Captivity

Captivity.

 

By schooling's whip, the animals

were tamed

And now by freedom's shout

are shamed

 

Expectation has become

our prison

A law of social savagery

arisen

 

Without a keeper, this remains

our cage

Against its hidden bars, in vain

we rage

 

In place of the iron bars

that rust

Far stronger is cruelty of

the "just"

 

They, fearing freedom's wide and

open space,

Do not let go, lest could not keep

the pace

 

To prowl the confines of

our den

Is this the appointed lot

of men?

 

There is no place for freedom

here

Only mistrust, conformity and

fear

 

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From 1980, I can see that I didn't altogether trust schooling. I think a bit of John Holt (Why Children Fail) and Ivan Illich (De Schooling society) influenced this quite a bit. And Pedagogy of the Oppressed.