28th President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson
“The Meaning of a Liberal Education”, Address to the New York City High School Teachers Association (9 January 1909)
Amongst the many dogmas that plague society today, compulsory schooling as a means for empowering the common man with knowledge and the ability to think critically for oneself, is perhaps the greatest.
Rooted in ancient Sparta and derived primarily from Prussia (who adopted certain Spartan principles), compulsory schooling, from its inception, was implemented with the sole purpose of ensuring passive obedience to the ruling class.
A scene from the famous movie "300" depicting the child being taken from their parents and put into agoge. |
In Sparta, for example, young boys (who were not abandoned as babies for being deemed physically inept)[1] were taken by the state from their parents at the young age of 7 and placed into harsh boot camps that they referred to as agoge. Here the boys were taught survival skills, the art of war and unquestioning obedience to the ruling class. As part of their training, for example, the boys were to murder a Helot without cause or provocation proving their capability as a soldier and their uncompromising loyalty to state.[2]
More than two thousand years from its establishment, the Spartan system of compulsory "education" would be reborn in another famous military state, that of Germanic Prussia. Before this was to be realized, however, the initial push for modern day compulsory schooling would first come from the famous reformist Martin Luther.
The Protestant Reformation
In 1510, a Catholic priest named Martin Luther embarked on an 850 mile journey by foot to the heart of Rome, for reasons both personal and professional. It was a place he had long dreamed of intimately knowing and exploring in person. Upon his arrival, however, Luther was appalled by the corruption that seemed to run rampant in the famous city, writing that;
"It is almost incredible what infamous actions are committed at Rome; one should see it and hear it in order to believe it. It is an ordinary saying that if there is a hell, Rome is built upon it. It is an abyss from which all sins proceed."[3]Although this trip is the most visible point from which we might trace the origins of Luther's revolutionary dissent, it was the sale of indulgences that ultimately lead to his disillusionment with the papacy.
The sale of indulgences shown in A Question to a Mintmaker woodcut by Jörg Breu the Elder of Augsburg, 1530. |
Six years after Luther's trip to Rome, Pope Leo X (of the infamous Medici banking family), and his "business" partners Johann Tetzel and Albert the Archbishop of Mainz, decided they would capitalize on the ignorance of the common man through the sale of indulgences, which is to say in layman terms; they sold pieces of paper/cloth claiming they would forgive believers partly, or even wholly, of their sins and spare them from the persecution of purgatory.
While this may seem absolutely absurd to the reader, and even hard to believe, this great con proved itself to be a thriving business. Yet, despite its acceptance amongst the commoner without objection, Martin Luther, who was well versed in scripture and believed the sale of indulgences to conflict with that of Biblical doctrine, was not impressed whatsoever and, on October 31st in 1517, decided to write a stern critique of the papacy in what is historically known as the Ninety-Five theses.
Unintended at the time, Luther's disputation (originally in Latin and meant only for local debate) was printed by an unsung hero into the German language and quickly distributed throughout Northern Europe thanks to the advent of Johannes Gutenberg's printing press.
Luther's writings (which he later began to distribute intentionally to win support for his cause) gained much favor amongst the masses, presumably because they helped to confirm the inner objections of the silent and fearful oppressed, and in later writings, because Luther proclaimed that, "we are all consecrated priests through Baptism"[4] and "If they (the Roman Catholic Church) recognize this they would know that they have no right to exercise power over us".[5] Thereby empowering the down trodden individual with both purpose and power.
Colored woodcut of Jan Hus being burnt alive, 1563 Image Credit: The Granger Collection, NY |
This, in fact, is why the Roman Catholic church outlawed the reading, translation or possession of the Bible,[6] why it led a campaign of genocide against the Albigenses,[7] and why it put Jan Hus to death along with many others.[8] With a book open to countless interpretations (there are more than 40,000 denominations to prove it)[9] the ruling class cannot hope to maintain such a great deal of power by allowing others to interpret scripture according to their own personal principles. Thus the Roman Catholic Church has, and arguably still does, use the Bible as a form of "education" to further its own personal agenda.
Like those before him, Luther was threatened, excommunicated, and even marked for death for opposing the existing status quo and affording the common man a much needed different perspective. This sadly is the fate most commonly prescribed to those who oppose the system.
As a result, what followed was a major revolution, known historically as the Protestant Reformation (Protestant in name for protesting the Roman Catholic Church), a mass uprising that forever changed the face of the Christian religion across the world, and with it the course of compulsory schooling to be.
