A Surprising Choice by America’s Founders
July 18th, 2013 // 10:48 am @ Oliver DeMille
One of the most surprising events in the American founding occurred when the Continental Congress used the word “happiness” in the Declaration of Independence.
Up to that point, it was not a word often utilized in great political writings.
Words like “justice,” “liberty,” “property,” “honor,” “power,” “rights” and others were expected in such a document.
But “happiness” was not.
George Washington expressed the American perspective when he said, “the United States came into existence as a nation, and if their citizens should not be completely free and happy, the fault will be entirely their own.”
In this view, a good government protects people’s freedom, and what they do with it is up to them—and determines their happiness.
Still, the very idea that governments are instituted among men to do just this (protect a person’s right to pursue happiness), was a significant thought.
It was certainly not the view of the European aristocrats, who believed that happiness required financial means and the comforts of leisure time and was only meant to be enjoyed by a few.
The American founding generation took a different view.
They believed that happiness was the result of enterprise, and was possible for everyone.
This is a patently American perspective, and it provided a foundation for the whole American freedom experiment.
It is a profound idea.
If happiness is the result of individual actions and choices, then it follows that government’s primary role is to protect the right to act and choose.
Indeed, in such a view, the only purpose of government and law is to keep any person from taking these rights from anyone else—or of enforcing restitution if such protection fails.
This is the proper role of government: to protect inalienable rights (defense), and if this fails to cause restitution (justice).
This was the crux of the American system, the only one that could really be adopted if the goal of government was to protect “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
In ancient Rome, the Stoics argued that virtue is the cause of happiness, and this same view was promoted by ancient Judaism and early Christianity.
In feudal times, the meaning of happiness switched more to “good fortune,” which took it out of the hands of each individual.
By 1600, however, this was refined to mean “a pleasant and contented mental state.”
The American founding generation added to the meaning of “happiness” with the idea of voluntarily doing important things—from personal morality to economic enterprise, to family relationships, political and military sacrifice, and charitable service.
They also connected these same things to the concept of freedom, thereby forever linking the words “freedom” and ‘happiness.”
This bears repeating, because it is a central foundation of American government, but has been mostly forgotten today.
Specifically, the American founders put forward an amazing new view of government:
The proper role of the government is to protect inalienable rights, and to leave everything else to the people—who will increase or lose their liberty and happiness according to their personal virtue, economic enterprise, family relationships, charitable service, and other voluntary choices.
For the Founders to adopt this view was a remarkable and vitally important turn of world events, and it established a whole new view—and era—of freedom.
To a large extent, we have now lost this view, and our freedoms have decreased with this change.
We now follow the more traditionally European perspective that great changes in society come from the upper class, experts, elections, and government officials and policies.
The Founders disagreed.
They believed that the American Founding was the result of the people, not a few great leaders.
As John Adams responded when someone tried to compliment his role in the founding: “Don’t call me ‘Godlike Adams,’ ‘The Father of His Country,’ ‘The Founder of the American Republic,’ or ‘The Founder of the American Empire.’ These titles belong to no man, but to the American people in general.”
Freedom and happiness are always connected, and they are always up to the regular people, whether they realize it or not.
To the extent that freedom is declining, it is the fault of the regular people.
Our freedoms and happiness are up to us.
If freedom is in decline, we aren’t doing enough.
The good news is that the people have the power to do something about it, no matter how much the experts try to convince us otherwise.
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Oliver DeMille is the chairman of the Center for Social Leadership and co-creator of Thomas Jefferson Education.
He is the author of A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the 21st Century, and The Coming Aristocracy: Education & the Future of Freedom.
Oliver is dedicated to promoting freedom through leadership education. He and his wife Rachel are raising their eight children in Cedar City, Utah.
Category : Blog &Citizenship &Culture &Featured &Government &History &Leadership &Liberty
Summer Reading for YOU
June 14th, 2013 // 10:56 am @ Oliver DeMille
5 Recommended Books for the Summer
by Oliver DeMille
“Dad, can you read to me more?” Meri asked me.
Surprised, I looked up from my book and responded, “Oh, sure.”
I took the book she was reading and read a chapter aloud to her. When I finished, I handed her the book.
“Thanks, Dad,” she said. “I could have read it myself, but I just love it when you read. I mean, in the winter you read to us a lot, and with all our classes and other activities it seems like I learn a lot from you, and all my other teachers.
“In the summer is when Mom reads to us the most, out on the couch on the porch, but I don’t learn as much from other people, and it seems like you don’t read to us as often.”
