EDUCATION: HOW EVERYBODY WINS....

Thomas Jefferson, our 3rd President, and author of the Declaration of Independence, was known, in part, for his strong distrust of a centralized government. Jefferson saw it as the enemy of democracy. Jefferson was a fervent supporter of ”States Rights” as provided for in the Constitution. It can be argued that the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln centralized the Federal Government in a way that was never intended...and it hasn’t been quite the same since. ----but that is a discussion for another day..

Jefferson trumpeted regularly that democracy could only be upheld if it had an informed citizenry...without which the people would not be able to exercise proper oversight.

“Though [the people] may acquiesce, they cannot approve what they do not understand.” --Thomas Jefferson: Opinion on Apportionment Bill, 1792.

No Freedom Without Education
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” --Thomas Jefferson to Charles Yancey, 1816.

“Convinced that the people are the only safe depositories of their own liberty, and that they are not safe unless enlightened to a certain degree, I have looked on our present state of liberty as a short-lived possession unless the mass of the people could be informed to a certain degree.” --Thomas Jefferson 1805.

“There are two subjects, indeed, which I shall claim a right to further as long as I breathe: the public education, and the sub-division of counties into wards. I consider the continuance of republican government as absolutely hanging on these two hooks.” --Thomas Jefferson 1814.

United States Senator Bernie Sanders has declared his candidacy for President of the United States. He is an Independent, officially belonging to neither political party. One of Sanders core ideas to transform America is to guarantee free college for everyone.

In a press conference recently, Sanders advocated that the government fund tuition at four-year public colleges and universities through a so-called Robin Hood tax on Wall Street, one that would set a 50 cent tax on every $100 of stock trades on stock sales, as well as lesser amounts on other financial transactions

While Sanders’ critics are expected to denounce the plan as Socialism, the Vermont Senator is quick to point out that similar proposals are already in effect and successful elsewhere. “Countries like Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and many more are providing free or inexpensive higher education for their young people,” Sanders points out. “They understand how important it is to be investing in their youth. We should be doing the same.”

Anyone interested in preserving democracy might see the need for a much more highly educated populace. I think it is in our common interest.....from the Tea Party, down to the Black Panthers. A check on Government excessive use of Power comes from an informed citizenry...

Food for Thought......