Despite the admirable courage and good intentions of Martin Luther, his faults were many. He was a man who interpreted the Bible radically, to say the least, and had no tolerance for those who preached a different doctrine to that of his own. This is what inspired him to insist on compulsory education, his blind conviction that his interpretation of the Bible, and life itself, was literally given to him by the Creator of mankind, and consequently, was to be indoctrinated into the common man.
In order to accomplish this "holy" task, Luther addressed the German rulers with the following proposal;
"Dear rulers … I maintain that the civil authorities are under obligation to compel the people to send their children to school…. If the government can compel such citizens as are fit for military service to bear spear and rifle, to mount ramparts, and perform other martial duties in time of war, how much more has it a right to compel the people to send their children to school, because in this case we are warring with the devil, whose object it is secretly to exhaust our cities and principalities of their strong men."[10]
Luther's request resulted in the establishment of the first compulsory school system of the modern era in 1559 by Duke Christopher, Elector of Wurtemburg. Attendance records were kept and fines were imposed on those who were absent without proper justification. This idea was disrupted for a time because of the Thirty Years' War but was later followed by such states as Gotha in 1643, Heildesheim in 1663, Prussia in 1669, and Calemberg in 1681. [11]
Meanwhile, in Switzerland, another key figure in the Protestant Reformation, John Calvin (founder of Calvinism), was imposing compulsory schooling on the masses with the same intensity and flawed reasoning as that of Luther ― that his interpretation of the Bible was given to him by the one true God and should be indoctrinated into all. Those who resisted Luther and Calvin's doctrines' were made victim of severe punishment, sometimes even death. [12]
An etching & engraving of the battle at Milvian bridge by Gérard Audran of a painting by Charles Le Brun According to historians of the time, the battle marks Constanine's conversion to Christianity. |
This is the prime factor as to why Christianity is followed by roughly one third of the global population today,[13] and why the Roman Catholic Church is reported as having more than a billion followers,[14] because it has been favored and propagated for more than a thousands years by the ruling class for political reasons.
Thus it comes as no surprise that during "the age of discovery", colonization and imperialism were largely justified by "the spread of Christianity". Of course, this is not to say Christianity is an evil religion, which can easily be verified through much of its teachings, but like ANY other religion or ideology, it is fallible since it can be used to easily manipulate the mind of the common man and as a result, be used as a tool for the elite, which is precisely what continues to this day. (I will explain this in detail in an article to come.)
The Kingdom of Prussia
Under King Fredrick William I (House of Hohenzollern), in the early 18th century, the Prussian compulsory school system began to flourish in terms of the passive obedience it produced for the state and ruling elite. Consequently, Prussia, especially under the leadership of the King's successor, Fredrick the Great, emerged as a dominant force both politically and economically (thanks primarily to their military prowess, like the Spartans).
After Fredrick the Great's death in 1786, his nephew, Fredrick William ascended to the throne but, unlike his predecessor, the new king did not share the same outlook or understanding that Prussia's power was rooted in its "education" and military. As a result, Prussia's professional army would be defeated by Napoleon's band of amateurs in 1806 at the battle of Jena.
"Battle of Jena " colored litho by Antoine Charles Horace Vernet and Jacques François Swebach Early 19th century |
Embarrassed and outraged, the ruling class of Prussia embarked on a massive campaign of reformation, which included compulsory schooling. Although attributed primarily to Napoleon's victory, two speeches made by German Freemason, Johann Gotlieb Fichte, have also been accredited by historians as key factors for the reworking of the compulsory school system.
Believing that Prussia's' defeat at Jena was a result of the Prussian soldier's ability to think for himself and his own well being, in Fichte's "Address to the German Nation" he proclaimed that "the new education must consist essentially in this, that it completely destroys freedom of will" and that "if you want to influence him (the student) at all, you must do more than merely talk to him; you must fashion him, and fashion him in such a way that he simply cannot will otherwise than you wish him to will."[15]
3 years after his famous speech, Fichte would be appointed dean of the philosophy faculty at the new university of Berlin, and the following year become rector of the whole university, thus setting the stage to institute his new form of "education".
