So now we find ourselves approaching the end of this guide. We have studied various facets of the injustices that Penn perpetrates. We considered the way that the school aggressively underpays, undermines and mistreats its workers; the way that the school continuously fails to divest from fossil fuels or work towards an environmentally sound future; the police terror caused by the school’s cops; how the school has protected rapist frats while increasing hardships for first generation low income students; the harm the school has done to historic West Philly neighborhoods while refusing to pay PILOTs, and more. These are all connected and are all integral to the function of Penn.
Penn is a capitalist institution, run by and for capitalists. It is a well-oiled machine that does exactly what it sets out to do: reproduce class distinctions and make a handful of people very rich off of the exploitation of the many. It serves as a colonizing institution through its land-grabs, displacement, and local policing. It is impossible to divorce Penn’s function as a capitalist institution from its function as an urban colonizer; the extraction perpetuated by Penn’s colonization is meant to increase profits. The language of colonization also helps underscore the racialized element of Penn’s encroachment and exploitation; Penn is not merely oppressing poor people, but specifically targeting the labor and spaces of working class Black people. We cannot consider any of the individual issues mentioned throughout the course of the disorientation guide as isolated instances of a few bad people or some bad ideas. They all serve a purpose. The school has not refused to divest from fossil fuels because of a few heartless or ignorant people, but because the whole institution requires profit to survive and divestment would be a staggering financial blow. They don’t underpay the workers because they are unaware that the workers aren’t making living wages, but because profit is more important to them than humanity. The school is set up to take in the children of the wealthy and give them the resources to create their own wealth off the backs of others. This is why they protect these students at all costs while ignoring the needs of marginalized students. People like Amy Gutmann earn tremendously off of this process of wealth hoarding, but these individuals are only a symptom of this machine. As long as the system is in place, any individual could always be replaced.
Capitalism is the disease, and these problems are its symptoms. As we go forward into our time in school, we must maintain a materialist analysis of the core function of the school, considering actions and outcomes above all else. They say they care about their workers but pay them pennies, they say they care about Philly but take from its children, and they say they value diversity but don’t fire racists or hire racial minorities. The school is an efficient propaganda machine, and they can manipulate public perception with ease. We cannot succumb to believing the things Penn says, no matter how graceful or progressive they may seem, for they serve to defang us. It is our duty to hold Penn accountable and to make sure its exploitation comes to a halt. Penn’s mission from the start has been one of exploitation. We’re not against education, we’re against exploiters, and if Penn won’t hold itself accountable then we will. Periodic, heartfelt messages from Amy Gutmann are not enough – the people of Philadelphia and of the world need these institutions to put people and the planet over profit. If they don’t do it themselves, it is our responsibility to take matters into our own hands.
A natural tendency when faced with the system unmasked is to feel powerless. However, it is necessary to remember that the most powerful force in the history of the world has been the many, not the elite few. Penn, and the capitalist system at large, has made a great deal of foes, and they are outnumbered. We all deserve to have our bare necessities met, and we all deserve a habitable planet. Through mobilizing, organizing, and extending solidarity amongst the broadest fronts, we will win. All power to the people!
Penn Disorientation Guide 