:)
I've read that Gatto piece too, and have to say, most of the points he makes are valid.
In fact, it's probably one of the more compellingly written, cogent essays that was published in that "Disinfo" anthology.
I read with avid interest his explanation of how higher education could actually serve as impediment to progress, e.g. in Weimer Germany, which facilitated-to a certain extent-the rise to power of Hitler and other bourgeoisie intellects.
The same holds true for the upper classes in benighted, despotic Arab lands like Egypt, where the elites groomed a disenchanted, politically impotent class of individuals who used the talents they honed over the course of their studies to vengefully strike back at the institutions that had nurtured them.
The Ikwhan Muslimen, i.e. "Muslim Brothers" were, after all, primarily engineers.
Doctors, police officers, attorneys-not impoverished, ignorant plebieans-these were the chief recruits-and to a large extent, the foundational core-for Islamist, Salafi terror organizations like Al Qaeda, Al Gammaa, Al-Jihad, The "Services Office" and other assorted international terrorist franchising brands.
I have only had occasion to skim through "The Underground History...", but I've read several of Gatto's articles and short essays on education; collected in his book, "A Different Kind of Teacher". Though, stylistically, he can rail, at times, I am on board with his analysis of what is wrong with the system, the origins of the problems, the mechanisms that perpetuate the problems, and the solution to them. As a private educator using a very much talent/desire-centered model, I see the kind of flexibility in which children can explore what they want and learn at a natural paced and contrast that with my own public school years; the rigid structures (strictures?) and regimentation, that tends to produce cookie-cutter citizens; completely assembled according to government specifications and ready to be told what to do next. I've seen grown men endure humiliation in the workplace simply because of the psychological power inherent in the fact that the boss/employee relationship on the corporate org chart echoes the teacher/student hierarchy in the public school classroom. Even in their late forties, nobody wants to make that trip to the Principal's Office.
Think: "The Incredibles"
Think: "I'm not happy, Bob. Nooot happy."
Different training yields different results.