Ideas@TheCentre
Education key to living in two worlds
In his speech at the opening dinner of the Centre’s annual Consilium conference last week, Noel Pearson raised the point that Jews and the Roman Catholics have found ways to reconcile communalist loyalties and preoccupations with liberal individualism.
I have no personal experience with Roman Catholicism but I am Jewish. Noel’s use of Judaism to illustrate that it is possible to live in two worlds – to retain your cultural and religious identity and to operate effectively in secular society – got me thinking.
Harry Triguboff, owner of Meriton Apartments, and Frank Lowy, who developed the Westfield shopping centres, are two examples of highly successful businessmen who still retain their Jewish identity. Tellingly, both are strong supporters of orthodox Jewish day schools.
The Jewish faith has always had a heavy emphasis on education – indeed one of the commandments of parents is that they educate their children, and that if they are unable to do it themselves, they find someone who can. The literal translation of rabbi is teacher. The emphasis on education is two-fold – not only is secular education highly valued but even the least observant Jews ensure that their children learn Hebrew and study for their bar and bat mitzvahs.
Noel argued that for Indigenous Australians to progress, they need to move beyond the dominance of communalism and relegate it to that sphere of life to which it is most appropriate.
According to Noel, three key articles of liberal philosophy are needed to bring about change: self-interest, choice and private property.
Self-interest and choice go hand in hand – for self-interest to be the engine driver of change, people need to have choice in how they live their lives. Real choice requires having the capabilities to choose.
For Aboriginal Australians to replicate the Jewish experience, they need to become more serious about education. To quote Foucault, knowledge is power.
Prominent Aboriginal banker Joe Proctor said the same in his Consilium speech. Aboriginal people are forever asking for more money, but what they should really be doing is asking for advice and engaging the smartest people to teach them what they need to know to move forwards.
In speaking to a number of successful Aboriginal people, I have been taken by the similarities behind their success – most had parents who were prepared to stick their necks out, to be different from the mob, who had a vision for their children, and saw the value of education.
In the past, becoming educated in the Western way equated to assimilation and a loss of culture; today, this need not be the case. As the Jewish people have shown, with education in both, it is possible to live in two worlds.
Sara Hudson is a Policy Analyst in the Indigenous Affairs program at The Centre for Independent Studies.
