Reaction to Graeber and Lerner Readings

The idea of Freeskool is very linked to anarchism. It is free education that allows people to choose what they want to learn and teach what they are willing to teach. Even the teacher is not considered an authority. It's more as though they are sharing knowledge. To help eliminate the authority figures, many of the teachers (facilitators) choose not to have a format. This allows for more class participation and makes the system more voluntary.

Freeskool believes that education that is not forced down a persons throat is more likely to provoke their interest. Anarchy believes that people that are not enslaved by their government will be more likely to look out for the community interest, instead of selfish interests.

Freeskool's motto is "no grades, no masters", which was designed to play off of the anarchist slogan "no gods, no masters." There is no government or authority forcing people to comply with an anarchist society. The same is true for Freeskool, people are allowed to participate if they choose and their participation is not judged by an authority. This way knowledge can be built collectively.

The disadvantages of the Freeskool model are the same as can be seen in anarchy. There is a lack of quality control. Without a government wealth, health care, and well being of communities cannot be regulated. Within Freeskool there is no way to tell if the knowledge being shared by the community is accurate.

These downfalls are what make people so afraid of anarchy. Because there is no sort of control, there is no underlying protection. People are afraid that others who do not have the means to support themselves will turn to crime to provide for themselves. This will lead to a community that is constantly fearful and afraid of what others can do to them.

As the article stated, another form of social cooperation can be seen in Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that is built, added to, and edited by anyone who chooses to do so. People can create their own topic page on Wikipedia and provide all the content they wish. From there others are allowed to add to and edit the page. This has the same disadvantage as Freeskool. There can be no way to main to the quality of the website with having some sort of authority to regulate it.