SOME children -- usually those who have already been emotionally damaged by compulsive schooling or by an authoritarian home life -- DO need structure, but most do not, if given a healthy situation early in life. A few of the problem kids that Neill brought into the school never got any better (i.e., they continued acting out and causing problems for others, and so were expelled) but most relaxed once they accepted that they really were in a place where their own rights were respected, and began acting in healthy fashion. (Problem children over a certain age rarely got better). It wasn't freedom that had harmed those children, it was either neglect (which looks like freedom but without loving connection to parents or other healthy adult personalities) or outright cruelty. Freedom and compassion actually healed them. As the British Government Report points out, the children of Summerhill were anything but "aimless and selfish."
Over a century of experience at Summerhill (which is a boarding school) and Sudbury Valley School (a day school run on the principles of Summerhill) shows that children given freedom and compassion are a LOT easier to live with and much happier. "Aimless and selfish" (and miserable) comes from spending years under a system of compulsion (modern schooling and, often, an overly-authoritarian home life) where the child's own interests, decisions, and rights are constantly disrespected and his or her natural curiosity and learning are thwarted in favor of a coercively-imposed, predetermined curriculum.
Children DO need to understand that the rights of others must be respected, but they actually don't need "structure" provided by adults; they need love, compassion, and of course the necessities of life. John Taylor Gatto, who resigned as a NYC teacher and then dedicated his life to exposing and preventing the damage caused by compulsive schooling, knew this well. From the link:
After three decades in the classroom, Gatto realized that the public school system was squashing individualism more than it was educating students and preparing them for the real world. To make matters worse, his later research would reveal that this dumbing down was not just by accident, but by design.
Feeling the education system was beyond repair, Gatto could no longer in good conscience be an active participant. Rather than sending his letter of resignation to his superiors in his school district, he sent a copy of “I Quit, I Think” to the Wall Street Journal, where it was published as an op-ed on July 25, 1991.
In his biting resignation, he wrote:
I’ve come slowly to understand what it is I really teach: A curriculum of confusion, class position, arbitrary justice, vulgarity, rudeness, disrespect for privacy, indifference to quality, and utter dependency. I teach how to fit into a world I don’t want to live in.
I just can’t do it anymore. I can’t train children to wait to be told what to do; I can’t train people to drop what they are doing when a bell sounds; I can’t persuade children to feel some justice in their class placement when there isn’t any, and I can’t persuade children to believe teachers have valuable secrets they can acquire by becoming our disciples. That isn’t true.
Hopefully this won't get taken down.
Why would a post about Trump get taken down HERE?
I LOVE that Trump is a peacemaker instead of a war-monger.
That was my big concern before his first term: I knew almost nothing about him, but his bombastic personality combined with a comment he made in the debates that he would "bomb the SHIT out of ISIS!" had me concerned that he'd be just another Military-Industrial-Complex stooge. Boy, was I glad to be wrong about that.
Trump is the most pro-Peace President we've had in . . . well, a damn long time.
And I believe he actually cares about people. His actions both before and after he came down that elevator in 2015 show examples of genuine respect and concern for common people. He's a decent human being, which American Presidents ALSO have not typically been for a very long time.
Then there's his exceptional intelligence, his canny street-smarts, his willingness to take massive abuse for the cause of human freedom (which I see as the root of MAGA), his unmatched abilities at deal-making, and many other things.
But fostering PEACE instead of pushing WAR is my favorite.
Shout it, brother! Everything government touches turns to shit, and government schools have ALWAYS been at least as much about molding young minds in the shape the Elite want them to be in as about real education.
Plus: children learn best when allowed to follow their own inclinations, including if that means fishing all day, every day. That's hard for most to believe, but decades of experience at Summerhill School in England and and Sudbury Valley School in the US (and the few schools which emulate them) proves that point beyond doubt -- children free to use their time as THEY choose (while also being required to respect the rights of others) become good neighbors who are happy, self-sufficient adults doing what they WANT with their lives. Oddly, Jesus' approach to children (do not offend them!) fits right in with the "freedom for children" approach.
Coercive schooling certainly offended ME. Being enslaved in a system that forced me to listen to semi-woke idiots all day long ("teachers") who often knew less about their subjects that I did was not pleasant, and slowed my learning more than encouraging it.
A lovely message, Hakisac420, and an warm example of the "new Commandment" that Jesus laid down for us in John 13:34 - 13:35 -- Love thy neighbor.
Healthy, well-meaning commentary and interaction like yours is a big reason why I come here, and for that matter it's an important part of the Great Awakening. Can't have the UNITY we need to defeat the Cabal without a positive sense of connection with others, despite our differences.
We aren't just trying to Awaken people to the Evil that needs to be stopped -- we must Awaken people to the universal Brotherhood of Man (and the ladies here know I'm not excluding them by using the ancient terms that encompass all mankind: men, women, and children).
Best wishes to you.
