Wir2030

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Explanation and justification

Education is the foundation of every living democracy.
It should enable people to think for themselves, examine things critically, take responsibility and actively shape their environment.
Free education serves liberation – not conformity.
A state that misuses education for ideological re-education destroys what democracy is all about:
the diversity of opinions and freedom of thought.

What is free education?

Free education means:

• Access to knowledge without ideological filters,
• Promoting the ability to take criticism instead of opinion,
• the right to alternatives in thought, discussion and action,
• respect for cultural, ideological and family differences,
• Teachers as companions – not as guardians.

Education must not become a one-way street. It thrives on discourse, on error, on the other person.

What are government re-education programs?

Re-education begins where:

• certain attitudes are declared the mandatory norm,
• curricula are ideologically infused,
• dissenting opinions are pathologized or criminalized,
• educational institutions become instruments of politicization,
• Pupils and students should no longer think, but confess,
• the state overrides parental rights and freedom of values.

Re-education does not only happen in authoritarian regimes. It happens insidiously – through language, repetition and peer pressure.

Examples of current trends

• One-sided presentations on topics such as climate, corona, gender, migration or social policy
• Required reading without controversial dissenting voices
• Teaching staff under pressure to adapt due to “guidelines” or political programs
• Projects in schools that promote activism rather than education
• Exclusion of traditional or critical worldviews from the educational canon
• Early sexualization and gender ideology without freedom of choice for parents

This is not free education – this is opinion education with the label of democracy.

Why this is dangerous

• Democracy lives from responsible citizens – not from functioning followers.
• Only those who have learned to think for themselves can act in freedom.
• Re-education creates conformity – not responsibility.
• Education without freedom is not education – it is manipulation.

Our position

We2030 demands:

• an end to all ideological education programs, regardless of their political orientation
• an educational culture of genuine dialog that promotes arguments instead of slogans
• Strengthening parental rights and diversity of pedagogical approaches
• Right to ideological neutrality of state educational institutions

Because:

Democracy needs free education – not state re-education programs.
Those who lock up the mind destroy democracy – even before the ballot box is opened.