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Over-all Summary
I have been inspired by some of the greatest minds in the East and Western World whose dedication to educating the public
public is not questioned. I believe that the reason for humankind to go astray is the lack of balance between technology and
the humanities or that version of technology devoid of ethics and values with the latter closely associated with humankind's
intimacy with nature and and operating within the nature's rule of law. I also believe that as our lives are affected by gravity
of our earth and our solar system we can never escape that force and the way it affects our actions. This means that to be
on the right side of the nature's rule of law we have to operate within it. I am not opposed to technology per se, but I mean
that technology alone does not solve all of our problems. For the same reason most of our failures are due to ignoring the
values that our ancestors have handed to us throughout the ages. Just consider the following and see if you can find them
technology alone.
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought
with sticks and stones." -Albert Einstein
“The end of human race is that it will die of civilization.”-Ralph
Waldo Emerson
“Civilization is a race between education and catastrophe.”-H.G. Wells
“Our
lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”-Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Life
is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
-Confucius
“Education is the transmission
of civilization.”- Will and Ariel Durant
“Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread."-George
Bernard Shaw
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”-Wendel Phillips(1811-1884)
“All who
have meditated in the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.”-Aristotle(384-322
B.C.)
“We must become the change we want to see in the world.”-Mhatma Gandhi
“The ink of scholar
is more sacred than the blood of martyr.”-Porphet Mohammad
“Enlighten people and tyranny of bod and mind
will disappear like evil spirit in the light of a day.” -Thomas Jefferson
I, for one, have always wondered
what made most of America's founders far more humble, less interested in titles and less greed and less desire for global
domination than most of the America's latter day leaders and previous emperors in the world. Without claiming to be an expert
in such a complex question, I attribute these traits to the founders thorough knowledge of the world, wholeness of their lives
and particularly their.being in tune with nature. As an advocate of the right use of technology in conjunction with the values
and ideals, I believe that maintaining a balance between the the two will lead to a lifestyle that is free from abuse and
excess in either direction. I conclude that definition of effective education boils down to master the art and science of
instilling in our young an equivalent of what is Instinct in animals and other so called "lower forms of life."
As an example I offer the following questions:
How many animals have we seen that kill their own kind more than
their fill, that is, for the mere pleasure of having other fellow creatures suffer; do not know what, much, how often to eat;
acquire weapons of mass destruction or disruption in excess of self defense; indulge an excessive consumption of plants, minerals
that hurt their bodies; transgress into the territory of other animals at the expense of destruction and their young; refuse
to violate the balance of environment by not returning to earth what went into making their bodies?
Doing
that, we cannot deny the fact that we as the "superior creatures" have failed to mimic the instinct of animals in
being in tune with our wonderful nature. We will be bias if we deny that almost all of our efforts have been expended in the
name of education rather than for education. In short we have failed to neutralize the efforts of the extremist who wanted
our education system fail so they can profit. I caution you that I AM for free enterprise and profit, but not profiting
from sabotaging the educational process for perpetual profit. With an informed pubic in the driver's seat the business still
makes profit by catering to the needs of the educated clients rather than leading the people to mindless consumption and bancruptcy.
In accordance to the views of the great men above we are betraying our young by denying them the mastery of basic
sciences, history of our world and our own country, compassion, love of learning and sense of curiosity so enlighten themselves
from the vast resources put at their disposal by the technology we are so proud of. Other countries are doing this at a faster
pace than us. We are self-defeating if we let ourselves to become a nation that has its head in the clouds without having
its feet in the ground. We can be boasting about our venturing into space in pursuit of material wealth at the cost of neglecting
what we can do on our earth.
I would like to exchange links with like-minded people. In the meantime please also
visit:
www.democracynow.org
Contact email:
umahforever@ yahoo.com
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