Indoctrination Impedes Humanization: Sociological Essay

My goal in writing this book is not to try to instruct you or to indoctrinate you. It’s rather to present you with a menu of theories, reflections and certain facts concerning civilization and its difficulties in advancing to the next level. That next level, for me, would be to take heed of and to put into practice the 2600 year old Golden rule: “Do onto others as you would have them do unto you. “ It’s a rule that everybody understands, but somehow, we have not yet succeeded to apply it at all levels of the world’s societies. Family is the institution where we apply it the most; although more in some than in others. The school is an institution where with its coercive indoctrination, the Golden rule is most sacrificed. The government is the institution where it’s the least applied, due to corruption and abuse of power, and the omnipresent coercion towards other countries and towards its own citizen. Is it to say that we are doomed and that there’s nothing to be done? I tried …and I hope I succeeded in answering that question in this book. I hope it will entertain you for many long hours and, at the same time, has succeeded to provoke in you a reflection on our society and the danger of indoctrination. As in a long pregnancy, I have carried this book in my heart and soul for the last 40 years at least. In my fourth year of teaching at the Polyvalent school of Carleton, Quebec, I began to reflect seriously about the nature of our school system and of our other institutions: family , church and government. Of course the thought of writing a book on the subject of indoctrination came to mind. I had been involved in the school system for nearly 17 years as a student and for 6 years as a teacher.