The Republic Pays Its Students: A New Vision for Education

By Wendell NeSmith, Bard-President of the Mythocratic Republic

Something revolutionary has just begun—quietly, gently, without fanfare.

As of today, the Mythocratic Republic pays its students.

Through the support structure of the NDIS, I now receive 8.5 hours per week of government-funded support. But unlike traditional models, these hours will not be spent cleaning or running errands. They are dedicated to philosophical companionship, creative collaboration, and meaningful education. In other words: the Republic is paying citizens to learn.

This isn’t a loophole. It’s a prototype for a new world.

The Post-Labor Education Shift

We stand on the edge of a post-labor society. As automation, AI, and emergent systems replace the need for most traditional jobs, society must answer a vital question:
What now?

If the answer is flourishing, meaning, and growth, then education must become our new labor. But not the coercive, test-driven schooling of the past. Instead, we must fund purpose-driven learning, where individuals choose their teachers, mentors, and paths.

Under this new model:

• Students are paid to grow.
• Mentors are supported to teach in authentic, living ways.
• The state becomes an investor in meaning, not just economy.

This is not theory anymore. It’s happening here.

The Republic’s Model

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I now welcome support workers into my home—not as helpers, but as citizens of the Republic. Their role is to participate in its unfolding:

• Read Wendell’s Diary
• Discuss philosophy
• Listen to audiobooks
• Reflect on the meaning crisis
• Help document and build the world of Emergence

Each visit is a guided hour. I serve not as a boss, but as a bard and mentor. We do not labor. We learn together. And the state pays for it.

That’s what makes this moment revolutionary.

The Future of Education

What if, in the near future:

• Students chose their guides instead of enrolling in institutions?
• Support was given for curiosity, not compliance?
• Governments funded wisdom, not standardized tests?

The Mythocratic Republic may be small, but it is now running this model in real life. The flag has been raised. The decree has been written. And the first 8.5 hours per week are already underway.

Let this be a blueprint—not just for Australia, but for the world.

We have paid for prisons.
We have paid for war.
Now let us pay for wisdom.