Voltaire's Children Flashcards
What is a French example of political destabilization creating elitist education in both business and political affairs?
The creation of the Grand Ecole’s under Louis XVI and the creation of the Polytechnique during the revolution preceded the elitist political education exemplified by the creation of the 1871 Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques nationalized in 1945
What did the École Nationale d’Administration create in france?
The school produced a very select few elites which went on to shape an abundance of foreign policy the rationalism and Talorist scientific management of education which took place created depersonalized multipurpous elites.
By 1992, how many positions were up until then held by ENA students?
In 1992 they numbered 4000, controlling the civil service, had more than 37 elected deputies, had almost 40% of cabinet positions, and a third kf of the minister’s private offices.
What “reform” was done to weaken the grip of the ENA?
They reduced their graduating class from 160 to 90, which did not do much but further the power of their graduates. Every political figure involved in making this reform was Enarque.
What was the French equivalent of Taylorism?
Henri Fayol created a French form of Taylorism which rivaled the U.S scientific management until the two school of thoughts merged in 1925, leading to the ENA and Enarque problem.
In 1992, what were the statistics in U.S education?
Seventy-two million are illiterate, the majority white, this is not including the functionally illiterate. 25% of Americans were below the poverty level, and 40% of children in public schools were minorites. Twice as many children are born from teens than all other democracies.
What is characteristic of the modern educated elite?
They are rather historically, philosophically, and culturally unaware, reduced to a cynical rationalizing machine which conjures out answers from vulgarized rhetoric and esoteric verbiage; they are also infamous for disregarding context and common moral sense, leading to an incompetent administrative elite unable to solve their society’s problems.
What should be women’s role as they gain access to structures of power and higher education?
They should be focused on revolutionizing the current system of education which is absolutely not worthwhile, seeing as there is a plague of abstraction produced by Taylorist case studying focused on creating efficient elites rather than general education.
What is key to democracy?
Tension, particularly the individual tension between emotion, intellect, and moral sensibility.
What was the role of the first encyclopedists?
They reconnected severed historical continuity and context, seeing as the church and the monarchy wished to dismantle the historical sense in an effort to assert control over truth, creating dogma out of intellectual vacuums. What now remains is a cheapened memory, one which is selective and achieves no more than advertisement and superficial patriotism.
