>IMO any kind of universal knowledge (e.g. how to participate in democracy) should be taught in high school Participation in democracy comes naturally to peopl

>IMO any kind of universal knowledge (e.g. how to participate in democracy) should be taught in high school Participation in democracy comes naturally to people. I don't think the idea that you should fight for your corner needs to be taught for anybody. If it were taught in school, though, you can bet that how to participate effectively (organization, PR, core political principles) is not what would be taught. What would be taught would be "how to correctly fill in the form to register to vote for one of two equally reprehensible characters". >I think there's a social value to having an "intellectual class" (for lack of a better term) created by college education Well, we already have this. This can be counter productive if (a la 1984), they are the most highly indoctrinated segment of society.