The Undermining of the American Mind and Experiment
The Undermining of the American Mind and Experiment
–a commentary by Robin Lennon
The very foundation of the American experiment is to provide the People with a just and free society that grants every citizen due process under law. We hear the term “rule of law” so often most Americans no longer know what it means and why it is liberal and progressive in the truest senses of those words’ meanings. Rule of law does NOT mean that Congress can pass laws for the people, but exempt themselves from it, whether it is Obamacare or insider trading.
Throughout the history of the world after mankind grew beyond the family/tribal/clan models, with just a few notable exceptions, men were ruled by the mightiest who prosper and make laws that perpetuate their rule over the masses. Whether the rulers were monarchs, oligarchies, or tyrants, matter not. The power was always distributed from the top down to the lowliest of the low.
The most ancient exception was the Israelites who were brought out of slavery by a man inspired by their God who gave them rules to live by and a system by which to live. The Ten Commandments and their self-government instituted in Exodus 18 are found in the Jewish Torah. Though the People eventually chose a monarchy instead of self-rule according to God’s principles, Western Civilization eventually found itself clawing a way back toward its roots with a model of government in which all men and women have natural rights which are theirs by birth, not given to them by others at whim.
Time and time again through history, we see the failings of men and women in power. As long as rulers of character and virtue seek the good of the people, all is well. Too often, however, the frailties and vices of the human condition come into play, until it was argued by Hobbes in Leviathan , that the people, ruled by their passions and subject to natures that are all too often plagued with selfishness, greed, and self-interest, cannot rule themselves.
Our Founders argued that given a good education, Americans who understand that freedom depends on the willing fulfillment of duties and responsibilities by virtuous citizens, could maintain a Republic which recognized the right of individuals to govern themselves.
Classical education evolved from the methods used for millennia by the civilizations that developed from Judeo-Christian roots. It focused on teaching virtuous behavior, reading, writing, history, arithmetic, and rhetoric as well as rational thinking over the instinctive emotive responses we humans are prone to. This is the education the American Founders had, and which they repeatedly warned Americans our children must have if our Republican experiment were to survive.
Within the last hundred years, however, the educational methods have evolved from those which empower individuals to those which prepare individuals to take their places in an industrial society. Instead of encouraging every individual to become the best they can be by developing whatever God-given talents they have, we have seen a one-size fits all educational method implemented which has undermined the progress of those most in need of individual instruction in order to equalize the outcomes of education. This not only impedes the steady progress and creativity of society, it harms a majority of our individual students.
Instead of educating our students to work hard to better themselves, our current government educational system teaches them they are perfect as they are. Instead of encouraging reasonable thought, they are asked to consider how they feel about any given topic.
Most parents know how cruel children can be, know that this is simply not true. Being kind to one another and seeking everyone’s best interests are not inherent in every individual. The proof can be seen in the society we now have where a majority of children are born to single parents, instead of in stable families, which are civilization’s way of ensuring that the next generation is taught the virtues, duties, and responsibilities needed for the culture and society to continue.
Instead of business deals sealed with a handshake based upon one’s honor, we now have contracts that set out all the ramifications of someone’s broken deal. Instead of children in homes with two parents, we now have too many children in single-parent homes with government money replacing the time and mentorship of a loving father. We have politicians that lie during campaigns, and vote another way once elected.
The results are plain to see: lowered literacy rates, high school dropouts, gangs, crime, murders, drug addiction, and riots.
We no longer train our children to think rationally, behave virtuously, and protect them from the consequences of lying, cheating, and fighting. We are no longer capable of having a Republic.
What are we going to do about it?
Will we hand over our children at ever-younger ages to the government-sponsored educational experts and continue to march towards socialism and serfdom?
Or will we demand that our government get out of the business of de-educating our children and accept our parental responsibility for ensuring their education?
If the United States is to remain a constitutional republic, it is up to us, We the People to ensure that our Nation stops undermining the American mind and the roots of our Republic.