It was great listening to Orrin Woodward and Oliver DeMille last weekend at the LIFE business convention. They taught the importance of the ‘entrepreneurial unit’ that is derived from a leadership organization such as the LIFE business. Never before in the history of Western Civilization has an entrepreneurial community been more necessary. With a trend toward more government dependence and entitlements the social engineers and progressives have taken a huge bite out of personal freedom. A self - directed education is critical to help empower the individuals who are tired of the results they have and have not given up on the American dream.
The foundations of the American Constitution are at stake here. Translate that into further loss of personal freedom and liberty. The ‘Progressives’ do not hide their motives. For over one hundred years the ‘Social Engineers’ stated their criticism of the Constitution. This group of educated elite feel that the Constitution is old and out dated. Ronald J. Pestritto wrote, “Progressives had in mind a variety of legislative programs aimed at regulating significant portions of the American economy and society and at redistributing private property in the name of social justice. The Constitution, if interpreted and applied faithfully, stood in the way of this agenda.” This agenda is made possible by the changes from classical liberal education to the making of the current educational system as a social institution. Oliver DeMille wrote in his book ‘FreedomShift’, “During the Industrial Age reliance on the conveyor belt model impacted nearly every major aspect of life – from education and health care to agriculture, industry, business, law, media, family, elder care, groceries, clothing, and on and on.” It is clear that a thinking class society made of entrepreneurs is more likely to promote freedom than the current trend toward dependency. With classical liberal education out of the picture by 1913 the Progressive movement was off and running. As Thomas Sowell wrote, “John Dewey, for example, used such attractive phrases as ‘socially organized intelligence in the conduct of public affairs,’ and ‘organized social reconstruction’ as euphemisms for the plain fact that third – party surrogate decision – makers seek to have preferences imposed on millions of other people through the power of government.” Sowell writes further, “In politics, no matter how disastrous a policy may turn out to be, if the causes of the disaster are not understood by the voting public, those officials responsible for the disaster may escape any accountability, and of course they have every incentive to deny having made the mistakes, since admitting mistakes can jeopardize a whole career.”
If history must repeat itself, then let us at least be informed about history. Anyone interested in a quick primer should dig into Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady’s book ‘Leadership and Liberty’. They reference several books that should be read over the next year. Great minds of the past can teach us from those readings. One of those books, ‘The Law’ by Frederic Bastiat (1801 -1850) can reveal others who stood against those who would regulate our lives. George Roche wrote of Bastiat, “He saw in compulsory, publicly financed education the means by which the social architects could mold society to their will, thus being safe to advocate universal suffrage, since they were sure that the men so molded would clamor for a society centrally planned and controlled: And why do political parties aspire to take over the direction of education? Because they know the saying of Leibnitz: ‘Make me the master of education, and I will undertake to change the world. ‘ Education by governmental power, then, is education by a political party, by a sect momentarily triumphant; it is education on behalf of one idea of one system, to the exclusion of all others.” So long as taxes were collected by force to subsidize a public educational system, Bastiat understood that no genuine freedom of choice was present for the parent in the education their own children.
The time for self directed education is now. The LIFE business powered by the community building system of the – Team is how we can help. It’s time for a reading culture to emerge. It’s time for the entrepreneurial leadership community. God Bless, George Guzzardo