According to John Taylor Gatto, a leading authority and recommended source on the history of compulsory schooling, during this reform a "three tier system of education emerged", It was comprised of a "private tier and two governmental ones". The private tier, or Akadamiensschulen, was made up of only half of one percent of the child population. Here the students were taught to be "future policy makers, they learned to think strategically, contextually, in wholes; they learned complex processes, and useful knowledge, studied history, wrote copiously, argued often, read deeply, and mastered tasks of command." The next level, Realsschulen, made up roughly 5 to 7.5% of the child population and was instituted with the intention of producing "engineers, architects, doctors, lawyers, career civil servants, and such other assistants as policy thinkers at times would require." The last level, a group of roughly 92-94% of the child population, were condemned to Volksschulen, or "people's school". Here they "learned obedience, cooperation and correct attitudes, along with rudiments of literacy and official state myths of history."[16]
Expansion of Prussia 1807–1871 |
The Industrial Elite Takeover Of Education
While Prussia was undergoing its "education" reforms, much of the U.S. was under the Lancaster system, a system derived from the Hindu caste,[17] which was yet another form of hierarchy in which the smaller "upper" class rules over the much larger "lower" class. Although this produced favorable results for the globalists, it didn't take too long for the more efficient Prussian system to spark interest in the States and, more specifically, America's powerful industrialists.
Interest in adopting Prussian methods was triggered by a series of favorable reports regarding the German kingdom's school system. Most notable of these perhaps, is that of the Secretary of Education in Massachusetts, Horace Mann in 1844. As a result, Massachusetts would become the first school to make compulsory attendance of school into law (which it eventually enforced through the threat of imprisonment of truant children), and in time, by 1918 to be exact, and in spite of "strenuous opposition", the whole country would fall into line.[18]
Although leading authorities in the world of education such as Horace Mann and William Torey Harris helped bring the Prussian model of schooling to North America, there were much greater forces at work behind the scenes, and these were the industrial elites whose ambitions would ultimately give rise to the most powerful empire the world has ever known.
During this time of educational reform in the U.S. and other parts of the globe, the industrial world was also undergoing some drastic changes, which in time would author the next chapter that is the book of indoctrinating the masses.
Fredrick Taylor, a mechanical engineer who was educated for a time in Germany under Prussian principles, published a book in 1911 called The Principles of Scientific Method which transformed the work place, and in turn the world forever.
Taylor's belief, was that "Hardly a competent workman can be found who does not devote a considerable amount of time to studying just how slowly he can work and still convince his employer that he is going at a good pace." To remedy this, Taylor proposed strict management and expectations of workers, stating that "in the past man has been first, in the future the system must be first" believing that this would ultimately result in "not only large dividends for the company or owner, but the development of every branch of the business to its highest state of excellence, so that the prosperity may be first."[19]
Scientific Management, or Taylorism, was quickly picked up around the globe, not only in the business world but in schools as well. It is also believed by historians to be the main influence behind the development of industrial tycoon Henry Ford's own scientific method, Fordism, which likewise, spread across the globe.
In Chapter 9 of the Underground History of American Education, which can be found online for free, the author writes;
"By the 1920s, the reality of the Ford system paralleled the rules of a Prussian infantry regiment. Both were places where workers were held under close surveillance, kept silent, and punished for small infractions. Ford was unmoved by labor complaints. Men were disposable cogs in his machine."
This, along with the global spread of Fordism, could well explain why Aldous Huxley, in his novel Brave New World, uses the phrase "Our Ford" in place of "Our Lord".[20]
Ford, along with other gods of industry, most notably John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, recognized the imperative of shaping their future workforce and, as a result, poured millions (later billions) of dollars directly, and indirectly (mass media), into the future of "education".[21] This raised some major concerns as clearly documented in the Congressional Record of January 26th, 1917 where several senators voiced the opinion that these industrial giants were in process of taking over the school system;
"The Carnegie-Rockefeller influence is bad. In two generations they can change the mind of the people to make them conform to the cult of Rockefeller or the cult of Carnegie, rather than the fundamental principles of American democracy."
- Senator Chamberlain of Oregon
"It seems to me one of the most dangerous things that can go on in a Republic is to have an institution of this power apparently trying to shape and mold the thought of the young people of this country...
Agents of Rockefeller have examined the curriculum of colleges and refused to endow them unless certain courses were stricken from the list."
- Senator Kenyon of Iowa
"The cult of Rockefeller, the cult of Carnegie...as much to be guarded against in the educational system of this country as a particular religious sect."
