Staying with this reflection about how in group/out group tribalism pervades human thinking and behavior (such as what I posted about yesterday, re: religion and spiritual paths), I’ve been concerned for a long while about elitism and education. I think it’s a common element of classism, this belief that achieving a formal, higher education equals reaching the highest level of evolution as a human being and those without such experience, and subsequent awarded degrees behind their names, fall short somehow. Hence, such individuals are stunted, less than. (They are then to be pitied, which, of course, is so patronizing.) It’s an embedded extreme assumption I grew up around and have intentionally spent years steadily releasing from my psyche. I think this belief by many in the educated middle and upper classes has actively contributed to a lot of the white working class alienation and subsequent anger we’ve witnessed channeled through the rise of Trumpism in recent years.
There are many other ways to view success and human evolvement besides through the lens of formal education achievement, right down to taking in each person’s own strengths and laudable ability to live their own lives as best they can day to day— whether they happen to have a college degree or didn’t finish high school.
The Practical, Fanciful Pagan 