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Education and Democracy
Public education is essential to democracy.
by Stephen Lendman
Democracy and an educated citizenry go hand in hand. Public education is the great equalizer. America's founders believed it was insurance against loss of liberty.
Jefferson said:
"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories. And to render them safe, their minds must be improved to a certain degree."
Neil Postman perhaps is best known for saying "Americans are the most entertained and least informed people in the world." Most know little or nothing about what matters most.
Ignorance isn't universal, but a significant majority is affected. Postman served as chairman of New York University's Department of Culture and Communication. He also said:
"Public education isn't important because it serves the public. (It's) important because it creates the public."
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