“We tend to let our freedoms slip away because they are tucked away in documents and policies that we don’t ever deal with directly.”
“Freedom works, it turns out; the Constitution codified and structured freedom at a level unparalleled in world history.”
“..the founding American generations did something that almost no others have ever done. They read the fine print! They taught their children to read bills, laws, court cases, legislative debates, executive decrees, and bureaucratic policies. They read them in schoolrooms and at home….They said they would consider their children uneducated if they didn’t read such things.”
“..the founding American generations did something that almost no others have ever done. They read the fine print! They taught their children to read bills, laws, court cases, legislative debates, executive decrees, and bureaucratic policies. They read them in schoolrooms and at home….They said they would consider their children uneducated if they didn’t read such things.”
No matter what the Constitution says, it won’t endure if the people don’t closely read it and demand that it be followed.
Have we grown too sophisticated for such idealism? I dearly hope not. The principles of the U.S. Constitution light the way, as do the contributions of all great women and men who stood up for freedom.
Until the American majority is willing to live within its means, it can hardly force its political leaders to do so.
Our middle class majority, deeply in personal debt, elects political leaders who increase our benefits. Then we vote them out because we dislike the soaring national debt.
Government intervention is not solving the problems, and in fact the governments around the world that are intervening the most in their economies are struggling more.
The U.S. should take notes: Government overspending and a campaign of alienating investors and small business isn’t really the best way to boost the economy or overcome massive unemployment.
If Americans are frustrated with Congress, imagine their frustration with a group of international bank officials running our ecomomy–bankers who may not have as their motive either to see us out of debt to them or to strengthen our economy, society, international influence, or other elements of our way of life.
To prepare youth for success in entrepreneurial (and free) cultures, education tends to emphasize originality, creativity, breadth, depth and leadership skills rather than rote memorization, standardized curricula or socialization. The latter skill set is vital in societies with strong upper classes employing the lower castes, but the former is essential to free democratic nations.
When you look into the eyes of your children and grandchildren, when you picture their greatness and potential, do you feel that they are getting the education that is up to par with who they were born to become?
Teachers teach and students educate. Students are the only true educators. Historically, every other method of education has failed. Education occurs when students get excited about learning and apply themselves; students do this when they experience great teachers.
Our generation, and that of our children, will face its share of crises, just like every generation in the past. When those calls come, will you be ready? The answer depends on how we educate the next generation.
…remember that during these phases, children learn more by what we are and the environment and feelings that surround them than through the explicit teachings or activities we provide.
…we’ve suggested on many occasions that parents avoid teaching their children to become ‘teenagers,’ which society sees as adolescents that behave like spoiled children. We believe that parents should expect a higher standard of youth who are capable of maturity and want to behave like adults.
Virtually every subject is most effectively learned directly from the greatest thinkers, historians, artists, philosophers, scientists, prophets and their original works. Great works inspire greatness. Mediocre or poor works inspire mediocre or poor learning. The great accomplishments of humanity are the key to quality education.
There are really only two ways to teach. You can inspire the student to voluntarily and enthusiastically choose to do the hard work necessary to get a great education, or you can attempt to require it of him.
Instead of asking, “What can I do to make these students perform?” the great teacher says, “Something’s not working! I must not be truly inspirational. What do I need to do to spark their passion to do the hard work to get a superb education?”
Great teachers and schools expect and nurture quality work and quality performance. Great teachers inspire and demand quality, ever urging their students to higher levels of excellence. They shun mere conformity and expect their students to think and perform to their ever-increasing potential.
Education means the ability to think independently and creatively, and development of the skill of applying one’s knowledge in dealing with people and situations in the real world.
Find a model of great education in history and you will find a great teacher who inspired students to make the hard choice to study. Wherever you find such a teacher, you will also find self-motivated students who study hard. When students study hard, learning occurs.
What the great mentor is always looking for is a person who is willing to tap his genius, to put it through the refiner’s fire, to do the hard work to develop it. Indeed, mentoring is the medieval art of alchemy—turning plain old human steel into hearts and minds of gold.
Those who wait for the future to happen before aligning their educational goals with the new realities will be left behind in the new ecomomy. A better path is to know what is ahead and prepare–this is education.
Our children must be offered an education up to par with thier potential–and equal to the needs of the Twenty-first century.
Perhaps our most debilitating rut as a culture is a dependence on experts. Until we kick this dependency, how can we rise above the statistics and become a nation of entrepreneurs and leaders? The answer, as challenging as it is, is for entrepreneurs to show us the way, and to keep at it until more of us start to heed.
Indeed, we have reached a level of complexity where simplicity itself is suspect. For example, the simple reality is that jobs migrate to less difficult nations. It’s the old Rule of Capital: Capital goes where it is treated well.
In nations that have become too complex, taxes and regulation cause at least a doubling of the amount employers must spend on labor. Many experts call this ‘progress,’ but the natural result is that many companies respond by sending their operations and jobs to less costly nations.
We need a major economic boost in the worst way, and instead our leaders are showing aversion and at times even loathing for the entrepreneurial spirit that grows any free economy. What are we thinking?
