Coping within the System (Immediate Term): As the primary goal of mass education is to filter and mold, those who manage to pass through the filter are generally well-rewarded for their effort and tend to encourage the perpetuation of the system. Those who do not pass through the filter, but are properly molded, simply accept the system as a fait accompli and offer no, or at least, little resistance to its perpetuation. Finally, there are those — a substantial minority — who neither pass through the filter, nor are properly molded by its blatant, but insidious diversions from the true mission of education: the mental erudition, physical well-being, and moral integrity of the individual. It is these latter, whom Grammar Captive is designed to free from the shackles of bad grammar and thus make them more competitive in a world stacked against the free spirit.
Educating the Public (Medium Term): Once rescued from the clutches of bad grammar it is hoped that those whom Grammar Captive frees will then inform and educate — if not directly within the existing educational system, then by example in the world of commerce and industry outside of it — their current and former classmates, as well as their fellow citizens, and in so doing, raise awareness among the properly molded, awaken the moral integrity of the well-rewarded, and organize all of these in whatever manner possible to bring an end to the highly exploitative system of second-language learning that the English language industry has become.
Political Organization and Action (Long Term): There are two important political targets that Grammar Captive strives for in the long run: the elimination of the universal English language (UEL) mandate and across the board educational reform. Mass education simply does not work unless you believe that the preservation of the state is more important than the integrity of the individual and the economic and social well-being of the community.1
- For a fairly comprehensive first step you might like to visit the Hong Kong Language Needs Assessment (HKLNA) Project at www.hashimori.com/moogoonghwa/earth/current/hklna. ↩