Wisdom and knowledge are the stability of our times. Our founding fathers knew this. A glimpse into the lives of great men like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin reveals a rich educational heritage. (Note that education does not equal schooling.)
The foundations of the ideal state must be built upon an educated populace. Freedom is earned. Freedom is learned. Today we have opportunities to learn like never before, but many of us also have an increasing number of distractions (including irrelevant "busy work" jobs or schooling, TV, long commutes, mounting debts, and an overly busy lifestyle). We need to take a step back and refocus on what's truly important.
I have had the good fortune of hearing Dr. Oliver DeMille speak on several occasions. He founded George Wythe College, which is dedicated to developing leaders. (http://www.gwc.edu) DeMille wrote a tremendous book, The Thomas Jefferson Education. I highly recommend it. It has changed my approach to self-education and the education of my children. It can be ordered from George Wythe College, and is probably the best $25 I have ever spent. I lend my copy out so often that I bought a second copy for myself!
For a preview of some of the ideas contained in DeMille's book, see http://www.homeschoolnewslink.com/articles/vol3iss6/demille.htm
Today's children will be tomorrow's leaders. We owe it to ourselves to invest in them... if liberty is to be preserved. What insights do the readers of this forum have regarding a LEADERSHIP EDUCATION?
We need to recognize that most children in America today are not getting anything near a "leadership education"... and neither are adults. Generally, public/government school leaves children dumb and numb. TV then takes up whatever time is left... and too much exposure to regular TV programming makes people dumb and numb too. Religion isn't the opiate of the masses, TV is.
John Taylor Gatto (http://www.johntaylorgatto.com) reports that only one in sixteen adult Americans reads non-trivial books after finishing their formal schooling. He also states that three out of five Americans eats their evening meal in front of the TV. Yesterday, news reports stated that only one in five US high school graduates have a good understanding of science, and that only about half of the graduates have a very basic understanding of science. This is not encouraging.
If government schools aren't teaching our nation's children to be leaders, then what are they teaching? John Taylor Gatto's essay "The Seven Lesson Schoolteacher" answers the question: http://www.ischool.ca/writee.htm
A nation that believes that it can live long, free and ignorant, believes what never was and never will be...
- Thomas Jefferson
A "physical education" has been part of royalty's upbringing. Nobility put their offspring in challenging situations (e.g. learn to ride a horse over jumps, or hunt, or joust). These children overcome the challenge, and this has numerous benefits that leaders need: Increased competence and increased confidence. This sense of mastery carries them forward to face new challenges with an "I can do" attitude.
Johann Wyss' classic book, The Swiss Family Robinson, has an interesting perspective:
-- begin quote --
In the evening I desired the boys to let me see their dexterity in athletic exercises, such as running, leaping, wrestling, and climbing; telling them they must keep up the practice of these things, so as to grow strong, active men, powerful to repel and cope with danger, as well as agile and swift-footed to escape from it. No man can be really courageous and self-reliant without an inward consciousness of physical power and capability.
“I want to see my sons strong, both morally and physically,” said I. “That means… brave to do what is good and right, and to hate evil, and strong to work, hunt, and provide for themselves and others, and to fight if necessary.”
-- end quote --
Johann Wyss, The Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter 15
Just as Joel would like the status of "citizenship" to require a certain amount of knowledge or understanding by the receiver, we need to require our state and federal leaders to demonstrate a certain amount of knowledge about history, principles of law and government, and the willingness to abide by those principles. Somehow the Philosophy of Law and Government needs to include some rules and tests for those who wish to "lead" us.
Currently, a job as a polititian is the only job that requires absolutely no education, knowledge, skills, work experience or (most important of all) character - qualities such as honesty, a certain amount of understanding and rapour with the common working man, a willingness to subordinate self-interests to the greater-good, etc.
Outside of politics, employers investigate potential employees in depth and to certain degrees test them before hiring. And an employee's every pertinant skill, mistake or character flaw is documented and found in the databases of Personel Managers throughout the nation. But if a person fails in all other pursuits, or is turned away from civilian jobs because of a shady or criminal background, he or she can always get a job in government. In fact lack of qualification or character often seems to be the requirement.
A new visitor to this website,
Art Klinger
Excellent points you make, Art. Most of us would never leave our children or pets alone with a new babysitter before checking out his or her personal background first. Yet we neglect to investigate the true character of those in charge of running our country and influencing our future.