The best thing government can do now is get out of the way and let small businesses innovate, hire and grow. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen unless Washington stops increasing regulations, taxes and other blocks to business growth.
Small business people have gotten us out of nearly all modern recessions – not by waiting for others to fix things or turning to government, but rather by applying leadership, inventiveness, creativity and originality.
The best thing government can do now is get out of the way and let small businesses innovate, hire and grow. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen unless Washington stops increasing regulations, taxes and other blocks to business growth.
The best thing government can do now is get out of the way and let small businesses innovate, hire and grow. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen unless Washington stops increasing regulations, taxes and other blocks to business growth.
Small business people have gotten us out of nearly all modern recessions – not by waiting for others to fix things or turning to government, but rather by applying leadership, inventiveness, creativity and originality.
“Thanks,” many small businesspeople are saying, “but no thanks. Forget the government credits and loan programs, and just get rid of all the bureaucratic red tape and high taxes which make it hard to build businesses, hire employees and meet our payroll.”
This is the crisis! Difficulty getting credit, slow growth, high unemployment, low consumer confidence—these are challenges entrepreneurs can overcome with hard work, smart risk and tenacious teamwork. This is precisely what entrepreneurs do!
Our nation and our world will rise no higher than our families. If the family continues to decline, so will peace, prosperity, freedom and happiness.
Whatever happens in Washington, Wall Street, Hollywood or Silicon Vally in the next ten years, it will be irrelevant if our families don’t come together at a much higher level. Without a renaissance of family, no new candidate can rise to save us. No new legislation, policy or program will heal our land.
Will we follow the course of societies past that have lost their way and crumbled under the devastating forces of economic upheaval, war and other crises? Or we pull together as families and communities to create a brighter future?
…what is left that only the family can do? According to the new economy – nothing. The leading view today is ‘It Takes a Village,’ that even love can be outsourced to teachers, coaches, clubs and mentors. The truth is that it does take a village, a community, but a community of families working, playing, cooperating and facing obstacles together, not a community of government institutions.
The war is for the family. The battle for their children’s education and their grandchildren’s freedom is as real to them as if they could witness the clangs of bayonets on the field or hear the blasts of mortars in the harbor.
When we discover this and give our lives to it, we are leaders. This is the Path of Leadership. Whatever our age or phase of life, we must enter and stay on the Path of Leadership. The future of the world depends upon it–upon you.
The next step is for the great teachers to arise, and for them to clearly understand the challenges ahead and mentor accordingly. Where most generations focus the education of their children on preparing to make a living or succeed financially, leadership generations are taught by parents who see a higher role for their children.
Jefferson, Madison and many others taught that complex laws and codes were sure signs of oppression. They agreed with Montesquieu, Lock and Hume and that laws must be simple….and indeed that the entire legal code must be simple enough that every citizen knows the entire law. If a person doesn’t know the law….he shouldn’t be held liable for breaking it or freedom is greatly reduced.
Today we are at a crossroads. The technology is available for two great options: The massive surveillance state, or the renewed freedom of a deeply-involved citizenry thinking independently and holding the government to the highest standards.
It is time to stop talking so much about what kind of leaders we want, to give less lip service to what Washington or Wall Street or Hollywood should do, and to act a lot more like citizens who actually deserve freedom.
When we let our freedoms slip away without a fight or even without concern, we take freedom, prosperity and happiness away from our posterity. What kind of people do that? Are we such people? These are questions each of us must face.
The problem in modern America is not that an individual can’t make a difference, but that nearly all of us are too distracted to even consider trying.
Americans must either choose big government and be willing to pay for and submit to it, or they must move toward smaller, less intrusive government and be willing to enjoy fewer government programs.
The shortest distance between where we are today as a nation and an effective return to increasing our freedoms and widespread prosperity is for regular American citizens to read and study the great books.
Nothing will have more impact on the future of the world than for each of us to find out why we were born and to do it. Human beings tend to do this when parents, teachers and other mentors invite us to it.
Prosperity and abundance in a society depend on a certain type of person: the producer. Societies with few producers stagnate and decay, while nations with a large number of producers vibrantly grow–in wealth, freedom, power, influence and the pursuit of happiness.
In our day, a vast majority of people is dependent either on an employer or the government–or both. One way to rate your level of independence might be to measure how long you can survive, feed your family and live in your home after your employer stops paying you anything.
Real value means people value—and creating value really means helping people choose better lives.
Producers think in the language of abundance rather than scarcity, take initiative instead of waiting for someone else to provide them with opportunity, and boldly venture wise risks instead of surrendering to fear that they can’t make a difference.
Intrapreneurs work and lead with the Producer mindset. They run their department, team, or company with an abundance mentality, an attachment to true principles, and a fearless and informed faith in people and quality.
Intrapreneurs consider themselves on a mission to help society, to give it what it needs and wants, to truly serve others and improve themselves. Like all producers, they believe in a deep accountability, refuse to assign blame, don’t believe in failure, and give their heart and soul to truly serve the customer and benefit society.
