Teachers should first realize that their assigned role (according to society's decision-makers) is to produce a brainwashed work force which does not question the prevailing culture. Then they should take action to reject this role. As Michael Holzman put it, "We should stop doing harm if we can help it." Many "compositionists" favor this assigned role and so help to maintain the present system of domination and exploitation. "Democracy through Language," the slogan of the English Coalition Conference of July, 1987, suggests that mere talk can accomplish the transfer of power from the dominant minority to the dominated majority. A similarly futile conference planned by the Modern Language Association has defined literacy as the individual's ability to use language to become"...an active participant in all forms of public discourse," a state which could only be attained by means of drastic changes in our society. E. D. Hirsch's best-seller "Cultural Literacy" limits and trivializes the education of the young and diverts attention from genuine social needs. Ken Bruffee seems to hope that by changing his students' language he can change their deepest beings, all to satisfy the demands of those in power. Hope for change lies in the existence of thousands of devoted teachers. Their concerted action could break the prevailing system of exploitation, leading the way to a humanely employed literacy education. (MHC)