One of my favorite authors of all time wrote a book called A Thomas Jefferson Education: Leadership Education for the 21st Century. His name is Oliver DeMille. I believe the principles that are taught in this book. I named my 4th child after this man. He was and is influential in so many of my paradigm shifts, because he teaches that we need to learn to think for ourselves. I am grateful daily for this awareness. The trends in society today have been such that we have allowed ourselves to blindly follow "experts" for lack of a better term. We do not trust ourselves. We make decisions for our homes and families based on what the latest experts say are right. What if the expert(s) is/are wrong? This would make it important for me to know how to think, particularly to ask the right questions.
True freedom requires education and accountability. Without these, we are slaves. The founding fathers understood this principle. What would have happened if they had not learned to question and think for themselves, and then use their knowledge to make decisions? We certainly would not have the freedoms we now enjoy.
Education is the tool whereby we come to an awareness of what our options are. The educational systems today focus on cramming information into your brain and then parroting back the information to get a good grade. The focus is on learning "what to think." There are no other options. You learn what the textbook says is the truth. This is not how the founding fathers got an education. They read the classics. They did not read some college professors version of the classics. They read several points of view and then were able to form their own opinions. As a result, we have a system of government "by the people" that has lasted longer than any other such government. We are still reaping the fruits, even without understanding the principles of freedom that they understood. This can not last. They understood that it could not last without a moral, educated people.
Accountability is the other prerequisite to freedom. After we have been presented with many options, we make an informed decision based on this knowledge. Then we must be accountable for that decision. Will we make mistakes? Yes. Is it easier to let someone else make the decisions for us? Maybe. Because we have someone else to blame when a mistake is made. Is it better to let someone else make decisions for us? An emphatic no! It is so amazing to live the law of the harvest which says you reap what you sew. Without personal accountability, there is no freedom. The consequences we face are not a result of exercising our freedom to choose, they are a result of someone else's choices. Without personal accountability, we are in effect, handing over our freedom to someone else. We are being acted upon, instead of acting.
So what has prompted my rantings and ravings? Actually it is the swine flu. I believe much of the panic surrounding this subject has been prompted by a whole lot of misinformation. Some questions that have come to my mind are: Is the swine flu that big of a deal? Is it worse than regular flu? Are the options that are coming forth to treat it safe? Can the government really come up with a "safe" immunization in less than a year? Are the risks of the immunization worth the benefits? and so many other questions that I have.
I believe the principles of knowledge and accountability can be applied any time an "expert" or "authority" recommends a course of action. I am not implying that there is no place for trained experts or that we shouldn't follow their recommendations. I am saying find out if that is the course you should take. Don't take my word for it.
I am a lover of freedom and desire to do everything in my power to see that freedom is not lost. Once it is lost, it is extremely difficult to gain it back. I am optimistic that the people will rise up again and do whatever it takes to preserve our freedom. I want to join with all the freedom lovers. I can and I will make a difference. I will study classics, and learn to think for myself a little more every day. As long as I and others are diligent, we will not accept less than freedom. We can do this. I invite you to join me on this journey.
2 comments:
What a thoughtful and amazing post. I named my first child after Thomas Jefferson, so you know I believe in the things the founding fathers stood for. I, too, think the swine flu is over-hyped and probably a distraction for our country. And you know I believe in learning from the classics. The things I've learned about absolute truth are amazing in just a few books. But how many Americans actually realize our education is lacking? It's a sort of apathy, I think. We just don't care, and yet we think we are smart enough to "change the world" without all the information! Very sad. I wonder how many really realize they are enslaved by propaganda.
Have you read Oliver's new book, The Coming Aristocracy, yet? It's got some profound content regarding the issues you bring up here. Thanks for this post.
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