The last thing that should happen is funding cut for education;

The musician and humanitarian Flea, known not only for his art but for his deep conscience, once declared: “The last thing that should happen is funding cut for education; it should be increased. We need to put more money towards education, and anything else is abusive.” Though these words come from an artist of the modern age, they resound with the moral weight of an ancient truth — that the soul of a nation is not measured by its riches, but by how it nurtures the minds of its children. Flea’s cry is not merely political; it is prophetic. For when education is starved, the very heart of civilization begins to weaken.

In the voice of Flea, one hears the lament of all wise men through history — that the wealth of kingdoms means nothing if the people dwell in ignorance. The ancient philosophers of Greece, China, and India all understood that education is the lifeblood of virtue and progress. Plato taught that the downfall of society begins when the young are no longer guided toward truth. Confucius declared that to educate one person is to transform a family, a nation, and the world. Flea, standing in this lineage of moral visionaries, reminds our age — an age dazzled by technology yet blind to empathy — that the abandonment of education is not just neglect, it is abuse. For when a society denies its children knowledge, it denies them their future.

The word “abusive,” as Flea uses it, is fierce and deliberate. He calls it abuse because such neglect wounds the innocent. To cut funding for schools is to cut away the very roots of human growth. It condemns the poor to poverty, the dreamer to despair, and the gifted to silence. It is a cruelty not of the whip, but of indifference — a moral blindness that leaves generations crippled in spirit. And so, his words rise like a warning bell to all who would place greed before learning, profit before progress. Education, he reminds us, is not an expense; it is the foundation of justice, equality, and peace.

History bears witness to this truth. When Japan emerged from the ashes of World War II, its leaders understood that their greatest resource was not steel or oil, but education. They rebuilt not only their cities, but their schools. Teachers became heroes, classrooms became sanctuaries, and within a generation, Japan rose from ruin to prosperity. In contrast, nations that have neglected learning — that have spent their treasure on weapons or vanity while starving their schools — have fallen into decay. Their monuments crumble, their wealth fades, but the scars of ignorance endure for centuries.

Flea’s passion also springs from his own life. Born into hardship, raised in instability, he found salvation not through privilege but through creativity, music, and self-expression — all fruits of education in its truest sense: the awakening of potential. He knows, from his own journey, that when a child’s curiosity is fed, their destiny changes. But when it is ignored, their fire dims. To him, every dollar denied to education is a door closed in the face of possibility, a betrayal of the next generation’s brilliance.

And so, his call is not just for more money, but for reverence — for society to once again treat education as sacred. To fund schools is not merely to build walls and buy books, but to invest in human dignity. The teacher’s wage, the scholar’s tool, the student’s desk — these are the true treasures of civilization. They are the seeds from which inventors, healers, artists, and leaders will bloom. To withhold from them is to commit a sin against humanity’s own future.

Let every leader, every parent, every citizen hear this truth: education is the breath of civilization. Without it, freedom withers and progress dies. The wealth of nations must flow first to the minds of its youth, for they are the architects of tomorrow. To cut education is to steal light from the dawn, but to invest in it is to ensure that dawn never fades.

Thus, remember the wisdom hidden in Flea’s words: to fund education is not charity — it is justice. To protect it is not optional — it is sacred duty. Let us each, in our own way, become guardians of learning: by supporting teachers, cherishing books, and nurturing curiosity wherever it appears. For a nation that feeds the mind will always find its strength renewed, its spirit alive, and its destiny — forever ascending.