I don’t think school is for self defense. It was explicitly designed originally to mould the peasant class into a working class that would be useful to industrialists. It has always favoured rote obedience over actual understanding and critical thinking. In that sense it is very much about getting us to lower our natural defences against domination.
I think the new math is for dealing with this? Basically all of school is self-defence class now. Maybe it always was.
Edit: have an up vote
I don’t think school is for self defense. It was explicitly designed originally to mould the peasant class into a working class that would be useful to industrialists. It has always favoured rote obedience over actual understanding and critical thinking. In that sense it is very much about getting us to lower our natural defences against domination.