- Senator Poindexter of Washington
The Senators were not the only ones' concerned, however; New York city Mayor, John Hylan, made a speech in Chicago on March 26, 1922, declaring that;
Actual news paper article excerpt from the California Oil Worker, Pg. 2 - Apr 8, 1922 (Originally reported in the NYT) (Currently available in Google News Archives) [22] |
To depart from mere generalizations, let me say that at the head of this octopus are the Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests and a small group of powerful banking houses generally referred to as the international bankers. The little coterie of powerful international bankers virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes."
Unfortunately, these warnings were largely ignored, or suppressed, thus giving the ruling class a free hand to implement their selfish agenda ― which today has enveloped the entire globe.
There are literally thousands and thousands of organizations around the world that are dedicated to controlling education today, but the four from which the rest are most visibly traced include;
The Rockefeller Foundation (Founded in 1913)
- Helped finance or found Harvard and John Hopkins University where they established the world's first and second schools of Hygiene and Public Health, founded the General Education Board, financed the University of Chicago, Yale, Princeton, Columbia University, Stanford, the Library of Congress, University of the Philippines, Oxford University, Peking University in China, Social Science Research Council, London School of Economics, University of Lyon in France, the University of Chile, the Universidad del Valle in Colombia, and Hacettepe University in Turkey to name a few.
- By 1921 they already established schools in the Prague, Warsaw, London, Toronto, Copenhagen, Budapest, Oslo, Belgrade, Zagreb, Madrid, Cluj (Romania), Ankara, Sofia, Rome, Tokyo, Athens, Bucharest, Stockholm, Calcutta, Manila and São Paulo, this has since grown.
- By 1932 they established full-time departments of psychiatry in teaching hospitals and medical schools, including Chicago, Duke, Harvard, McGill, St. Louis, Tulane, Yale and Washington.
Source: http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/about-us/our-history
Source: http://www.ncccusa.org/news/100526ticrededication.html
Source: http://www.interchurch-center.org/node/130
Carnegie Corporation of New York (Founded in 1911)
- Helped finance or found California's Department of Education and the University of California (all locations), Progressive Education Association, University of Melbourne, University
of Miami, George Peabody College for Teachers, Council on Library
Resources, Council on Museum Education, Council of National Library
Associations, Department of Education in South Africa, Carnegie Mellon University, Canadian Association of University Teachers, University of Toronto, Canadian Council for Educational Research, South Africa's oldest and most prestige school, the University of Cape Town, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, Harvard University, Columbia Univ., Cornell University, Duke University, Cambridge Institute, University of Hong Kong, The Catholic University of America, University of Chicago, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Imperial College of London, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to name a few.
- Through Carnegie, the Carnegie Trust for Universities of Scotland and Carnegie United Kingdom Trust were also setup to consolidate their control over education.
Source: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/archives/rbml/Carnegie/index.html
The idea for teachers to need certification was thought up by the industrial elites for obvious reasons. The Milwaukee Journal, Sep. 6, 1986 (originally reported in the New York Times) |
The Jesuits (Founded in 1540)
The Jesuits, or Society of Jesus, are a controversial secret society that work for the Roman Catholic Church, largely with the intention of countering the Protestant movement. They operate on 6 continents, in more than 100 nations and have setup the following universities, and colleges;
- Boston College, Georgetown University, Loyola Universities of Chicago, Maryland and New Orleans, Regis University, College of the Holy Cross, Santa Clara University, Xavier University, Rockhurst University, John Carroll University, Fordham University, University of San Francisco, University of Scranton, Creighton University, Loyola Marymount University, Wheeling Jesuit University, Seattle University, Spring Hill College, Fairfield University, Le Moyne College, Marquette University, Saint Louis University, Saint Joseph’s College, Canisius College, Universidad del Salvador (Buenos Aires), Universitaire Faculteiten Sint-Ignatius Antwerpen, St. John's College, Belize City, Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, University of Manitoba, Saint Mary's University (Halifax), Regis College, a graduate theological division in the University of Toronto, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Colegio San José, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Facultés jésuites de Paris Centre Sèvres, Hochschule für Philosophie München, Universidad Rafael Landívar, Andhra Loyola College, Xavier Institute of Management, St. Joseph's College (Bangalore), Pontifical Gregorian University, Université de Saint-Joseph (Beirut), Sophia University (Tokyo), Universidad Iberoamericana (Tijuana), Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico City), Colegio Cristo Rey, Universidad del Pacífico (Lima), Ateneo de Manila University, Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, Sogang University (Seoul), Comillas Pontifical University (Madrid), ESADE, Heythrop College at the University of London, Campion Hall at Oxford University and Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (Caracas) to name a few.
