An Informed Citizenry

A few days ago, I posted here about a newly released study by The American Revolution Center. I read through the report last weekend. I found it to be a fascinating survey - and wish there was an easy way to reproduce it to make it an online quiz you could take, but I certainly don't want to run afoul of any copyrights that may be involved. Still, with proper citing, I can reference some of it here. Discussion of specific survey questions will come in a later post.

I will confess to a bit of envy regarding the authors of this report. When I read something that resonates with me, I often search for words to better express why. In this case, I cannot improve on the turn of phrase or the idea expressed (and frankly, I wish I had written it). In speaking about the importance of passing the ideal of self-governance to subsequent generations, the authors wrote (emphasis mine):

"As careful students of history, our nation’s Founders knew that republics were fragile and that government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” would not endure without an informed citizenry. “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free,” Thomas Jefferson warned, “it expects what never was and never will be.”

Today, perhaps more than ever, understanding the Founding values and principles born of the American Revolution is critical to defending our liberties and preserving our system of self-government. Our society, our very existence as a free people, rests on our success in ensuring that all Americans understand our history, rights, and responsibilities, and
pass this knowledge on to rising generations."

Unless we are deliberate in educating both today's generation and tomorrow's, this understanding will slip away. Consider yesterday, for example. Flags all over were hung at half-mast. How many people understood it to be in honor and memory of the events of December 7, 1941, when the Japanese Empire attacked the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor? I suppose it is inevitable that specific events not experienced by a particular generation will slip from our collective consciousness. Inevitable maybe, but not necessarily right or good. Despite the new age push for our global enlightenment as a species, the world remains one giant game of Risk ®.

We all don't need to be experts in geopolitics. But we would do well not to be ignorant of the ideologies (left and right) which shape our world, our government and public policy. As the ARC stated: "Our society, our very existence as a free people, rests on ... ensuring that all Americans understand our history, rights and responsibilities."

Proponents of global enlightenment are pitching a freedom that is false, and it begins by undermining the knowledge and remembrance of things past. It is the historical equivalent of New Math - forcing the abstractions without proper context at the expense of a fundamental understanding of the mechanics of a progressive, industrious and innovative civil society. It begets ignorance, which leaves us vulnerable to having the wool pulled over our eyes, bequeathing control and freedom to those who excel in the manipulative arts.

Now, we don't have to obsess over these things. But neither should we be indifferent. Why? Because we have a responsibility to the upcoming generation - our own children - to ensure that they know and understand why we hold dear the values that we do. An informed citizenry can make all the difference.