Meri walked away with her book, but our little conversation got me thinking. I’ve always taught that winter is the key time for family reading. But I think that summer is the most important time for kids to see their parents reading—mainly because they tend to spend less time on official “schooling” activities and more relaxed time with parents (and observing their parents’ leisure activity choices) during the summer months.
When children and youth see their parents reading a lot, they naturally value reading. When children and youth value reading, they read more.
Our choices during summer to make a huge difference in the education of our kids, and one of the most impactful things a parent can do is set the example of reading. If your kids see you reading books a lot, especially during summer leisure, not only are you filling your bucket of ideas and resources, but the example you set can drastically influence them. Reading is powerful!
On the national scale, all free societies are reading societies, and reading starts in the home!
Here’s a great summer reading list* that I’m following. I’m making sure all my children and youth see me reading these books this summer. And I’m really going deep—by reading with a highlighter and pen, taking notes and marking quotes as I go. I’m sharing these books because I hope you’ll do the same:
The Early History of Rome, by Livy
This great book isn’t part of the Great Books of Western Civilization, but it could be. I want my children and youth to see that I care about history, and I’ll look for opportunities to share Livy’s stories with them and talk about the connection between reading history and being successful leaders in life.
Rascal, by Chris Brady
I want my kids to know what a “rascal” is–at least the way Brady defines it. I want them to be the kind of people this book promotes, and I can’t wait for them to ask me about this book.
A Whole New Mind, by Daniel Pink
I want my youth to be innovative, creative, and have initiative. This is one of the hardest things to teach, but I’ll look for opportunities to discuss these things as I read this book.
Isaiah, in the Bible
I love sharing scriptural verses with the kids and discussing the meanings and lessons. It leads to a lot of important conversations with the kids about the most important topics.
Voyage of a Viking, by Tim Marks
I can’t wait to talk to my kids and youth about this book! It’s about seeking for greatness, learning from your mistakes, not settling for mediocrity, and constantly improving yourself. I know the title of this book will have all my kids asking me questions about it!
Chillin’ and Grillin’
This week I’ve been reading these books in the evenings outside by the grill and the court where the kids play basketball, in the hot afternoons near the swamp cooler, and in the kitchen before meals and during cleanup after the family eats. I’ve taken turns with each book, so I’m a few chapters into all five of them, but I’ve had more than one discussion about each with the kids.
Tonight as dinner started, I got everyone’s attention and said, “I’m reading this awesome book. Actually, I’ve read it before but I’m re-reading it and I want to share something from it that really touched me.”
Everyone quieted down and listened. “Here goes,” I said. Then I read from Voyage of a Viking:
Kids can be pretty relentless in teasing one another, and the kids in my school were no different. I had never before been the subject of teasing and bullying, so it was a new experience for me. You see, news of my parents’ divorce got around town pretty quickly, and it wasn’t too long before the news hit my schoolyard.
The little kids in the family were leaning forward at full attention, and even the teens were paying close attention. I kept reading:
And then the teasing began. ‘There’s Tim, and he doesn’t have a dad,’ the kids would whisper to each other and taunt me.
I stopped reading and asked, “How would that make you feel?”
“I’d hate it!” Meri said forcefully. The other kids agreed.
After they shared their feelings, I asked, “Have you ever been teased like that?” We discussed this for a while, then I asked everyone, “Okay, I have another question. Have you ever teased anyone this way?”
“No way!” Meri exclaimed. She is nothing if not earnest.
“Are you sure?” I asked slowly.
Everyone considered. “Well, actually,” Meri said, then she told several stories of when she wasn’t very nice to people in her life. The other kids shared too, and we had a great conversation about being good friends and also standing up against bullying even when the victim isn’t your friend.
When I read what happened next in the book, everyone got even more interested. You’ve got to read it to get it! We spent dinner talking about this and discussing it.
At the end, I said, “I’m so excited to read the rest of this book.”
“Me too,” America said emphatically. “Meri” is nine years old, and she loves to read. I don’t know when she’ll read Voyage of a Viking, but I’ll be sharing from it and the others on my list all summer.
Actually, I’m having a hard time reading it because after our dinner discussion my visiting twenty-year old daughter Sara borrowed my copy and is reading it. Oh well, she reads fast. In the meantime, I’ve got the other four books.
Tomorrow at breakfast I’m planning to share the following quote from Livy, where he says that he is excited to write about Rome because, as he puts it:
I shall be able to turn my eyes from the troubles which for so long have tormented the modern world.
I’ll ask the family, “Why do you think people always feel that the modern, current world is so chaotic and hard and that the people in history somehow had things more simple? I mean, Livy thought this clear back in the time of Jesus Christ.”
