A wealthy nation just like a wealthy family can maintain a high standard of living even while making a plethora of serious errors in judgment. Someday, however, these serious errors and just the normal course of events will turn the wealth of both into hard times. The degree of error, coupled with the degree of wealth, will determine just how long the fun-and-foolishness can last.
In the recent copy of “Time†the special report is “Dropout Nationâ€, where “30% of America’s high school students will leave without graduating.†This is a story about the sorry state of education in America and that these facts have remained hidden from the public by our leaders; responding, no doubt, to the desire of the population to remain narcotized in la-la-land.
Every nation, I guess, gets the type of leadership it deserves; the only question is how long America can withstand the foolishness of its citizens.
A rich nation just like a rich family can make many mistakes that never affect their standard of living until someday the mistakes finally take a toll so great as to swamp their wealth and the standard of living goes.
Our understanding is the ‘high-place’ from which we view a domain of reality. Most of our understandings are a result of social osmosis (effortless often unconscious assimilation) in our young years. Occasionally we add to or modify these inherited understandings by concentrated intellectual activity or ideological associations in our adult years.
I think we need to lay off the self-induced narcotics and make a concentrated effort to modify or add to our inherited understandings before our national wealth can no longer protect us.
I claim that our understanding is our idiosyncratic ‘model’ of a specific domain of reality. An example might be that our knowledge of politics is organized and comprehended based upon our ‘model’ of this domain of life.
Do you think that many Americans ever seriously examine their religious understanding during their adult years? Do many every seriously examine their political understanding during adulthood?
It has always been thus, though, hasn’t it? And I can’t ever see it being any other way.
Ultimately though, from the mass of men come people of vision and ideas. Leaders emerge, some better than others, but I have always remained optimistic that the best people come forward at the worst of times. When we need another Lincoln, a Lincoln will appear. It is the worst of times that bring out the best of men.
I never worry about the masses and the unconscious assimilation of the majority of people. Somebody will step up. Somebody always does.
Freedom is a word often used these days for political manipulation because it is a concept that carries great weight with the American people and with all people, I guess. It seems to me that freedom is the power to ‘do’ as well as a protection from being ‘done’ to. Freedom has both a negative and positive component.
Self-determination is the power to do: it is the freedom and power for each individual to self-determination and also for self-government–to be part of the public policy making process. We Americans have little reason to fear the rise of a tyrant who will deprive us of our freedom ‘from being ‘done’ to’. We do, however, have great reason to fear the erosion of the ability of the people to participate in the public policy making process that affects all of our lives.
Public policy making in America has become more and more the province of a small elite. This is not because these elite have taken from the population this freedom by force, but because the population has continued to edge away from their right and responsibility in these matters. We have been complacent in the growing cultural development that isolates the people from those elites who now make public policy.
We see recent evidence that the public opinion can influence policy on those occasions when the public becomes very emotional and cohesive. We also hear of opinion polls that seem to have some effect. However, this happens rarely and provides only a momentary effect.
My interest is in our becoming a citizenry more capable and willing to take on the responsibilities of self-government. We all have opinions about everything but almost all of us do not take our responsibilities seriously enough to become citizens of good judgment. In my opinion (judgment?) there is a great gulf between citizens with opinions and citizens with good judgment. I think that without a significant move from opinion to good judgment we will continue to lose more and more of our ability to self-govern.