Opinion Koizumi on democratic education By Douglas Lummis	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
首相の「民主的教育」 宮崎県の18歳の女子高校生が上京し、自衛隊派遣以外の形のイラク復興支援を求める5,358人の署名と請願書を内閣府に提出した。 ところが、記者会見でそのことを尋ねられた 小泉首相が口にしたのは…。

On Feb. 2, an 18-year-old high-school girl from Miyazaki Prefecture delivered a petition, signed by 5,358 people, to the Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The petition expressed the opinion that rather than sending Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, it would be better to send other forms of aid.

Prime Minister Koizumi was asked about this at a press conference. Here are some of the things he could have said:

"In this country we have freedom of expression. I believe sending the SDF to Iraq was the right thing to do, but I respect her right, and the right of the people who signed the petition, to differ."

Or, "It is wonderful to see young people taking an active concern in the affairs of their country."

Or, "I'm glad to see that our schools are teaching our young people how to take on the responsibilities of democratic citizenship. I congratulate her teachers."

Or, "I admire the young woman's spunk. I'm sure she will grow up to be a leader."

But he said none of these things. Rather he chastised the educational system, and by implication, her teachers, for not teaching their students that sending the SDF to Iraq is the correct thing to do. He also said he hadn't read the petition.

A high-school senior works for weeks gathering thousands of signatures, then travels all the way to the prime minister's office seeking to participate as an active citizen in her country's political affairs, and the prime minister responds by insulting her!

The response is insulting first of all because it assumes that the opinion expressed by the young woman was not her own, but rather something put into her head by her teachers. It assumes that if her teachers told her that sending the SDF to Iraq was a fine idea, she would automatically think so. It doesn't consider the possibility that she has the ability to think for herself, and that even if her teachers taught her that Koizumi is right (which perhaps they have), she might not change her opinion. It also insults the 5,358 people who signed the petition.

The response also shows no understanding of democratic education. In a democratic society teachers are free to tell students their political opinions, but their job as teachers is to help students learn how - by reading, observing, discussing and thinking - to form their own opinions. This is difficult. Still, the political system known as democracy is based on the assumption that it is possible.

But the prime minister wants teachers to teach their pupils "correct opinions."

Sadder still, the education minister echoed this idea. But the opinion that it is moral, legal, and wise to send SDF troops into Iraq is not a national consensus, but rather the opinion of the ruling party, about which there is disagreement. For the leader of a government to say that the public education system ought to teach that the opinions and policies of the ruling party are correct is terribly dangerous. It is not, however, unprecedented. There does exist a political system in which the educational institutions and all other institutions in a society are reorganized to support the ideology and policies of the ruling party.

That system has a name. The name is Fascism.

Shukan ST: March 12, 2004

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