A Great Nation
Do you know what it takes to have
a prosperous, energetic, and thriving country? The answer is, it takes a
prosperous, energetic, and thriving people. No nation, no institution is any greater
than the sum total of its citizens or its members, their character, their
values, their ambition and drive, their self-respect, their education, their
quality of leadership—the degree to which they are civilized. If the people of
a nation think only of themselves with little or no regard for their fellow man
or their generations to come, they will eventually become a failed state. Have
you ever asked yourself why people on our planet have existed for millions of
years, and yet recorded history only goes back four thousand or so? Also, have
you noticed, within this relatively short span of time (4,000 yrs.), how fast
our degree of knowledge has grown and our civilization has expanded? Just
think. Grandma and grandpa got away with not having to graduate from high
school, but mom and dad had to Today, already, we almost need a college
education just to get our “foot in the door”. Knowledge is literally exploding.
I remember back in 1964 while I
was with a company in Illinois. There was a film published from BNA Films (I
hope I remember the name correctly) on the subject of change. Using a chemical
engineer as an example, the film stated that, if on December 31st of
a given year, the engineer was up to date and knew everything there was to know
about chemical engineering and, for the next twelve months, all he had to do
was study and keep updated on all changes in the science, at the end of the
year he would be five years behind. The film went on to make the point that one
who couldn’t adapt to change would be as out of place as a nudist trying to
sneak through a barbed wire fence. That was fifty-one years ago. How far do you
think that guy would be behind now? What will be the demands of our future if the
economy of our nation will not be able to provide jobs and a decent standard of
living for our people? Is there any doubt in anybody’s mind that education must
be a major priority of our people?
Studies have shown us. The human
mind learns the most in the early years of life. Positive attitudes and habits,
values, knowledge, self-discipline, character, people and leadership skills, are
begun during these years. To this end, education must begin in a child’s
formative years, at home, in school, and in church or synagogue or wherever one
worships, and continue on throughout life. This is a requisite for a strong,
prosperous, and happy nation. Education must be mandatory, and it must be
comprehensive. When we think of education, most of us think of jobs—math,
science, and/or vocational skills; but a real education demands, also, learning
in the arts, music, history, geography, social studies, business, finance, political
science, and language, i.e. English, Latin, etc. A democracy demands the
participation of all the people, and participation in a democracy demands the
knowledge to responsibly fulfill the duty. Education and values are the
direction we must follow for us to rise above ignorance, poverty, and
degradation, i.e. unemployment, homelessness, crime, drugs, broken homes, gangs,
and starvation.
Ronald Miller
Email me at mtss86@comcast.net
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