From the May 2008 Idaho Observer:
The high cost of "free" government schools
Thomas Jefferson was the father of public instruction in America. He believed that a government of, by and for the people will teach their children to be functional, literate and socially interested. Jefferson also endorsed the free flow of all ideas, political control of none and that each individual should be allowed to develop himself to fulfill his own purpose; that society would benefit from the contributions made by those who were encouraged by it to excel in the arts and sciences. This arrangement, he reasoned, would be our nation’s greatest safeguard against tyranny and oppression.
What would life in America be like if Jefferson’s vision for a properly-educated populace had been realized?
1. America would engage in peaceable commerce with reciprocating nations and would not be at war for any reason but to repel invasion.
2. The U.S. government would have jurisdiction over Washington, D.C., a few docks, a few arsenals and a handful of other needful buildings.
3. Juries would judge both the law and defendants in criminal cases; the judge’s only role would be to see that fair, lawful and impartial proceedings resulted in just outcomes via well-settled principles called "due process of law."
4. Crimes would be limited to damage of persons or their property. There would be very few laws so making them, judging them and punishing those who violate them would be part time jobs.
5. The government would be very small so taxes and regulations would be minimal.
6. As a nation, we would follow truth wherever it leads.
But something happened. Government gave itself controlling authority over whatever it subsidizes with public funds. So, now we not only have "free" government schools, we have "free" government-controlled schools. Two-hundred years after Jefferson and 100 years after John Dewey initiated significant changes in public education in America (see page 1), we have poor trade relations with foreign nations and are perpetually at war abroad. The federal government has jurisdiction over millions of acres (and the airspaces above them) and controls several territories. Millions of people are being found guilty of millions of unfair laws in courts that are notoriously unjust. Crime and punishment is the only growth industry left in America. The government is all-encompassing and taxes us accordingly. As a nation, we believe lies and prefer to bury truths—and truth sayers—that counter them.
So, what is the cost of "free" government-controlled schools? From a national and cultural perspective, the answer is "Everything."
Jefferson was right and the proof is evidenced in its obverse. If a properly-educated populace is the people’s greatest defense against tyranny, then an improperly-educated populace is the tyrant’s greatest tool for promoting it.
Therein, therefore, lies freedom’s only hope: Our properly-educated people. Our salvation as a nation will come after we re-educate ourselves and our children to value our own freedom, become willing to defend the freedom of others and are strong enough to resist the ceaseless machinations of tyrants.
What do you believe? What you know?
The man at right is John Dewey, a Darwinist, pragmatist, functionalist and secular humanist. Dewey determined that children develop based upon experiential consequences. The state thought this was a good idea and took control of experiences to promote consequences that mold children into adults who will believe anything government tells them.
Edward Jenner (1749-1823) is revered as "The Father of Modern Vaccinology." In 1796 he declared that inoculating people with pus from the syphilitic lesions of cows’ udders "immunizes" us from smallpox. Proof that Jenner’s vaccine is a fraud began accumulating immediately and continues to the present. This man’s "contribution" to public health can be found at www.vaclib.org. Jenner’s legacy is the vaccine industry and the pharmaceutically-induced medical dark ages of modern medicine.
Museum, monuments and postage stamp—YES
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) advanced the "Big Bang" theory, challenging the "Creation" theory. Darwin claimed that all life on Earth began with one living cell billions of years ago after an event that has never happened again or since and cannot be duplicated in a lab. While it seems compelling to third graders seeing a kiddie educational film and "Inherit the Wind" (1960), but becomes quite absurd when one discovers that the hypothesis is scientifically illogical and the theory cannot be proved . Darwin’s legacy is generations of lost souls and their deeds. Museum, monuments and postage stamp—Yes
President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) set in motion the doctrine of federal supremacy under the guise of freeing negro slaves. The 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution were ratified after his death. They effectively closed the southern plantation to free the negro slaves and opened the federal plantation making us all slaves. The federal government has been centralizing political power ever since. Lincoln’s legacy is "personhood" for corporations and U.S. citizenship for Americans as a means to obviate our "rights" under the Constitution.
Museum, monuments and postage stamps—YES
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) became the father of modern medicine upon advancing the "germ theory of disease." He claimed that harmful germs are everywhere and attack individuals at random, making them ill. The pharmaceutical industry was born to develop endless drugs and surgical procedures to fight germs. Generations of people began to believe that good drugs—not a healthy lifestyle and good nutrition—are the key to health. Pasteur’s legacy is institutionalized acute and chronic illness, epidemic neurological disorders, global ignorance of naturopathy and the trillion-dollar-a-year pharmaceutical industry. Museum, monuments and postage stamp—YES
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is the father of modern psychiatry. While working to qualify pedophilia and incest as hardwired psychological sickness, Freud found that all people are mentally ill and if you poke and prod them enough their latent symptoms will become apparent. His pioneering work inspired legions of psychologists and sociologists to poke and prod people, giving birth to the industry of psychiatry. Freud’s legacy is millions of people who believe their emotions are mental illnesses that must be drugged and an industry dedicated to drugging them. Museums, monuments and postage stamps—YES.
Jonas Salk (1914-1995) developed the oral polio vaccine in 1952. Though in 1976 he admitted that polio vaccine was "..the principle, if not sole cause..." of all polio reported in the U.S., he is deified in modern medical circles. Independent researchers have proven that polio is chemical poisoning in the presence of malnutrition. Salk’s legacy is millions of people vaccinated between 1954 and 1963 who are carrying the carcinogenic SV-40 monkey virus, the nearly 100 antigens the CDC recommends for children, epidemic autism and epidemic chronic illness. Postage stamp—YES.
"We the people of___are grateful to God for our...
"If you want to know from where your "rights" came as a state citizen, read the preamble of your state’s Constitution. If you want to know where those rights went, put the Constitution back on the shelf, go to your nearest law library, pitch a tent and start reading the statutes.
Without exception, every constitution ratified by each of the 50 states upon equal-footing entry into the union contains a "preamble" that begins with, "We, the people of_____, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation," or, in the case of Colorado, "We the people, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe," or some variation that specifically recognizes that the "rights" of Man come from God. Man then creates government to serve his needs and promote the public good.
Those who do not recognize God atop the hierarchy of earthly order tend to view man as an animal who, by some freak of nature, invented some powerful toys. These people give a disproportionate amount of power to government as a means of solving their problems. The reason is not complicated: If there is no God, then that leaves only people and government.
Governments, by there very nature, are stronger than people. If not guided by moral principles, government uses its inherent advantage to gather strength and increase its power. Godless people are attracted to this immorally-wielded power as either its paid functionaries or its sycophants.
The legal instruments upon which the several states’ formally entered the union each expressed gratitude for a Supreme Being who provided all people with rights to be secured, in writing, by the ratified documents, solemnly signed and sealed. Today, the trustees of those documents, the administrators of the very same governments formed under them, no longer observe the hierarchical order of God-Man-government.
"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants," wrote William Penn (1644-1718). Penn was a Quaker and pacifist who founded the area which eventually became the state of Pennsylvania. An advocate of religious freedom, Penn was ahead of his time and he wrote voluminously on issues relative to freedom and colonial independence from Europe.
His work was an inspiration to the Founders and the quote above, it appears, was timelessly accurate.