1. The Myth of Education and the Reality of Employment
Every government declares that "education is the foundation of the nation." But look at budget allocation, policy priorities, and social evaluation — they are all oriented toward employment. The essence of education has become "human capital investment," not "the full development of the person."
2. The Structural Homology of National Education Crises
The United States thinks it has a student loan crisis. The UK thinks it has a vocational education gap. Germany thinks its dual system is failing. China thinks it has an exam-oriented education problem. Japan thinks it is declining birthrates. These are not separate problems — they are the same structural crisis: education systems are captured by the employment market, and the employment market is captured by the race to the bottom of transnational capital.
3. GL Diagnosis: The Delivery Ratio of Education
- Fs (Flow Success Rate): How many students actually complete the transition from learning to employment?
- Pd (Process Duration): How many years do students spend in school, only to delay entry into the job market?
- Cf (Complexity Factor): Degree inflation, industry-academia disconnect, urban-rural gaps, class reproduction.
The GL value of education is not measured by enrollment rates, but by whether graduates achieve a dignified life.
4. The Way Out: From "Employment Orientation" to "Human Development"
Only when global coordination mechanisms are established can countries escape the vicious cycle of "education serving employment." The goal of education should be to cultivate citizens, critical thinking, and social responsibility — not merely labor power.
The shared delusion is not that countries don't value education. It's that they value it only as a means to employment — and when employment itself is hollowed out by transnational capital, education loses its direction.
This essay is part of the Shared Delusion Series.
It diagnoses why every country believes its crisis is unique — and points to the structural root that all share.