The American Superpower

No good parent wants any pain for their children, its just inhuman, although, necessary. There must be some pain for the growth of man. Mortimer J. Adler wrote “the invitation to the pain of learning.” where he describes the need for a painfully difficult, painfully challenging, but indescribably rewarding education. This education IS painful, but it works as pointed out by Earl Shorris in his speech now known under the title of “On the uses of a liberal education (as a weapon in the hands of the restless poor).” In this he sites an experiment he conducted on the homeless over the course of a few short months resulting in tremendous gain and newfound freedom of every person experimented on. Now, we must ask the question, is it better to cause our children pain in a useful education or let them suffer the sowing of our seeds planted by ignorance and apathy to change? We do not know it, but we are already sowing the seeds of idleness whilst enjoying the last few pounds of sugar left from the uncompromising attitudes and goals our founding fathers against literally insurmountable odds.

To once again become the intellectual leader of the world, we as Americans must discontinue teaching our children on “their” level and start teaching them on the level of Aristotle, Descartes, Jefferson, Wythe, Euclid, Socrates, Homer, and Chekhov. Our children must understand the significance of the movements of Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Leonidas, and Kohmeini. If our children understand the hearts, minds, motives, political surroundings, religious beliefs, writings, and philosophies of these revolutionaries, they will be that much more inclined to think like them.

One more thing is necessary for the educating of our children; overwhelming desire to do right. If a child is as intelligent as Thomas Jefferson, as wise as King Solomon, and as physically adept as Samson he will amount to absolutely nothing if he doesn't act upon his education. It is the desire and willpower to act, to make goals, to accomplish things which will turn the learned student into a statesman. We need to make statesmen of ourselves and our children in order to change the world and regain our precious freedoms. To teach our children how to harbor this desire is simple. It consists of making them work for their wants, and even at times, their needs. We need to teach them how to plant gardens with many hours of tilling, watering, guarding from rodents, and aerating the ground for that tasty harvest of carrots. We must give our children several tasks at a time that are barely within or without their reach and give them a time limit. When they succeed, let them relish in the victory with humility. When they fail, let them figure it out with your help referring to future successes rather than what they should have done only because the purest evil rests in every sentence directed to the child which contains the combination of words “you should have...” This will build a desire to act for their wants and needs rather than becoming like the 90% of Americans who never really get anywhere in life. The beauty of this, the full education can be gained at home with parents and siblings as mentors.

Combining the Two

With the loving support of the emotional spiderweb and the towering education coupled with willpower, America can and will be great once again. We must combine the education presented above with the love of neighbors, family, and communities to form a whole new generation to reform America for the better. America needs this reformation in order to keep itself together and allow all her inhabitants the delicious freedoms presented by the founding fathers. This reformation is easy to do, it does not require insurmountable odds, and it can all be done at home. The future of America and even the world will be a blissful peace without hate, fear, or unnecessary pain if we just commit to these simple things. If America continues on in its paths, as the people do nothing to better their lives, the country will fall into disgust, even anarchy or tyranny through civil war.