This question is more for the teenagers, while yesterday’s conversation was perhaps more accessible to the younger kids. But everyone takes part in all of it. The older ones (me included!) bear reminding about Core Phase issues, and the younger ones benefit immensely by being including in the discussion of “serious” topics of academic and intellectual interest.
I could go on and on sharing examples of how to do this, but I’ve got a book calling to me. I’ve finished work for the day, and I want to read in the yard this evening—so I’ll be near the kids and we can talk.
Maybe I’ll teach them from one of these five books I’m reading, or maybe Meri will bring me a book of her own to read and talk about. Or perhaps we’ll all just sit in the warm evening and watch the sunset and talk. I often have the stack of all five books around with me, so I can just pick and choose which to read and share.
In any case, I’m excited to keep reading and sharing my book list this summer. This first week has been great. I can’t wait to see what we’ll learn about together in the months ahead.
Summer is a great time for education. So just get out your books, start reading, and share! The impact on freedom is huge.
Also check out Summer Reading for Kids >>
*Most of these books are available at your local library. Or, check the affiliate links to see amazon reviews, etc.
Category : Blog &Book Reviews &Business &Citizenship &Culture &Education &Family &Generations &Independents &Leadership &Liberty &Mission &Statesmanship
Wounded by School (book review)
June 14th, 2013 // 10:13 am @ Oliver DeMille
Another important book about freedom (and the lack of it) in modern education is Wounded by School by Kirsten Olson. It outlines the normal ways in which modern education hurts most children, shows the history of why schools adopt such harmful policies, and suggests real solutions.
For example, Olson writes: “Many theorists suggest that the purpose of schools is to mold and shape individual self-concept so that pupils will accept a particular place in society…” Is this really what you want for your children?
On a larger scale, what is the impact on freedom of raising a generation of youth to “accept a particular place in society”? This is a class system, pure and simple.
Olson points out that “Schools are deliberately designed to sort and track” students into order to promote the class system. Olson also suggests that among the key ways modern schools wound students are things like the following:
- I felt sick in school.
- I’m in the middle.
- I must comply.
- I can’t measure up.
- I am better than those below me.
- I must impress my superiors.
- What I want isn’t as important as what my betters want.
- Creativity must be secret—my focus must be conformity.
- Learning isn’t fun.
And for parents: “I feel helpless about saving my child,” and “The experts know what my kids need more than I do.”
Olson’s solutions center around bringing freedom back into schooling. Indeed, this is the focus of a lot of cutting-edge books and research on education.
Above all, we need to be clear about one thing: Freedom works. It does. Freedom is the best choice in society and also in education. If you are a parent or teacher, you have more power than you know. I highly recommend this book.
Category : Blog &Book Reviews &Culture &Education &Family &Leadership
Electionocracy
May 21st, 2013 // 12:22 pm @ Oliver DeMille
We now live an Electionocracy. This means that the elections never end.
Once a person is elected to office, especially at the national level, he or she doesn’t get to stop campaigning and focus on governing.
Instead, everyone in office is required to keep campaigning even as they serve.
One the one hand, this is a negative development in a democratic republic because it keeps election politics always in the limelight.
The president is seldom seen as the nation’s chief executive, for example, but as the head of the Democratic or Republican Party.
Thus, even as he tries to govern and lead, he is forced to keep one eye constantly on politics.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that this keeps more of the American people involved and paying attention to the actions of government.
Also, it keeps the executive branch from overextending even more than it already does—because it has to put a lot of resources into politics.
This is actually a positive in a nation where the biggest problem is massive government.
With all that said, people are already lining up to influence the midterm elections of 2014 and even the presidential election of 2016.
Here are a few tidbits:
- Many pundits feel that the IRS scandal of targeting conservative groups will have more negative impact on the Democrats in the 2014 midterm election than anything else since the Obama Administration took office. It may serve as the Democrat’s Achilles heel.
- Hillary Clinton is far ahead in polls of possible Democratic candidates, but she is only a few points ahead of some top potential Republican challengers. In contrast, the leading Democratic candidate has been far ahead at this point in recent elections.
- In early fundraising, Marco Rubio is ahead of Rand Paul. Chris Christie and Paul Ryan are also strong in the polls, but for now Rubio seems to have an edge.
But the biggest shocker in all this is that the central issue of the 2014 and especially 2016 elections will probably be Obamacare.
This is surprising to many progressives, who felt that this issue was over when it passed in 2010, then when the Supreme Court upheld it in 2012, and later once President Obama was reelected.
But this issue just won’t go away.
Even though Barack Obama was and is personally popular, his health care policy remains highly unpopular with many Americans.
