What is the solution?
Dear Editor,
“Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.†O’Brien tells Winston in George Orwell’s “1984†As America slowly slips into an Orwellian world where 2 plus 2 equals 5 many in the country like me are now numb to the mind-bending ignorance daily dosed out by pundits and politicians. I watched a challenger to Liz Chaney’s Congressional seat at a recent debate aptly personify this point when she said America “is not democracy, it is a republicâ€â€”2 plus 2 equals 5. A “republic†is a form of government where power is held by the people and their elected (democracy) representatives, and which has an elected (democracy) president rather than a monarch. Where am I going with this? Thomas Jefferson envisioned our nation as a republic founded on an informed, educated electorate. It would seem that many in our nation would like to see a return to a Jeffersonian republic, without the “educated electorate.†Thus, I am not optimistic about any short-term solution to this conundrum. But as a former history and government teacher there is a long-term solution. Make it a requirement for graduation in all public schools that all students pass a test reflecting their knowledge of our constitution and our government. Then at least we would be adding back the “educated electorate†into the equation. I leave it to others to figure out how to make our nation truly tolerant of all people regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.
Gary Parker Schoales