Mike of Modernit y(or post?)

The point of difference, or sameness, between Althusser's Repressive State Apparati and Ideological Apparati is (for me) difficulty to discern. While Althusser's distinction is that one employs violence the other thought, their methods of control and influence still often bear a striking resemblance to one another. My experiences in elementary school show a prime example of this. The most feared punishment one could reap for stepping outside the rules was a paddling. Paddling as punishment would never happen nowadays ,and if it did would be quickly met with litigation and a media frenzy calling for something to be done. Rightly so, I believe, as using violence in education only seems to breed violence; or so I could argue. Here is an "ideological" apparatus using force to gain control, and what seems more insidious is that it is committed under the veil of "proper education" and "order". Conversely, having a gun held to our head by a police officer is a far more literal and life threatening use of violence as control, but in the case of a law enforcement agency - one expects that violence will be used. They are armed, wear identifying costume, and are subject to a littany of procedures to protect themselves legally. Yet in grade school, this was only 1981 mind you, I moved to Florida to find that my new school used corporal punishment as a deterrent to misbehaving. Keeping in perspective the numerous incidents of violence that are playing out in our educational system over the last several decades, this school had no particular conduct problem. Perhaps the threat of violence kept it this way? I would hope that it was a natural state of order, nonetheless I was shocked and terrified to find out the fact that if i got in trouble, I could be paddled. This was unheard of in the part of the Northeast where i grew up. It seemed Barbaric to me, that a public institution that was charged with the safety of so many kids could use such backwards method of persuasion and control. But, it becomes apparent as I grow wiser, that in every institution, or apparati, there must be some sense of order. The apparati seeks to provide this, by hook or by crook. While the ideological seeks to influence us through ideas, the repressive do so by bodily threat. Which is more powerful? Which holds the greater sway over the illusion of control they both support? This depends entirely on the parties that fall under their respective domains. Us.