School is for Reading and Inspiration

"There is nothing which an better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness."

-George Washington (Address to Congress, January 8, 1790)

Public school will be, to some, their only exposure to a system of education. If the educational system has failed to teach them how to read, or inspire to self-educate, then the system has failed them.

Learning is supposed to be fun...

While it's true that some things can be difficult/stressful to learn, if all the student remembers from school is anguish or boredom then how likely will he be to pickup a book later on in life?

“In a world in transition, students and teachers both need to teach themselves one essential skill—learning how to learn.”

-Carl Sagan

Self-Education and Choosing Political Leaders

Wars are fought against imaginary enemies created by leaders seeking more power. The problem isn't that those leaders have a voice to speak evil but that they're able to find an audience. All it takes is for one delusional President to spread lies for a friendly country to turn into an enemy.

Enough is enough...

Because I spend a great deal of my time on self-education, I'm now able to identify some of the absurdities being shared by Dictators. If more people prioritized their self-education, those charlatans would never be given positions of power let alone be able to spread their lies.

Would a Country benefit from screening their political leaders?

Some workplace require employees to go through security clearance, drug test, internal reviews... wouldn't it make sense to implement the same for our political leaders? Before we give a leader keys to a Country's secret, couldn't we ask:

• An analysis by a renowned psychologist to determine what are the ulterior motives (if any) of the individual..
• A security clearance...
• A physical evaluation to determine if the individual is fit to lead...
• Drug test...
• test test test...

Is this too much to ask? In-lieu of screening exercises, we get bickering under the guise of "political debates" and that's how we're supposed to choose our leaders.

“If we can’t think for ourselves, if we’re unwilling to question authority, then we’re just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.“

-Carl Sagan

Creating our Ideology

"Mere education, however, is not enough. The important thing is the kind of education. We often hear that "education is power", but we need to remember that it may be power for life and human welfare or power for death and destruction. We can teach people to be selfish and narrow, or we can give them an education which broadens their outlook and makes them cooperative members of a world society."
-P. 212 of "Living Issues in Philosophy" book by Harold H. Titus and Marilyn S. Smith

As a kid going through school we don't really think about what sort of education we're getting. Are we directly, or indirectly, programmed to hate specific groups? Are we being influenced beyond words and numbers? Are we getting a good education?

Everyone has an ideology, including teachers, that they either consciously or unconsciously push unto others. Our responsibility is to create an ideology of our own based on experiences and what we teach ourselves.

While it's great that we live in a country where education is free, the responsibility to learn falls on us. We are responsible to take in what make sense and cut out what doesn't in order to live the sort of life that we want to live.
What is offered, for free, is essentially the basic. If everyone knows what you know then you're not standing out above the crowd. What you learn is important.

College Talking Points

Some people go to college not because they want to but because they feel they have to. What they really want is the money tied to the career and not the career itself.

When I was in college, I recall instances of people talking about how fed up they were about the subject they were studying. I didn't realize it at the time, but choosing a college degree is committing to make the subject the main area of your life for decades to come. If you don't like talking about it, while you're learning about it, then what are the chances that you're going to enjoy it as a career? It's definitely not going to be the last time the subject is brought up!

Don't rush into a career you're not really passionate about. Don't feel bad about taking a sabbatical, work a few jobs, before committing to a subject.

Courage When Livelihood is On The Line

 

"How can a society remain free if those with the knowledge to expose fraud do not have the courage to do so?"
-Orrin Woodward

As a kid I used to think that doing good was an easy choice to make. Obviously, when you're young with no responsibilities, full of energy and with nothing to loose ... which ever way you go doesn't have much of an impact. Kids also don't understand right/wrong the same way as adults do.

The individual who's working paycheck to paycheck with a family to feed has much to loose by divulging fraud from his company. While we know what the right thing to do is we also know what is on the line; what will be lost by divulging fraud. 

Money is a curious thing that makes it increasingly difficult for the man that needs it to hold his ground against tyranny. In these critical moments, we forget that life is finite and that we will die either way. Will we die being proud of those decisions we've made or realize our mistake and wished we could go back to make better decisions?

"It has been said that for evil men to accomplish their purpose it is only necessary that good men should do nothing."
-Charles Frederic Aked