The Global Normalized Corruption of Higher Education

Politics is war conducted by other means. In political warfare you do not fight just to prevail in an argument, but to destroy the enemy's fighting ability...In political war the aggressor usually prevails...Politics is a war of position. In war there are two sides: friends and enemies. Your task is to define yourself as the friend...while defining your opponent as the enemy whenever you can. In political conflicts, the goal is not to refute your opponent's argument, but to wipe him from the face of the Earth.

David Horowitz, The Art of Political War

Academic corruption undermines the capability of universities to foster high quality human resources and the means of societies to trust the integrity of higher education outputs. Higher education has become a huge deception in our society as educational institutions value fiat monetary systems over knowledge. Corruption in higher education is an emerging topic in the field of education research. There is a phenomenal growth in the number of media reports on corruption in higher education over the last decade. The socioeconomic context of educational reforms and changes in each country has major forms of corruption in government and higher education. There is a need to determine which aspects of corruption in higher education should be more prioritized or advanced.

Corporations and businesses coerce young minds seeking employment to get college degrees to be hired by only accredited colleges and universities. Accredited institutions are able to charge any level of tuition they wish while serving the status quo agenda as opposed to the will of liberty and knowledge. Higher education services lobby the federal and state governments to enact laws favorable to their agenda of high tuitions at the expense of students trying to change the world, for example, the student loan program.

The mainstream American culture is increasingly characterized by a declining interest in knowledge and an absorption divisive politics. It has become more difficult for educators at all academic levels to provide alternative conceptions of political liberation and its relations with education. Thomas B. Walsh reports, in 2008 to 2016, during a period of artificially low interest rates, the total student loan debt doubled from $640B to $1.3T, and the average student loan balance increased 80% from $20K to $36K. Interest rates are on the rise and the student loan debt crisis is expected to mutate into a financial catastrophe. There is current global assault on critical education by the increasing westernized corporatization of the university, thus, higher education must be protected and defended by public masses who value academia as a way to provide social mobility and equity. Currently, the academic world has become adjuncts to corporations that align themselves with dominant interests that serve largely to consolidate authority rather than critique the exploitations upon citizens; this is inhumane and unconstitutional.

The refusal to evaluate controversial issues and examine its role in causing human suffering indicates a decline in civilization as self proclaimed intellectuals value models of immorality for selfish gain. For example, there are widespread efforts across the United States of America to ban critical race theory (CRT) from classrooms such as:

• Nine states (Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Arizona, and North Dakota) have passed legislation. Arizona’s legislation was overturned in November by the Arizona Supreme Court.

• The state bills have passed the legislation and strategically avoid using 'critical race theory', similar to the United States Constitution failing to mention slaver. [clever yet savagery]

These legislations ban the discussion, training, and orientation that the United States is inherently racist as well as discourse on conscious and unconscious bias, discrimination, marginalization, privilege, and oppression. These limitations on education serve to protect the ego of white people and perpetuates the white supremacy agenda which has global implications. Whether democratic or republican, legislatures aim to regress the racial progress by creating laws that forbid educators from giving lessons on racism, race relations, and the true history about the United States of America (U.S.A). What type of society allows for the intellectual deprivation of all of its citizens regardless of race? It is an apparent and clear sign of an act against humanity, this is detrimental because U.S.A is seen as a global power thus sets a precedence for the rest of the world.

What is CRT?

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is that race is a social construct and that racism is embedded in the United States legal systems and policies, including the criminal justice system, the economic market, the housing market and the education system. Racism is a compilation of unjustifiable systems that exists system-wide in America to subjugate and oppress non-white people, who are particularly indigenous, Afrakan or both. American capitalism is chattel slavery, that incorporates systemic racism, lynchings, the KKK, genocide of Indigenous people, the practice of redlining that denied property and stolen generational wealth of Afrakan people labels (Afrakan Americans). The ban of teaching the truth of world history has repercussions that will lead to strife and these restrictions will potentially damage the future of the world. It is our duty to ensure well-informed citizenry is the essential purpose around the world in education systems. The CRT bills are exposing the inherent racist and inhumane foundation of the global power, U.S.A. Ultimately, youth leaders must be protected from this perilous trajectory.

This assault on education suppresses the work of educators by inhibiting the ability to connect scholarship to pertinent social issues, this hinders the practice of freedom and pursuit of happiness [abundance]. Blissfulness does not lie with ignorance, blissfulness resides in moments of kindness morphing itself into wholeness {holiness}. Thus, higher education has the social, moral and intellectual responsibility to aid in the establishment of a healthy society; that cannot happen when there is a failure to critique and hold accountable all abuses of authority or power. Unfortunately, we are in an era where universities are becoming more corporatized and stripped of its communal functions.

University presidents are recognized less for their intellectual leadership than for their act of fundraising and their ability to bridge the world of academia with business. Venture capitalists now work with colleges and universities in search of big profits made through licensing agreements, the control of intellectual property rights, and investments in university companies. The curriculum of schools often serve one agenda and has nothing to do with changing the world but assimilating into it. The higher education sector is a market place so the question is are people getting into hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt for the false security, comfortability or network?

The people have put their trust into education to cultivate intellectual insight, civic imagination, inquisitiveness, risk-taking, social responsibility, the fight for justice and social good, but, academia in the twenty-first century has failed the people and must be punished for its treason. The people will have to prosecute the systems at be for the ongoing corruption and exploitation which derails the social order by causing ecological, political, and civil devastation. There must be instated consequences or else the plague of corruption festers and continues.

The invention of laws outlawing critical race theory authenticates the position that systemic racism is embedded in the legal system in worldwide. What will [the people] do?

