Theodore Dwight Weld

A report,

 1832

Who can educate their sons at college? Not more than one family in twenty. Thus nineteen-­twentieths of our population is shut out from the advantages of education in the higher branches; and as knowledge is power, the sons of the rich, by enjoying advantages for the acquisition of this power vastly superior to others, may secure for themselves a monopoly on those honors and emoluments which are conferred upon the well educated. In this way society is divided into castes. The laboring classes become hewers of wood and drawers of water for the educated. The two parties stand wide asunder, no bond of companionship uniting them, no mutual sympathies incorporating them into one mass, no equality of privileges striking a common level for both. The chasm between them, even in this republican government, already yawns deep and broad; and if it be not speedily bridged, by bringing education within the reach of the poor, it will widen into an impassable gulf, and our free institutions, our national character, our bright visions of the future, our glory, and our joy, will go down into it.

Chinese Communist Party

An editorial in Peking Review,

 1966

While the main activity of the workers is in industry, they should at the same time also study military affairs, politics, and culture. They should also take part in the socialist education movement and in criticizing the bourgeoisie.

While the main activity of the peasants in the communes is in agriculture (including forestry, animal husbandry, side occupations, and fisheries), they, too, should at the same time study military affairs, politics, and culture. Where conditions permit, they should also collectively run some small factories. They should also criticize the bourgeoisie.

This holds true for students as well. While their main task is to study, they should learn other things; that is, industrial work, farming, and military affairs. They should also criticize the bourgeoisie. The period of schooling should be shortened, education should be revolutionized, and the domination of our schools by bourgeois intellectuals should by no means be allowed to continue.

By acting in accordance with what Comrade Mao Zedong has said, it will be possible to promote the step-by-step narrowing of the gap between workers and peasants, town and countryside, and mental and manual labor; to enable intellectuals to become at the same time manual workers, and manual workers at the same time intellectuals.

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