The Necessity of Being Informed

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people.  They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of liberty.”

Thomas Jefferson

Knowledge is one of the most powerful weapons in the world.  A lack of knowledge can make a person a virtual slave, and false knowledge can poison the mind. 

There is a reason why slave owners tried to keep their slaves from learning anything, from reading to having a basic education.  Because they realized that knowledge sets people free. 

So, it is extremely important that we are equipped with not just knowledge, but TRUTH.  For what a person believes, knows, or doesn’t know, can change the course of an entire nation.

People must be taught the truth.  However, today’s modern education system is drifting further and further away from teaching important knowledge, and it is even becoming more frequent that they teach political agendas and even outright lies. 

Examples of America’s Ignorance

For instance, according to an Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey in 2020, only 51 percent of Americans can name all three branches of government.  Just three years ago, only 26 percent of Americans could name all three branches of government.  

The Woodrow Wilson Foundation found that 25% of Americans didn’t know that freedom of speech was guaranteed under the First Amendment.

Heritage.org reported with a Marquette poll that “showed that 57% of Americans haven’t read the Constitution, even though it’s one of the shortest in the world.” Also, “A 2019 survey by the non-profit Institute for Citizens & Scholars found only four out of 10 Americans could pass the citizenship test.”

Our nation has also begun teaching falsehoods in public schools.  Curriculums like the 1619 Project aim to rewrite America history by ignoring facts and even promoting blatant lies about our country.  The 1619 Project in particular aims to raise up a generation to hate the American philosophy and system of government in addition to teaching students that race should influence virtually every aspect of our lives, especially politically.  And according to the Frederick News Post, this curriculum is being taught in over 4,500 schools across America.

The Cost of Ignorance

How have we gotten so far from teaching such important information, and teaching basic truths? I believe this lack of knowledge is intentional.  After all, if people don’t know things like the Constitution, then they are not equipped to fight against government overreaches.  They are fully susceptible to deceits, like the 1619 Project.  Lack of knowledge makes your views dependent on someone you view as higher than yourself.  And that makes you a blind follower. 

George Washington once said,

“If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

While he was specifically referring to free speech, he mentions the cost of ignorance: “dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”  That is the consequence of being a blind follower.  And we must fight it with knowledge.  We must fight it with facts.  And we must fight it with truth.

Solutions

So, what would fix this terrible lack of information and promotion of false information? A simple start that would make a huge difference would be to, as part of required school curriculum, have the Constitution be read in schools. 

To give a bit of context to the importance of requiring the studying of the Constitution, immigrants to our country are required to take a civics test before becoming citizens.  Why shouldn’t born American citizens at least be taught, what immigrants are required to know? 

Some states have already passed “Celebrate Freedom Week” laws requiring a week of studying the Constitution.  That is a great start, but it should go further.  States should pass laws requiring students to take civics courses, which would include required reading of the Constitution and an understanding of its contents. 

According to the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), just 12 percent of seniors are proficient in U.S. history while only 24 percent measure up in civics.  This information is critical to the wellbeing of Americans as individuals and our country as a whole, and it must be taught. 

States should also prohibit the 1619 Project and critical race theory from being taught as fact in public schools.  Both teach lies about America, and promote race as a central pillar to America, when we should be teaching people instead to look to people’s character, not their skin color.

Prohibiting public schools from teaching critical race theory and the 1619 Project as fact, while instead requiring reading the Constitution and a civics course, would make a huge, positive difference in America.  After all, if it is not taught, how can it be known?  These policies would increase American’s knowledge of the Constitution and our history.  These may seem like small steps in reforming our education system, but those basic steps can cause a massive shift in our nation’s Constitutional and historical illiteracy.

Conclusion

Thomas Jefferson instructed us to “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people.” Our education system has done a terrible job at doing that, and has especially neglected some of the most critical fields of knowledge. 

But with steps like these, people will start being informed.  And once they are informed, they will be able to act on that information.  And once people can finally act on that empowering knowledge, then we can begin to see a cultural shift.

We do not want to be led dumb and silent, like sheep to the slaughter. We must give the people the knowledge they need.  For “They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of liberty.”