* It should be mentioned the Jesuits have also set up many high schools, middle schools, primary schools and elementary schools throughout the world as well.
Source: http://www.jesuit.org/worldwide/education/
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jesuit_institutions
TIAA-CREF (Teachers insurance and annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund) (Founded in 1918)
Founded by Andrew Carnegie, this organization is used to control retirement funds for teachers and professors worldwide. Its reported total assets amount to several hundred billion dollars, almost half a trillion.[23]
* It should be mentioned that the Ford Foundation was setup much later, in 1936, and only became of use to the ruling class in 1947 (after the founders died and the foundation inherited much of the Ford Motor Company's fortune). Nonetheless, it echoed the policies of the Rockefeller and Carnegie groups, although it was not so subtle and actually got caught serving as a CIA front in 1967.[24]
For those who are less informed, the aforementioned Universities have been officially stratified by T.H.E. World University Rankings as the very best in the world.[25] In other words, these industrial elites, and other organizations like the Jesuits, have managed to infiltrate the so called leading establishments in "education". Thus, these major Universities from all around the world are partly, or even wholly, funded/controlled by a ruling class who have proven themselves time and time again throughout history, to be corrupt, manipulative, unjust, untrustworthy, apathetic and, in short, the greatest threat to humanity and all of life on this planet.[26]
Student Loan Debt Chart 2003-2013 |
Despite all this information, the predictability of the indoctrinated individual is all too familiar. One might argue that without "education" we would be hopeless fools. As popular as this parroted perspective may be, it fails to hold up.
Breakpoint and Beyond
George Land and Beth Jarman, conducted a study[29] from NASA that had been used to measure the creative potential of their scientists and engineers on a group of 1,600 children aged three to five years old which they published in their book Breakpoint and Beyond. What they found was shocking, 98% of the kids ended up scoring in the top tier, which is considered genius level.
Five years later they decided to test the same group of kids, but this time only 32% scored genius level. Five years from this testing, the same children, now aged between thirteen and fifteen, were tested again and only 10% scored at genius level. They then decided to conduct this test on more than 200,000 adults over the age of twenty five and only 2% of them scored in the top tier.
The implications for this test are self evident and may perplex our conditioned understanding of intelligence. The answers to both the conscious, and the unconscious, questions bombarding your mind however, are much more simple than you may think;
Image Credit: DDees.com |
In other words, imagination, which is the source of creativity, is the true source of genius, not schooling. Additionally, genius is natural to us, the old adage that children have wild imaginations is undoubtedly true. We know this from experience, for we ourselves were children at one time and we have all, presumably, observed this in other children.
The cars we drive, the phones we own, the clothes we wear, that song we love - it all comes from the imagination which is without structure, without rules and without limits. It cannot be placed in a system or a box. In fact if we research some of the greatest minds in history, such as Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton, we find that they did poorly in school and rebelled against the system.
At this time, I'd like to point out to the reader that this essay merely highlights the globalists takeover of the school system. Their control over governments, secret service agencies, science, agriculture, world trade, media, finance, military, and law are equally sophisticated. The complexity of this Matrix like system however, cannot be fully explored with clarity in a single essay. In relation to this work though, it is only just and right to inform the reader that these globalists are all connected through the CFR, the most visible conduit from which the U.S. government is controlled.[30] The Roman Catholic church, and the Jesuit order, however, operate in a more subtle manner (which will be addressed in a future story).
Cecil Rhodes and The Round Table Group
Although a colossal figure of influence and power, the CFR is but one of a dozen major think tanks that have been strategically setup throughout the world which collectively are known as Round Table Groups. According to historian Caroll Quigley (who backs his claims up with research), these were setup with the intention of forming a one world government through the infiltration of each continents major establishments, including that of education.[31]
The Rhodes Colossus: Caricature of Cecil John Rhodes Image Credit: Edward Linley Sambourne, 10 December 1892. |
In a series of wills, Rhodes made it clear that his higher purpose was to help bring about one world government, and in order to accomplish this, "what a splendid help a secret society would be, a society not openly acknowledged but who would work in secret for such an object".[33] This has given rise to many theories, which will be explored in much more detail in the near future. Relative to this chapter however, Rhodes would setup the first major international scholarship program, and those who met the criteria Rhodes specified in his wills were awarded a full scholarship to Oxford University.
