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i've been applying to damn near 10 jobs a day, most of which i don't feel i'm qualified for. i've heard back from about 30% of them. i just had a phone interview for an afterschool program; i was really excited because the proposed work schedule fit EXACTLY what i needed. during the interview, i noticed some—concerning phrasing and specificities from the hiring manager. there was an emphasis on the idea of the "classics", the study of "the west" as a continuous cultural heritage, and an active discouragement of pop culture and postmodernism/contemporary studies. i decided i'd stick the interview out and see what would happen next, though i knew i likely wouldn't continue with the process.
afterwards, i got an email with more information on the schools' mission statement, values, and ethos. it genuinely seems like the kind of school the authors of project 2025 have wet dreams over, with an intense white nationalist flavor. it seemed to glamorize the idea of "western" civilization, which is just sooooooooo incompatible with my own personal values. i can't in good conscience work somewhere that upholds (what i genuinely think are) dangerous ideals, and especially not then pursue exact counters to those ideals in my own personal life. the school pushes heavily the idea of "western" greatness, which is entirely incompatible with my pursuit of multiculturalism. it seems genuinely fascist the way even this simple mission statement and values summary describe their views on education, culture, and "the west". it felt like reading what public schools were like under mussolini's rule in the kingdom of italy; and that's not meant to be an exaggeration. i can't, for legal reasons, disclose exact phrasing nor mention the actual school, though it does worry me they have access to public funds. -_-
why i think this school lowkey sucks butt, but in slightly more academic language:
there is no continuous "western" culture. this is a fundamental fabrication by which white nationalism promotes itself. "the west" is a crudely defined, non-geographically accurate term used mostly to describe western (and sometimes northern) european cultures, and most significantly politics. europe as a continent is too vast and too diverse, even without considering non-eruopean migrant populations, for it to have a single unified cultural continuum that persists to this day. the cultural heritage of the average briton is entirely different to that of a serbian, and thus can be said about damn near any native ethnic/national/cultural identity in europe. the reason this myth is perpetuated is because it's easier to unite people from such disparate cultures by lying and saying they've always shared this common "heritage" spanning vast contributions all the way from ancient greece to revolutionary france.
this inflates the cultural egos of people whom buy in, but it also erases their actual cultural heritage. a person of german descent in northwestern czechia should not hold claim to "achievements" by the ancient greeks, however they can and should be proud of their own (germanic) culture's practices and traditions (but also not presume they are superior for it). another reason this "continuous western culture" troubles me is because there was an emphasis on the idea it and it alone has a superior "genius" quality to it, as if every other cultural, philosophical, and political tradition is to be rendered unsuited and unfit for serious evaluation and study. it says to me they believe these non-western cultures and practices are themselves markers of worse humans.
how would a student who very much DOESNT have this "heritage" feel when presented with the idea that the only intellectuals worthy of study are those that look nothing like them? how would they feel if they could NEVER bring up their own cultural heritage at risk of suffering active discrimination? i can imagine a chinese-american student being expected to study socrates and plato day in and day out, yet never being introduced to lao zi. she'd have to read the odyssey and war and peace, but would she be told about journey to the west or the art of war? obviously, what books and things are studied is not the only issue, but i know that this theoretical student would not exactly favor herself or her cultural identity if she's constantly having the idea that ONLY the west is worth studying.
this type of education feels like it is exactly what project 2025 sets out to do. it feels like it's primary purpose is to indoctrinate (white) students into assisting a neocolonial empire; the u.s.
i'm not sure how to conclude this, honestly i don't really know what the point i'm trying to get at is either. i just wanted to share some thoughts i was having after that—interesting interview.
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