Ha, I got interested in researching what exactly Mennonites are, and funnily, the German Wikipedia article has, in its very introduction, this disclaimer:

In den Medien gibt es immer wieder Berichte über Mennoniten in Nord- oder Südamerika, die einen sehr konservativen bis weltabgewandten Lebensstil pflegen und die in der Regel einen deutschen Hintergrund haben. Diese Gruppen stellen jedoch nur einen kleinen Ausschnitt aus dem mennonitischen Spektrum dar, in dem es auch viele modernere, angepasstere und liberalere Gemeinschaften sowie viele andere ethnische Zugehörigkeiten gibt.

Translation by me:

“In the media, there are regular reports about Mennonites in North- or South America, who have a very conservative or even withdrawn lifestyle, who usually have German ancestry. These groups are, however, only a small section of the whole Mennonite spectrum, in which there are also many more modern, more adjusted and more liberal communities, as well as many other ethnicities.”

Seems like your American Mennonite exiles are making the rest of the Mennonite world defensive.

Hm, I get the sentiment, and while I think that can be a dynamic to consider, I know authoritarian systems often have this dynamic, where the upper class believes themselves to be worthy of “forbidden” knowledge. Take Kim Jong-un having been sent to school in Switzerland, the Nazi top brass collecting and enjoying otherwise censored/forbidden media, many early modern philosophers staying alive by tutoring the children of aristocrats and later industrialists, with knowledge that wouldn’t be allowed for the “common rabble”.

Now, they indeed are in the conflict of wanting their children to be obedient extensions of themselves and at the same time wanting them to be competent enough to carry on and be useful to their own legacy. That has been a pretty inherent conflict to patriarchical systems, including those in contemporary capitalism, basically ever since class society has been a thing. But overall, they do want at least the children they expect to take their place one day, to be competent enough to withstand the “dog-eat-dog”-world they favour, which often includes education on “alternative thinking”.

You are right, though, of course, that all those things will still be viewed through their ideological lens. Historical developments like class conflict has to be taught from their perspective, for example, and with the moral stance of the ruling class on it. Knowledge will often only be superficially understood, so they can feel superior in “knowing” it, without risking proper engagement. But those dynamics are also very old and widespread even today. I remain with my position of thinking, that they do want an “elite” education for themselves, including things otherwise deemed inappropriate or even forbidden. Hypocrisy is an integral part of authoritarian systems.

They want their own children to be educated in private schools and by tutors not available to common people, and everyone else just educated enough to do their jobs and work for them.

Maybe a few scholarships especially targeted at a few poor “gifted” children, that produce false hope and additional shame if you can’t be “good” enough for one of those scholarships.

Genuinely, though, it is hard to gauge at times which actions are:

• Genuinely malicious plans to increase his and his cronies’ wealth
• Confused, because Elon or Trump were in a specific mood that particular day
• Some actor behind the scenes manipulating them by taking advantage of their impulsivity
• The genuine incompetence of the newly appointed loyalists (or the algorithms/AI they use) within the new deep state
• Genuinely ideologically motivated stupidity, from Libertarians that drank their own cool-aid within the administration.

It is genuine chaos. But overall, the effects are pretty disastrous, no matter what exactly causes which actions.