Like the organizations previously mentioned, the Rhodes Scholarship is still in operation today and has been called the one of, if not "the world's most prestigious award", from major sources such as TIME (Founded by Skull and Bones members' Briton Hadden and Henry Luce),[34] Yale University (one of the elitist Universities mentioned above),[35] and the Associated Press[36] (Reportedly Rothschild controlled).[37]
It is important to understand though, that just because an individual may attend, or work for, one of the schools or organizations previously mentioned, it does not automate to them being an accomplice to what is undoubtedly an ongoing, and well developed, global conspiracy. Notable authors, Gary Allen and Antony Sutton, for example, are just two of many brave individuals who have come from these elitist controlled Universities, yet have contributed, in no small way, to helping educate and disillusion the common man through their brilliant research. In context, the majority of teachers, professors and the like, are unwitting conduits who are as much made victim as the students they teach.
Conclusion
In closing, this writer can only hope that this reading experience has helped to explain to the reader why the average citizen's knowledge of the world extends as far as celebrity gossip, sports "entertainment", reality shows, sitcoms and other worthless information. Why reports are surfacing that almost 80% of NYC high school graduates are unable to read[37] or why one in five adults in the UK are considered to be functionally illiterate.[38] The dumbing down of society is not some unexplainable phenomena as it may seem, it is a deliberate and contrived result of more than a hundred years worth of effort on the behalf of those who seek the position of being crowned the most powerful ruling class the world has ever known.
These unfit, and mentally unstable rulers, have always argued that the people cannot be trusted with knowledge, citing violent uprisings from the past, which include the Protestant Reformation, as reason to justify their oppressive ideology. Of course, they fail to acknowledge that oppressing a people, subtle or not, withholding proper education from them, and exploiting them in various ways, is what eventually gives rise to violence and irrationality in the first place. You cannot keep a man in a cage, any more than you can keep an animal in a cage, and then expect them to be truly happy or psychologically healthy. In other words, these parasites are the root cause of the problem they claim to protest. They hoard the true knowledge while deliberately indoctrinating the masses into becoming impulsive, irrational, gullible, subservient, reckless and close minded, and then they have the audacity to claim they should be in control for this very reason.
Now, as long as they have control over information, the current course of mankind will continue unabated. But, like Martin Luther's legendary disputation, which itself would be worthless without the advent of the printing press, knowledge in mass can literally change the world. Therefore what is essentially needed, is first the belief that the individual can create change, and second, a means from which the individual might share their thoughts with the rest of the world. Throughout history, individuals have gone to the greatest of lengths to accomplish this task, one such story which is worth mentioning, is that of the Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc.
On June 10th, 1963, U.S. correspondents were told that something important was to take place the following morning outside the Cambodian embassy in Saigon. Most of the reporters disregarded this tip, since protests against the Roman Catholic south Vietnamese government (over religious intolerance) were going on for more than a month already. A reporter named Malcolm Browne, however, decided that he would attend.
That day Browne watched as several hundred monks and nuns marched in protest of the government's policies towards Buddhism. As the march came to a close, three monks emerged from a car that had taken part in the protest. The first placed a cushion on the ground, and the second opened the trunk of the vehicle, from which he took out a five gallon container of gasoline. The marchers then formed a circle around a third monk, who we now know was Thich Quang Duc.
Calm and composed, Duc sat down on the cushion in a meditative position. One of the other monks then proceeded to pour the container of gasoline over his entire body and, after reciting the words Nianfo ("homage to Amitābha Buddha"), he lit himself on fire. Duc never flinched or cried out, he remained in his meditative state throughout the entire process.
The self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc as photographed by Malcolm Browne |
Today we live in the age of internet, where people are connected world wide through multiple social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Blogger, all of which are consistently ranked within the top 10 most frequented sites in the world. (occasionally Twitter or Blogger may slip just outside of the top 10)
Because these have not entirely fallen under the control of the ruling class (although they are working very hard at it), it affords us opportunities that countless men and women from the past had never known. Therefore, there can no longer be proper justification as to why we do not speak out or attempt to reach the minds and hearts of the people. We have a means of communication that people would literally die for. To not get involved is itself the greatest of crimes against humanity, simply because nothing strengthens the oppressor more than silence and nothing empowers the oppressed more than knowledge.
