American President John Adams (1735 - 1826) said, “ Government is instituted for the common good, for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people, and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men.” One doesn’t have to listen all that hard to hear the collective groan as the Founding Fathers roll in their graves.
Harvard educated, Adams was a strong believer in education and knowledge, and he proposed the American Academy for Arts and Sciences. He was known to be a brilliant intellectual. Fast forward a century and a quarter, the world tenses when every possible contradiction of his statement, his actual intelligence, and his principles regarding leadership are being mocked and denigrated.
German philosopher Karl Marx, (1818 - 1863) said, “ History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce.” British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874 -1965) said, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” American philosopher George Santayana, (1863 -1952) said Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
And that’s the problem with eroding education. Insular teaching ignores world history. While a farce at least generates a laugh, a tragedy of monumental proportions is unfolding. The gallows drums have just begun to beat.