real difficulty comes when the single package has to contend with the messy array of parallel and contrary memes in the world outside. There is very little scope for adaptation, since policy positions are fixed.
As I'm fond of saying, there are now only three real city-states left, and they are all very different. They are Monaco, Singapore, and Vatican City (in alphabetical order).
In the principality of Monaco, the focus is clear; this is a place for the rich leisured class. "Welcome to Monaco. Seven centuries of monarchial heritage. A Riviera gem. An international cultural centre. One unique principality... Monaco." That's what the official website says. The state occupies two square kilometres, and is the most densely populated independent nation on earth. The same family, the House of Grimaldi, has ruled it since 1297. Yes, they're proud of it too; unparalleled continuity in a sea of change is nothing to be scoffed at. The original land grant for modern Monaco was bestowed in 1191, and the temple of Heracles which was the centre of the original settlement was built in the 6th century AD. Its motto is, "With God's Help."
Vatican City has an even clearer focus. It is a small state, only about 0.44 square kilometres in area, and can best be described as an 'elective absolute monarchy' or perhaps theocracy. It is the only state in the world that is the absolute controlling centre of a major world religion. It's hard to say when the Vatican mount was first settled, but Rome made it fit for habitation somewhere around AD 33.
Neither of these states needs much by way of national education; they have been doing their jobs for a long time, and their memetic packages, refined by centuries of global memetic warfare, are probably highly evolved 'brand names' that need little protection or active defence.
Singapore, though, is different. It's a newish place, and much larger than the other two. It has a full military, said to be the most advanced in its region. It is also an exporter of memes, guns, and biologically-related goods and services. It has a National Education website called Nexus, which tells you how to do National Education and why. It reduces its memetic package to six bullet points. It is hosted and administered by the Ministry of Defence, as far as I can figure out. The whole experience is interesting, and worth examining to understand the necessary psychology of a city-state under memetic siege.
That's all for now... I have to go deconstruct American education now. Heh.
What's wrong with that?
Well, in the abstract, the main problem is that a single political viewpoint has a single memetic payload. All too often, a list of bullet points is produced which are plausible, rational, and easy to justify. Of course, there is nothing wrong with having a consistent message. But the real difficulty comes when the single package has to contend with the messy array of parallel and contrary memes in the world outside. There is very little scope for adaptation, since policy positions are fixed.
As I'm fond of saying, there are now only three real city-states left, and they are all very different. They are Monaco, Singapore, and Vatican City (in alphabetical order).
In the principality of Monaco, the focus is clear; this is a place for the rich leisured class. "Welcome to Monaco. Seven centuries of monarchial heritage. A Riviera gem. An international cultural centre. One unique principality... Monaco." That's what the official website says. The state occupies two square kilometres, and is the most densely populated independent nation on earth. The same family, the House of Grimaldi, has ruled it since 1297. Yes, they're proud of it too; unparalleled continuity in a sea of change is nothing to be scoffed at. The original land grant for modern Monaco was bestowed in 1191, and the temple of Heracles which was the centre of the original settlement was built in the 6th century AD. Its motto is, "With God's Help."
Vatican City has an even clearer focus. It is a small state, only about 0.44 square kilometres in area, and can best be described as an 'elective absolute monarchy' or perhaps theocracy. It is the only state in the world that is the absolute controlling centre of a major world religion. It's hard to say when the Vatican mount was first settled, but Rome made it fit for habitation somewhere around AD 33.
Neither of these states needs much by way of national education; they have been doing their jobs for a long time, and their memetic packages, refined by centuries of global memetic warfare, are probably highly evolved 'brand names' that need little protection or active defence.
Singapore, though, is different. It's a newish place, and much larger than the other two. It has a full military, said to be the most advanced in its region. It is also an exporter of memes, guns, and biologically-related goods and services. It has a National Education website called Nexus, which tells you how to do National Education and why. It reduces its memetic package to six bullet points. It is hosted and administered by the Ministry of Defence, as far as I can figure out. The whole experience is interesting, and worth examining to understand the necessary psychology of a city-state under memetic siege.
That's all for now... I have to go deconstruct American education now. Heh.
etched with acid at 9:58:00 am
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