Perhaps the root of all evil in the country “from socioeconomic to political, religious and moral problems” is lack of education. Education is empowerment. Education allows you to understand the world better, and hence deal with it more effectively. Here is why education is the most powerful weapon.
Teaches you about your rights
The first step towards standing up for yourself and fighting against injustice is knowing you are being wronged. This is where education steps in. If people are unaware of their rights, they cannot demand them. But education allows people to understand the way the world works, and about what rights exist as a person, citizen as well as in other contexts. Thus, this very awareness becomes a powerful weapon in fighting injustice.
Helps you become sensitive to others
The other way around is also true. While on one hand education makes you aware of your rights it also makes you aware of the rights of others. Educated people are less likely to commit crimes. Plus, education sensitizes you to the problems of others, because under the social sciences, you actually study them. Thus, education helps you become a shield for others – and defense is a weapon.
Makes you a more evolved person
Education makes you more evolved as a person, you become more understanding and knowledgeable. This knowledge translates as a weapon in and of itself, because in the end, reason and logic win over punches and verbal abuse. Knowledge gives you a standing in life, a kind of respect and adulation, which protects you. In other ways also, such as family planning, employment, dowry, etc, it makes a difference.
Teaches you social right and wrong
While giving you textual and worldly knowledge, education also teaches you social niceties. It teaches you to converse with people in a seamless manner, it teaches you to alleviate the grief of others and celebrate their joy. Thus, it makes you a fully fledged social persona whom everyone loves. Social protection, of course, is the ultimate protection.
“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”
— Nelson Mandela
Allows you to make decisions confidently
The best thing about education is that it makes you more confident. It endows you with respect for yourself that is not at all superficial, but rather comes out of a love for learning. This respect for yourself translates into confident decision making. This in turn allows you to resist swaying away with what others say. You believe in yourself and trust your ability to take the right decision. And this of course, makes it easier to bear the consequences of your decisions. It also allows you to stand out from the crowd, which in turn makes you more respectable in your own eyes and in the eyes of others.
Enables you to reach out, ask for help and empathize
Education makes you worldly smart – you become adept at knowing who can help you. In turn, you also help others in need, which creates a reciprocal bond. You learn to become socially better, such as not discriminating between girls and boys, or among religions. Education has been known to have a positive effect on reduction in communalism and gender bias. Infanticide, female abuse, sexual abuse, crimes against minorities and women, etc reduce with an increase in education.
Constructive education gives you the moral compass to decide whether to make or break rules
of course, this education that helps you make decisions has to be constructive. Destructive education, like the education given to terrorists is of no use. Similar military training is given to terrorists as well as army men, but is put to vastly different uses by both. Thus, the right kind of education teaches you the difference between right and wrong, as well as gives you the capacity do decide whether it’s best to break a rule or follow it. Breaking rules is not necessarily bad, but a lack of discretion in doing so definitely is.
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