I’ve thought a lot about this and considered writing on it, but I’ve run across this blogger who says it so much better than I ever could.  Her name is Sarah A. Hoyt whose blog is named According to Hoyt.  The gist of this particular blog is this:

It occurred to me that our civilization has got lost in the weeds because of mission drift. We’ve gone from “making sure enough people have enough to eat and can raise the next generation and avoid getting killed” to “we want to make sure everyone is happy, has fulfilling life, never ever ever experiences anything even vaguely offensive and unfair, etc.

That is not the job of civilization. I don’t know whose job it might be, except perhaps G-d’s, but it’s not the job of civilization and can’t be done by a mere group of humans.

In the same way, our education has gone from being narrow and focused “we want every kid to read” to “we want every kid to know enough to be perfectly happy, fulfilled, caring, never make anyone unhappy, and live a perfect life.

This is not education. This is redemption. Any system not inspired or run by angels will fall short.

Read it all.  She says it all so much better than anyone I have read.