Seer has agreed to me using this signature statement to start a thread.

The Statue of Liberty holds a book for literacy and a torch for the enlightenment that results from literacy.

The literacy essential to democracy is literacy in Greek and Roman classics, and later, philosophy and science inspired by this classical education.

Only highly moral people can have liberty, because freedom without morality would throw a civilization into chaos and destroy it. Only when democracy is protected in the classroom is it protected. For about 100 years public education in the US served a social socialogical purpose. It transmitted a culture that made liberty possible by training everyone for good moral judgment.

The Age of Reason or Age of Enlightenment, began with spreading literacy in Greek and Roman classics. Crusaders brought back these ancient documents and the Catholic church began using them to support Catholic theology. The American Revolution is actually an intellectual revolution started by this literacy in Greek and Roman classics.

Especailly philosophers such as Aristotle, and the mathemeticans Thales, Euclid, Pythagoras began turning Christian Europe toward the sciences. The church as most know, was very resistant to this scientific way to understanding reality, and this church resistance, in turn, generated resistance against church authority. However, not until people with this knowledge reached a land without an established power of authority over them, could the enlightenment be manifest in the democracy of the USA.

Now there are only two ways to maintain social order. Culture or authority over the people. It should very clear in everyone's minds, that Europe was the authority of the king and church over the people. No education was required other than religious education, and perhaps a trade. In Germany and the USA however, secular education became dominate. What separated Germany from the democracy of the USA was culture. Germany continued to educate for authority over the people, although this was a military authority, and therefore, more democratic than say Britain's class system and monarchy, Old World Order. The USA built its culture on Greek and Roman classics, until 1958, when for military reasons, it adopted Germany's education for technology. The USA was a New Social Order, before it became the second New World Order, which is as authoritain as the Old World Order, only the names of royalty are changed to secular terms for "expert" authority.

This is the explanation of our sad Statue of Liberty and a generation that doesn't agree. The USA no longer transmits the culture essential to a democracy with liberty, and has become the image of what it defended against. Eisenhower, president at the time the 1958 National Education Defense Act was enacted, praised Germany for its contribution to democracy, and unfortunately was not a highly liter man with an understanding of what education and culture has to do with democracy and liberty. The USA is now the New World Order it fought against.

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Sometimes when you're arguing with a fool, he's doing the same thing.

Ah, a quote from System of a Down, always good.

Could you explain what sort of culture, specifically, you believe that America needs to transmit to it's children? You've talked about Greek and Roman classics, but what specific things do you think are no longer being taught?

Also, I know it's a bit pedantic, but:
Universities teaching law, medicine, and natural philosophy (science) started up in the 1200s. Their graduates were valued as lawyers, doctors and scientists, and most especially government bureacrats.

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... I am surprised at your insolence in writing to me at all. You know, as I know, that I bought this constituency... may God's curse light upon you and may it make your women as open and as free to the excise officers as your wives and daughters have always been to me while I have represented your scoundrel corporation.
I have the honour to be... your obliged humble servant, Anthony Henley
- MPs reply to constituent, mid 1700s

I think the most important thing for me to say at the moment, is I am very leery of posting in these forums because of the hostile reaction to my post.
This thread hasn't turned hostile, largely because it has been ignored, but in another I am have been accused of being anti-American, and while the rules forbid personal attacks, to my knowledge, the rule was not enforced.

What you said of professional education is true, however, only people with money could afford the education required to get into this higher education.
The masses were not education until the 20th century. Public schools began by educating orphaned children, and then in England, there was some education of the children who were basically sold to industry and used by industry for 7 years, and then they were dumped on the streets. The idea of taxing the people and providing free public education to children in the US was very unpopular, until the 20th century when more and more jobs required a degree of education.

Also as military technology developed, it became more important to have educated people for the military. Engineering was particularly important to the armed forces. Especially the Prussians became aware of the connection between education and development of military and industrial technology, and being a strong military might. Their successes in war, is why the US adopted their model of education.

However, in the US the main focus of education was to Americanize the flood of immigrants and stop the social unrest. This is a social purpose, and public education in the US wasn't about vocational training until mobilizing for the first world war. Industry wanted to close the schools, claiming the war had caused a labor shortage, and that they were not getting their monies worth from public education, because they still had to train new employees. Teachers argued, an institution for making good citizens, is good for making patriotic citizens. They said, it is those who understand our democracy and why it must be defended, who were the first to sign up for military services, and that if we do not replace these well educated men, even if we win the war, our nation will be devastated by the loss. Teaches won, and vocational training was added to appease industry. The public school system was used to mobilize us for war, and get victory farms going, and teach women how to substitue corn meal for flour, as we were feeding the allies and having a hard time producing enough food. Remember, soldiers were wearing hand knit socks and scarves because our technologies were not that developed when we entered WWI. Schools coordinated a lot of labor required to support the war.

The addition of vocational training was a huge benefit to the schools. Parents were using their children to labor for the family, and the law to prevent children from working in industry during school hours was new. If the parents had a farm or their own business, they kept their children home to work. However, when parents realized the schools could prepare their children for higher paying jobs, they were more willing to send them to school. I know people alive today, whose parents thought it was more important for the children to have jobs than an education. My daughter's mother-in-law was forced out of school by her mother, who lied about her age and made her get a job to help support that family. Our attitude towards education has changed a lot. Now we assume education is about getting a job, and even females can expect to have careers.

Now how many people do you know, who can list at least 10 democratic principles? How many understand the balanced powers of our government? How many know what Cicero, a Roman statesman, has to do with our form of government, and what Bacon, Newton and Locke have to do with our democracy? How many know, democracy depends on an understanding of universal laws and secularly determined morals?

Democracy is a social organization based on principles. If the people do not know the principles they can not manifest a democracy. That is why Iraq is having such a hard time. We take our democracy for granted, and Iraqis don't know the thoughts that equal democracy such as we have. Democracy is like religion, in that if you don't know the basic principles, you can't live by them. It must be taught. Education for technology is not doing that, and the social changes are dramatic.

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Sometimes when you're arguing with a fool, he's doing the same thing.

On the general education, I agree with most of what you said, though actually compulsory education for all children was introduced into Britain in the 1870s.

Are you saying then, that you feel that schools should be teaching the children lessons in morals, how the government works, and the history of democracy?

As to the personal insult, we don't see every insult, if you feel that someone is breaking the forum rules, then press the "Report Post" button at the top-right of their post, and that will notify the moderators.

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... I am surprised at your insolence in writing to me at all. You know, as I know, that I bought this constituency... may God's curse light upon you and may it make your women as open and as free to the excise officers as your wives and daughters have always been to me while I have represented your scoundrel corporation.
I have the honour to be... your obliged humble servant, Anthony Henley
- MPs reply to constituent, mid 1700s