Solutions

It is long overdue for all educators, scholars, and public intellectuals to develop a political language in which morality, civic values, and social responsibility become a central focus in our curriculums to invigorate and fortify a new era of global social engagement that develops social agency through movements with organization, vision and strategies to provoke the neoliberal attack on global education and humane interests. We must assume the role of mindful intellectuals that are aware of the responsibilities to withstand testimony to the suffering of civilians worldwide and the pedagogical feasibility of educating student leaders to seek liberation, become autonomous, critical thinkers, and socially responsible. Academics must be willing to give their intellectual advice to governments, in turn governments must be willing to seek advice from academics. If this does not suffice, then public intellectuals and scholars have the duty of creating new laws, governments and institutions to uphold the interests and social welfare of the people.

Another possibility of working within the system is to eliminate accreditation for undergraduate institutions because with free competition, there would be increasingly efficient courseware and instruction at cost effective rates. The other extreme but most likely scenario is for there to be a class law suit filed in court cases to challenge diplomatic discrimination as unjust. Future research on corruption needs to transform from the current paradigm, which is based on the assumptions that corruption can be interpreted, quantified, and that appropriate anti-corruption measures can be attained. Researchers should rather focus on the failure of anti-corruption reforms and measures and adapt ingenious approaches.

When we strip away the terminology of the behavioral sciences we see revealed...the mentality of the colonial civil servant, persuaded of the benevolence of the mother country and the correctness of its vision of world order, and convinced that he understands the true interests of the backward peoples whose welfare he is to administer... The university has, to a significant degree, betrayed its public trust. Noam Chomsky, American Power and the New Mandarins

Case Study in Ghana

The relationship between colonialism and education brought about the existence of colonial agents that ignored the Afrakan perspective, yet, still dictated the process of receiving systemic instruction. Colonial education began as a spiritual declaration of war on the Afrakan mind, where missionaries were sent in to pervade the culture of Afrakan beliefs through dichotomies of inferiority vs. superiority, monolithic vs. polytheistic, right vs. wrong, and good vs. bad. The missionaries brought in their limited knowledge of the maths, sciences and literature to invade Afrakan civilization over the course of centuries to attack the trajectory of the Afrakan children while simultaneously usurping the authority of the parents. This was not done smoothly but by force with violence of rape, weaponry and theft. It must not be forgotten that the invasion of foreigners were fought for a long time, however, over the course of years it started to chip away at the social morale and integrity of the Afrakan nations.

Colonialism overwhelmed Afrakans at such extent that it caused self-alienation or a depletion of ego that Afrakans have become psychologically damaged. Education under the colonial involved interaction between government policies and missionary efforts. The psychological effect of colonial education caused Afrakans to devalue their traditional ways of knowledge transfer and civic engagement which aided the colonial imperialists. The psychological effects on the Afrakan mind linger today as there has been an adaptation of western education. This adaptation and adoption of education has corroded the political and social stability of Afrakan nations due to the global corruption of education. Racists viewed the adaptation necessary for keeping the Afrakan in an inferior position causing Afrakans to desire a favored position with the racists of equal status which is ludicrous.

The influence of the neocolonial power has lingered across the continent of Afraka and taken on a more extreme form. The vestige of colonialism resides in the schools of all levels which often have not been changed since independence. According to the Ghana Statistical Service, poverty, cultural and religious practices have been stated as impediment to educational growth in Ghana but I inquire on the validity of this statement. The child labour survey indicates that costs of education are a major reason for non-enrollment or the lack of attendance in schools.

As of today, February 1st, 2022, at The University of Ghana, Legon (UG), the largest and oldest university in Ghana built by Kwame Nkrumah, the professors remain on strike from teaching. The professors are on strike due to the low wages and disrespect from officials, however, it is the students that ultimately are punished as they are unable to get an adequate education yet are paying the school fees. The governmental subsidy and its education campaign have increased enrollment figures, but they have not been met with a parallel increase in numbers of trained teachers, and thus parent teacher association (PTA) fees cover the costs needed to provide for additional teaching staff, in the form of volunteer teachers. Research on academically dishonest practices in Ghanian institutions of higher education found that over 53% of students believe that there are leading corrupt practices in class by lecturers in Ghana. There is a reported failure by lecturers to teach the entire syllabus before the end of the semester, failure to present course outlines to students at the beginning of the semester, failure to provide interim assessment grades before the close of the semester, and failure arrive on time or at all for lectures. It could be due to the low wages paid to the lectures, yet, it infringes upon the growth and development of young minds in Ghana.

The country's government disregards the worth of intellectuals which damages the economic function and social development of Ghana. Education facilities should be viewed as a supplier of fundamental skills to satisfy a variety of socio-political and economic interests. Yet, education facilities have failed at this due to the perceived outcome of an adequate education that teaches on the will to fight for liberation.

How can it be 2022 and we still suffer the same fate of our ancestors nearly five generations later? Why are we [the people] not angry enough to change it? Are we still in bondage or are we free? If we are free, must not we behave as sovereign beings with sense?

In contemporary times, it is common for the Afrakan 'elite' to be educated by colonial schools because there has been no innovative change or improvement since slavery. The effect of colonial education on Afrakan groups is problematic and cursive, unless the Afrakan decides to create their own systems of education to empower their children and communities. It is even necessary to create our own legal codes, systems and institutions to counter the evil principalties which pervades in the new world order. Afrakan governments and church leaders seem to be filled with neocolonial agents that serve the same position as the colonialists with respect to education just with Afrakan physical forms. The Struggle Continues...

Knowledge is Power.

~Asé

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