So educate yourself, empower yourself and then educate others, but understand that education is a never ending journey, which is to say that you must not obsess over educating yourself for fear of lack of knowledge, the world cannot wait for us, as individuals, to reach our intellectual comfort zone. The wise man is one that is both a student and a teacher, aware of his own ignorance but also confident in his acquired knowledge, which is to be shared or it is worthless.
It should be further mentioned that we, and our descendants, all have our weaknesses. Primarily since we have been subjected to the subtle dictates of a corrupt and unjust system that intentionally instills the characteristics of fear, anger, prejudice, pride, envy and other undesirable traits. Knowledge of this alone, and the determination to remedy it, will serve your personal growth well.
What you and I know today (in terms of pure and unadulterated knowledge), is largely the result of those who came before us, and sacrificed their lives, both figuratively and literally, for that which is commonly referred to as Truth. Consequently, how dare we claim we cannot do anything to create change if we have knowledge that cost other people their lives? How can we allow the great battle for mankind's freedom to exclude us from the pages of history? How can we hide from what should be considered an honor? How can we make excuses when innocent people are suffering every day?
Theoretically, we only live one time, but if we dedicate our lives to creating positive change, to spreading empowerment and knowledge, we become immortal. We become a part of the highest comprehensible cause, a part of the greatest purpose of all ― the total liberation of mankind and the prospect of a better world for all of life, including the planet itself.
Expect more from yourself. Believe in yourself.
THE WORLD NEEDS YOU NOW.
By Gavin Nascimento
Sources:
1) World History: Societies of the Past, Charles Kahn, Pg. 129
2) Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300-362 BC, Paul Cartledge, Pg. 151
3) History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume 1, Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné, Henry Beveridge, Pg. 146
4) The Priesthood of All Believers and Other Pious Myths,Timothy Wengert, Pg. 12
5) On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther
6) Soul Theft: How Religions Seized Control of Humanity's Spiritual Nature, Bill Missett, Pg. 50
7) The Albigensian Crusade, Jonathan Sumption
8) Fox's Book of Martyrs by John Foxe (PDF available free online)
9) Global Christianity, A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population - http://www.pewforum.org/Christian/Global-Christianity-exec.aspx
10) Education, Free & Compulsory, Murray N. Rothbard, Pg. 20
11) Ibid. Pg 24
12) Ibid Pg. 22-24
13) The CIA, World Fact Book > People and Society > Religions
14) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21443313
15) Addresses to the German Nation, Johann Gotlieb Fichte, Pg 20-21
16) Underground History of American Education, Chpt 7, The Prussian Reform Movement, John Taylor Gatto
17) Ibid. Chpt 1, How Hindu Schooling Came To America
18) Ibid. Chpt 5, Compulsion Schooling
19) Principles of Scientific Management, Frederick Winslow Taylor
20) http://www.huxley.net/bnw/one.html
21) The Rockefeller File, Gary Allen, Chpt. 4 & 5
22) http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4gRcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BVUNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2480,182720&dq=hylan+standard+oil+international+bankers&hl=en
23) http://www1.tiaa-cref.org/public/about/press/about_us/releases/articles/pressrelease422.html
24) Covert Network: Progressives, the International Rescue Committee, and the CIA, Eric Thomas Chester, Pg. 52
25) http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2012-13/world-ranking
26) See previous Article; "America's Final Warning - 2013"
27) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bobby-brannigan/a-student-debt-crisis-is-_b_3195036.html
28) http://www.examiner.com/article/infographic-released-provides-statistics-on-outstanding-student-loan-debt
29) http://users4.jabry.com/vortex/misc/DivergentThinking.asp
30) The Bilderberg Group, Daniel Estulin, Chpt 10
31) Tragedy & Hope, Carroll Quigley, Chpt 65, "The Round Table Groups Have Played a Very Significant Role in the History of the U.S."
32) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203804204577017212624948258.html
33) Confession of Faith, Cecil Rhodes
34) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,949697,00.html
35) http://news.yale.edu/2012/11/18/7-rhodes-1-mitchell-8-prestigious-scholarship-winners-yale
36) http://www.nbcnews.com/id/34099294/ns/us_news-education#.Ue77G21cVfE
37) Barriers Down, Kent Cooper, Pg 21-22
38) http://rt.com/usa/nyc-graduates-unable-to-read-011/
39) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2122007/Illiterate-Britain-One-adults-struggling-read-write-t-use-chequebook.html