I suppose the difficulty in requiring true education (whether it be required of legislators, judges, the general populace, or for citizenship) is that if we are to establish requirements, how shall we do this while making certain we are not providing yet another mechanism for indoctrination? True, indoctrination, in a sense, is needed (that being indoctrination of the principles of liberty). But how do we ensure that this is not eventually twisted and used against us?
Re: "But how do we ensure that this is not eventually twisted and used against us?"
For starters, citizens would need to voluntarily rise to stricter, higher standards in their own lives and summon lots of self-discipline so they become unwavering as they stand tall for what is right and demand it from their leaders. If Americans were firmly united and like-minded, agreeing at least on basic principles of liberty, wouldn't this fact alone help form their protective shield?
Children know they can slip almost anything past a parent that waffles or one who is an indecisive "fence-rider." Yet they know instinctively when they can't fool parents who consistently stick with solid and pure values. By voluntarily rising to the cleaner, higher atmosphere of principled thinking, if much of America would willingly walk the line better themselves first, it would toughen the game as bad leaders whose goal is to taint, corrupt and twist things would suddenly find it more difficult to succeed in their scheming plans. Manipulators can only achieve their dark goals when the backdrop or environment is too loose and flawed, ripe for corruption, in the first place.
Brady, I realize my comments don't fully answer the tough question you posed, but these things should form at least part of the foundation in the strategy you seek.
It's doubtful, in my opinion, that mere humans alone can accomplish such a feat all on their own. If they shared a true desire to live more righteously, divine intervention might step in and provide protection.
Those are a lot of "ifs"--right now, wishful thinking more than reality. To change anything for the better, though, one must always begin with a wish that sprouts from deep within the hearts of the people.
As Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville remarked, (in the classic work, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA), after coming to America in the 1830s to examine its civil institutions, "...America is great because America is good. And if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
The first step to finding a solution to Brady's question surely must be to remind, encourage and educate others so they once again yearn for the good and the pure instead of simply settling for the bad and the corrupt. An honest return to the good would gradually lead us back to being great and strong. In unity there is strength.
Great comments, Kay. Now if only we could devise a strategy that could actually accomplish this goal of renewing America's desire to be good.
Sadly, I fear that we have long since passed this point. Perhaps the most we can do is to try to come together - those of us who do agree on this. I suppose we could start by all migrating to a common place where we will constitute the majority. From there, we may be able to whittle away at the chains that bind us.
This is actually an area where Mr. Skousen's expertise may come into play. Were secession an option, where would be the most advantageous location to stage such? Or another question would be, where is a good location where few would care enough to oppose secession? Surely there is such a place?
Brady, it is never too late to make changes! There are plenty of ways that an individual can get the ball rolling. I had a friend tell me that a pebble can't change the course of a river. That's true but a person (like Keyes, Skousen, etc.) who works the system and is able to be heard en masse can. These boulders of citizens can not only change the course of a river but if enough of us follow their lead we could all control its course for the good. My advice is we all stop talking about what we can do and actually do it. Make a plan and follow it through!
Christian
Well said, Christian. I would only add this reminder to your advice which was, "Make a plan and follow it through!" We all have access to the same powerful tool that Joel Skousen, Keyes and others often use. The Internet...what better place to begin than there?
I once heard of a website, and organization, that was trying to get enough people together to move to one state and then make a huge political statement. How would it be to be apart of a forum that could come together, discuss and even debate important issues, and then make a huge political statement? People need to become more aware and then follow through! Those from this forum bring up some very interesting issues and ideas. I just wish we could go from the idea to the planning stage, and eventually to the execution stage.
Christian
Christian, agreed, Keyes might be one of our only hopes at the moment. Pursuant to your suggestion that we move into a planning phase and then into an execution phase, let's start a real campaign to get Keyes elected. I don't know how many people I've talked to who said they'd vote for Keyes except that they didn't think anyone else would vote for a black man. But EVERYONE says this! So obviously, they are only prisoners of their own misconceptions. If everyone would vote according to conscience, we might get somewhere.
So what about a public-awareness campaign to make the general populace aware of how much support Keyes really does have? Let's explode people's misconceptions about Keyes' viability. I think if the average conservative thought Keyes stood a real chance, he'd be shoe-in.
On top of the fact that I cannot bear the idea of another 4 years of Bush, the time to make a difference in the Republican party is NOW. Let's try to focus on the primaries. If Keyes can have an impressive showing in the primaries, there's hope. Even if he didn't get it this election, he'd be in a prime spot for the next one.
So, how are we going to pull this off? Internet polls, etc?