Civics classes are not indoctrination

I refer to the letter “Civics classes the lasting way to make Ugly S’porean go away” (April 19).

The claim that people are not good by nature and are selfish is backed up not only by the daily problems we run into and read about the world over but also by fields such as economics, where self-interest equates to rationality.

But if people are irredeemably self-centred by nature, then no amount of indoctrination would work, for it would wear out in a world that is presumably full of self-interest.

Perhaps indoctrination can be said to be used to brainwash people away from their better nature. It is used to convince people that scarcity, violence and evil are ineluctable.

While bringing out the better nature in humanity is a challenge, many of us know from experience that there is inherent good in people.

If people are essentially not good, then why have there been great spiritual teachers through the ages? Are such teachers so unwise that they hope indoctrination is the answer? Can force-feeding virtue ever work?

Spiritual teachers remind us of a state of grace that can be reclaimed by a better understanding of our nature. If we choose only to focus on the negative, we would try to solve those difficulties using negative methods such as indoctrination.

Some of the ancient Greek thinkers taught that the sojourn on earth was meant for us to rediscover the essence of our being, and that philosophy was a means of remembering who we are and what we are meant to do.

Importantly, virtue cannot be taught; it is innate but needs rekindling. When we can do that on a sustained level, we can work towards creating a just and compassionate society.

Civics classes for the young are not indoctrination but an attempt to remind us of our potential beyond self-interest. They are an attempt to make a stand against the indoctrination of materialism and mindless consumerism that many other forces are bent on promoting.

That some of us can stand up to sheer self-interest shows that the struggle is to maintain doing what we can for the highest interests of all despite the influences that propel us towards insularity.

For a start, those who believe we can create a better world by listening to the better angels of our nature must speak out without harshness.