I grew up being constantly surprised at the number of church-going Christians who didn't seem to understand the whole point of Christ's teachings: Love thy neighbor, which ties into His teachings about how to treat (and not "offend") children, because well-treated children don't become nightmare adults.
I don't quite agree: a Constitutional Republic CAN be a temporary shelter for Liberty, but because it contains the seed of tyranny -- a central Power given the "right" to INITIATE coercion (the power to tax, for example -- which the Articles of Confederation had denied the federal government, before the Constitution "rectified" that omission) -- our "Constitutional Republic" -- which we still are on paper-- can easily become an overbearing tyranny.
Any republic given the "right" to behave in criminal fashion -- to initiate coercion -- WILL become a nightmare, given enough time. It's time to try civil society -- voluntaryism, AKA real freedom. America came THIS CLOSE to being truly free, and was a beacon to the world as a result. But now we must finish the job. The Ring of Power must be destroyed, because using it with even the best intentions can only ever lead to Evil at some point.
As foolish as that sounds, it was once a not-uncommon view in America -- and the trajectory of our Republic essentially proves the point.
Not a popular view here, I know.
These continuing episodes of Boeing planes having highly visible (but so far non-lethal, thank goodness) problems CANNOT be accidental. Whether engineered by the White Hats to wake people up or by those who are actually hoping to down a plane, the sudden start to this trend of "what bizarre problem will happen to a Boeing airliner THIS week?" along with its steady, metronome-like continuation strongly suggests that it isn't random or accidental, but a planned, on-going event.
No sauce, just my opinion.
This was always one of the more visibly insane things about the COVID op: telling people that they should NOT do anything other than stay home if they had symptoms, and then, if they got REALLY sick, go to the hospital.
Who the hell ever thought that NOT treating early symptoms -- of a disease that was supposedly SO DEADLY we had to shut Western Civilization down -- was a good idea?
This sort of thing -- much more of it and much more direct -- would be everywhere if Big Mike were to actually run for President.
Of course, it'll happen soon enough anyway, but putting "her" out there for the role of pResident would be even more bizarre than putting Biden in that role.
I'd also add that the extreme anti-government sentiment is wholly unchristian. Where is this in the Bible? Where does God tell us this is what He wants from us? He doesn't. It's just people imposing their will and their views onto God so that they can keep their beliefs compatible instead of choosing one.
We've pretty much come to terms with our different interpretations already, but I came across this verse today and it directly addresses your question, so I'm sending it along:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
That NIV version is more direct regarding "rulers" and "authorities" than the King James version, which uses "principalities" and "powers" but I think the meaning is identical.
I see the Bible coming down in favor of healthy, earned Authority that doesn't possess a mandate for INITIATING coercion, and opposing artificial "Authority" that perpetrates Evil by USE OF initiated coercion. (Coercion in defense against assault and other genuine crime is another matter, of course).
For naturally emerging leaders who have their people's best interest at heart and against tyranny; opposing Power as Tolkien described it.
As always, just my opinion.
Not the first time Newscum has been found breaking the rules he imposes on the rest of us. He got outed for having a large dinner party with his elite buddies during the COVID lockdowns when even a small living room gathering, much less going to church, was considered a crime.
Not everyone heard our warnings.
Not everyone shamed us.
Millions just did what their doctors or other trusted authorities told them to do, to keep their families safe.
They were conned by the multi-trillion dollar propaganda machine that was built for the exact purpose of pulling the wool over everyone's eyes.
Most were victims who carried no malice and who did nothing to "us."
Don't fall into the trap of seeing everyone who is dying or injured (or terrified from what they now know) in this largest mass-murder in history as "deserving what they got." Most are decent, ordinary people who just fell into the trap that was set for them. Many are children. Even those adults who WERE unpleasant to us were that way because they'd had their minds bent in that direction by that terrible propaganda machine; they were conned into actually believing the jabs would protect people and they had their worst herd instincts primed and triggered to "enforce" that fantasy on others.
I know you feel compassion for the victims, but I think it's worth highlighting that nearly all of them, including those who were cruel to the unvaxxed, did not deserve what was done to them -- loss of family members, horrifying neurological symptoms and other disabilities, early death.
Those who conceived and implemented this nightmare are another story.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/4/24121103/tell-us-what-you-really-think-barry-diller
The MSM is working overtime to crush the company (and Trump himself, of course).
Trump Media is “a scam, just like everything he’s ever been involved in is some sort of con,” says Barry Diller, the legendary American businessman. Furthermore, the people buying the stock are “dopes.”
Includes video, 1 min 34 sec, with Diller slamming both Trump ("like everything else he's been involved in, it's some sort of con") and Truth Social (I mean what does it have, $30 of revenue?).
Why can't it be both? Break the highest law of the land and -- Lady Justice should keep her blindfold on; President or janitor, the law should apply equally.
Anyone following the orders of even a President should not be absolved of the requirement to behave lawfully and ethically. Nuremberg should certainly be a reminder of THAT.