Maybe Fixing Government Really Starts in the Classroom

“Washington Corruption”, “Politicians on the take”, and “Government Cover ups” are phrases that we hear sprinkled through peoples conversations every day. The underlying question is how do we stop this increasing avalanche of destructive behavior? I believe that much this behavior of subtle deceit and “White Lies” starts in our children’s homes as well as, and more importantly today, our school classrooms that teach history. Every country in their zeal to foster nationalism, and patriotism uses words such allegiance, loyalty, trust, patriotism, duty, self sacrifice, etc. to instill in the minds of our youth that the nation that we live in is omnipotent and always noble in it’s leaders behavior. Because we are not transparent in our teaching of history and do not stress critical thinking and questioning in our dissemination of knowledge, how can we expect to develop leaders for our country that act with a clear moral compass and acceptable ethical standards? More emphasis is placed on writing textbooks that place our nation in a stellar light and building love of country, then making a concerted effort to be forth right and transparent in teaching young students the truthful events of US history. Adolph Hitler was the consummate propaganda artist, he said, “Give me the youth, and Germany will rule the World". Well the American textbooks are not that far off the mark, with down-playing or omitting the mass barbarism of Columbus, the oppression and tortures of slavery, US imperialism and theft of Native American land through the doctrine of manifest destiny, and our role as a pre-emptive war mongering aggressor with hundreds of military bases and covert campaigns ongoing throughout the world. For over twelve years of their life, from the age of six to eighteen, children in America and around the world attend a local school where they supposedly are equipped with the tools necessary to attend college and get a career. But how pure is the knowledge provided by their textbooks? How much do textbooks shape the ideas and philosophies of young moldable minds? Textbook propaganda is a tool that has been used since the invention of the printing press by communist dictators and democratic capitalists to mold the thoughts of a child into the goals of the state. Hitler's training of the German youth was key in his dominance for a good part of the WW11. Without his youth soldiers and supporters, Hitler may not have had the same success. The declaration of the American Legion was not that far off the mark of propaganda by stating (the nation's largest Veterans organization who in 1925 declared that the ideal textbook "must inspire the children with patriotism... must dwell on failure only for its value as a moral lesson, must speak chiefly of success... must give each State and Section full space and value for the achievement of each". Basically, history textbooks should make children feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, as well as be fair to everyone-instead of giving children the cold hard facts. Students should feel safe to deeply question the reporting of history. How many people know about the attempted assassination of FDR by a Fascistic cabal of the leaders of General Motors, Dupont, U.S, Steel, General Electric, IBM, etc. who were so concerned about the inroads of communism in the US that they tried to use Marine Major General Smedley Butler to carry out the criminal murder of a US president. Most students truly believe that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came about with total surprise, when in fact the US received multiple warnings, that if taken with responsibility would have saved countless lives, several weeks before the attack. In reality the attack is what FDR needed to galvanize the minds of Americans to support our entry into WWII. The “Official Report” on 9/11 has so many anomalies, contradictions, and missing pieces of evidence that only a blind fool could give it credence. Any teacher in the public school system who encouraged critical thinking , who tried to openly question the false information spoon fed to us by our deceitful government leaders about 9/11 would probably be censored or fired for speaking the truth and encouraging intellectual integrity. Textbooks have been a major tool used by countless nations to control what their people learn. From tyrannical leaders such a Hitler in Germany or Arafat in Palestine, to world powers to this day, such as the US and Britain, publishers have filled their textbooks with politically correct stories. Textbook propaganda works. Hitler successfully raised an army, and today most American children believe in the old stories of evolution. What can be done about textbook propaganda? Not much, its effectiveness has been proven useful in the past, and will remain the favored tool of dictators and tyrants. But here in free America, things can be changed. It is impossible to have a completely unbiased education system, for if we were to base our education system only on the truth of God's Holy Scriptures we would be no different that the humanists of today. Textbooks should present accurate facts, motivating stories and competing viewpoints. While in our school system, students should be free to form conclusions and develop personal worldviews. How many textbooks teach that Federal Reserve is secretive corporation made up of an opaque cabal of mega bankers, that have little direct connect to government. I never read in any of my textbooks that wars are primarily motivated out of economic demand, needing to steal another country’s resources, or to build up the national debt for the benefit of bankers profits. To the contrary I was brainwashed into believing that we wage war only for “Freedom and to spread democracy”. The major text book publishers who are owned by corporate media conglomerates, have nothing to gain financially by honestly reporting history that may alienate consumer oriented corporations, or the Pentagon who spends billions on public relations and advertising propaganda, or corporate contractors whose primary revenue source is the government tax trough. I believe that if we as parents protest the twisting of facts and incomplete reporting of history in school textbooks that we can turn around this system that encourages deceit and erosion of our youth’s moral fiber. But good luck on that noble effort to clean up our school history books. In Texas for example ignorant bible thumping patriots were concerned about too much candor about how Black Americans were really treated, that if we inform our youth about LGBT behavior that we are encouraging homosexuality, and that evolution can only be taught along with the mythical concept of “Intelligent Design”. We cannot expect moral and ethical behavior from our government leaders, if we as parents do not instill a culture of transparency, ethics, and morality all the way down to the level of the school classroom and the history textbooks. Major emphasis on materialism and acquisitiveness does not encourage healthy spiritual foundations and building of moral fiber. The home and the classroom is the breeding ground for future ethical politicians and leaders. Without a major change in the paradigm of our thinking and value systems, how can we naively expect to have a better nation?