This disapproval is increasing with the Benghazi, IRS, AP and other scandals. Each time a few more people lose trust in government, they tend to increasingly dislike Obamacare.
So, yes, we now live in what could easily be described as an Electionocracy, and things will probably only heat up in the coming months.
Both parties will blame each other for most of America’s ills, and the number of crises will likely increase.
That’s our current direction, and nothing seems poised to bring real solutions any time soon.
In truth, the future of America is ultimately up to the actions and choices of regular Americans more than those of Washington.
But who we elect will have a drastic influence on the nation’s direction in the years just ahead.
If you want to know how elections are going to turn out, keep a close eye on how most Americans feel about Obamacare—especially as it is further implemented in the next three years.
Any significant changes in approval or disapproval of Obamacare will signal the trajectory of the next two elections.
In an Electionocracy, it appears that one or a few top issues will determine who leads our nation.
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Oliver DeMille is the chairman of the Center for Social Leadership and co-creator of Thomas Jefferson Education.
He is the author of A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the 21st Century, and The Coming Aristocracy: Education & the Future of Freedom.
Oliver is dedicated to promoting freedom through leadership education. He and his wife Rachel are raising their eight children in Cedar City, Utah.
Category : Blog &Citizenship &Culture &Current Events &Featured &Government &Politics
The Latest Filibuster
March 11th, 2013 // 1:11 pm @ Oliver DeMille
A Giant Step for Mankind…
Okay, the subtitle of this article is a little overblown, but I heard something that I found just plain fascinating the other day.
In fact, it is something I haven’t heard for a long time.
I was researching in a university library, sitting at a table looking for data in a stack of scholarly journals, when I heard the most unlikely thing in such a place.
“Rand Paul’s filibuster is so cool,” a girl’s voice said. My mind was focused on tables of World Bank summaries of currency values in industrial nations, and there were a lot of voices as students walked past and talked.
Most of them talked about classes, romances or roommates, and I tuned out to their words as I researched.
But my ears perked up and my mind tuned in when I heard these words.
I looked up to see a college girl, probably late teens or early twenties walking with three friends. The others nodded in response to her words.
“Really?” I thought, “Somebody thinks a national Republican figure is cool?” When I’ve heard such words before, it was always reserved to President Obama.
I mean, Ronald Reagan gets his share of praise from the older crowd, but the college students I’ve overheard recently saying a politician is cool have all mentioned either Obama or Ron Paul.
But a Republican who really could win the nomination, this was something different.
As a writer, I like to read and research in libraries (‘cause that’s where the books are, to paraphrase Willy Horton), restaurants and other public areas.
People walk by talking about things, and often they say something that helps an author’s thought process.
I went back to my research, and I forgot about the incident until I went to lunch.
As I balanced my attention between a salad and a copies of the World Bank tables, I was shocked to hear a girl from the next table say, “Did you see the filibuster yesterday? Rand Paul is so cool.”
I turned my head, expecting to see the same group of students, but to my surprise a whole different group sat there nodding.
What has happened?
Is it possible that Republicans will come up with a cool candidate in 2016?
Maybe.
It’s a long way off, to be sure.
But the hippest candidate always wins, or at least has in every election since the technicolor media age began in earnest around 1980.
Howard Dean once said that the way to know who won a presidential debate is to turn off the sound and just watch their body language.
On an even bigger scale, just turn off the television and internet and ask college-age students which candidate is really cool.
Jeb Bush suggested recently that he might run, Time magazine called potential candidate Marco Rubio the Savior of the Republican party.
Or did it just ask us if Rubio might redeem a party that can’t seem to get the Latino vote vital to winning the White House.
The whole idea of electing a cool president is frustrating for many on the Right, who see this as shallow popularity contesting in what should be one of the most serious votes anyone makes in an election year.
Still, the cool test wins every time, whether or not it should.
One thing is for sure.
Hillary Clinton is considered way cool, so if Republicans have any desire to take back the presidency in 2016 they need to meet a high standard.
More Mr. Smith Goes to Washington filibusters may be ahead, but Senator Paul’s filibuster seems to have caught many young people’s attention because it was so sincere.
That’s hard to duplicate, but for now Rand Paul’s popularity in the college crowd is worth watching.
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Oliver DeMille is the chairman of the Center for Social Leadership and co-creator of Thomas Jefferson Education.
He is the author of A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the 21st Century, and The Coming Aristocracy: Education & the Future of Freedom.
Oliver is dedicated to promoting freedom through leadership education. He and his wife Rachel are raising their eight children in Cedar City, Utah.
Category : Blog &Culture &Current Events &Featured &Government &Leadership &Politics
