thoughts gone awry, lost in time - 1

Sometime in July, August or September 2009...

We, the articulate elite do hereby declare on this dastardly day that we do not - explicitly or implicitly - desire to facilitate any idea or exercise that may cause a structural fracture between students or groups of students or coteries or cliques, however many there may be. It is the articulate that shall rule this small ecosystem, in this case, a representative microcosm of the world we live in.

The nature of education received & the kind we are getting now will and is definitely different. What we experience, as individuals and as groups, varies and it is for this reason that one must try and be a dissenter when an idea or a thought defies an individual's - your - logic and method of thinking, or when one defies what another deifies.

There will surely be fractiousness if one tries to establish a unity where there is none. A split between the students themselves is to nobody's benefit. Indeed, if one notices herd mentality and 'yes wo/men', it is even more imperative to raise one's doubts and voice and bring it to the notice of the many. if not done, it will harbour deep resentment and create a rift that will be difficult to bridge.

In the event of a class war, especially among development dude/tte(s), it will be worthwhile to discuss the event and process even at the risk of flogging people's egos. A silent classroom resembles a resigned or resentful classroom - among other things. In this case, silence signals the impotence of ideas, thoughts and feelings, and or the success of the articulate in quelling dissent. As 'alleged' equals, this may not be apparent - it seems to me that a voice and the importance of it being heard becomes paramount.

Exclusion takes place in many forms - forced silence being one of those. If the culture(s) of silence and articulation continue(s) as a binar(y/ies) within this small space, it is to our collective detriment, not to mention the individual harm it will cause, also subverting the ideal of common knowledge. Shouting down an individual - something i have been guilty of indulging in on numerous occasions in the past - creates barriers which often become insurmountable due to the apparent complacency and lack of respect exercised by individual(s).

The articulate elite rule in this scenario.