AMERICA: THE OWNER'S MANUAL

YOUR AMERICAN EDUCATION

BY HARIOLOR

I

“Whereas it appeareth that however certain forms of government are better calculated than others to protect individuals in the free exercise of their natural rights, and are at the same time themselves better guarded against degeneracy, yet experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny; and it is believed that the most effectual means of preventing this would be, to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people at large, and more especially to give them knowledge of those facts, which history exhibiteth, that, possessed thereby of the experience of other ages and countries, they may be enabled to know ambition under all its shapes, and prompt to exert their natural powers to defeat its purposes.”

With this tremendous run-on sentence, Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States of America, opened a bill written for the establishment of a public school system with limited government subsidy that would educate “the people at large” to better protect them against the ambitions of those to whom power was given in our Republic.

Over the intervening centuries his plans have been changed dramatically, but the seeds of his intent still exist in this great country. You have at your disposal a singular opportunity to study whatever draws your interest without fear of censorship or retribution. Children here have the privilege of receiving a (usually) fully-subsidized education by which they are provided with the tools and knowledge to become positive contributors to society and informed voters. This value of education is so strongly seated at the foundation of our country that it is considered by many to be an implied right of citizenship, though I would warn that it is not specifically stated as such anywhere in our founding documents (see "Your American Privileges" for a further explanation of other common privileges that are not necessarily rights).

Alas, you and your children will find that, as with the many other freedoms your citizenship brings you, there are pitfalls as well. Your local educational system will be subject to the political and moral influences of parents, teachers, government, and benefactors. You may also find that many in your local school system believe so strongly in the “right” to education that they believe knowledge itself should be somehow granted by that right, without hard work or risk of failure. Should you be disillusioned by these facts, fear not, for there exist private educational institutions that offer a still broader and more rigorous education than you might find in your public schools. You are free to choose to send your children to these schools, provided you possess the often substantial income necessary to pay their tuition.

As an American, upon completion of a basic curriculum, all citizens have the opportunity to attend an institution of higher learning, though it will be up to you to demonstrate your qualification for admission and ability to pay (I hope you worked hard in school). Once admitted, you will find that passing requires far more work than it did in your previous schooling, as our society does not yet view advanced education as a “right” on-par with primary education. For those who have financial or educational barriers to admittance, or who find the rigors of higher learning too stressful, many community colleges and technical schools are available to help you improve your employability, and to possibly prepare you for taking a shot at the American Dream of business ownership.

Your learning will not stop there, however. Our most sacred and inviolable right to Freedom of Speech means that you will be assaulted on all sides at all times of day by advertisements, news outlets, and special interests seeking your attention (indeed, you are experiencing it right now!) You will find that many Americans will draw from this information conclusions that differ from your own. Embrace this, for these differences are the strengthening threads in the fabric of our Republic. I encourage you to fully practice your freedoms by entertaining every opinion in your mind, and subjecting them all to the test of your own knowledge and the input of your fellow citizens. Be wary, though, for half-truths and outright lies are often permitted to slip through in the interest of preserving free discourse. It will be up to you, armed with your own intuition and the vast knowledge you have accumulated in your education, to sift the good from the bad. Much of what you encounter will be subjective, and your own intellect, experience and morality, forged and honed in the educational system, will be your only guides.

I end by offering a few pieces of advice to give you a jump-start on navigating the storm of information you will encounter here in America.

1. The most professional and somber delivery is often the most prone to half-truths. - Verify!
2. The same goes for the most impassioned opinions. - Verify again!
3. Hold fast to your beliefs, but debate them often and openly. Discourse is an opportunity for growth and fosters understanding.
4. Do not let your feelings be hurt by the expression of opinions different from your own, they are the bread-and-butter of free people.
5. Never stop learning. You have freer access to more information in America than anywhere else in the world. This is a treasure of incalculable value.

AMERICA: THE OWNER'S MANUAL

INTRODUCTION

BY CINCINNATUS

So, you’ve acquired American Citizenship. Congratulations! Whether obtained by birth or naturalization, American citizenship brings with it innumerable benefits, but also immense responsibilities. As an American citizen, you have inherited a tradition of individual liberty that yields both personal and financial dividends well beyond that of any competing nation. You have it within your power to become fabulously wealthy and pursue whatever endeavors your heart desires. Of course, these rights and rewards would not exist at all without a few rules (those responsibilities we just talked about!). In order for you to be free to realize the American dream, you must ensure that you chase that dream without trampling the rights of others. If that sounds a lot like the Golden Rule, well I suppose it is, after a fashion. If you break the rules, you are subject to the judgment of your fellow citizens, who will hear arguments both on your behalf and against you and render a decision as to whether you are guilty or not (we will discuss this in more detail in the chapter entitled “Your American Justice System”).

Who makes the rules, you may ask? Well, you do. That is to say, the government (local, state and federal) you elect makes the rules. It’s important to think of them as a sort of Board of Directors for an extremely inclusive club (we’ll discuss the precise structure in “Your American Government”). Their role is minimal and you should only meet them when you request upgrades to your membership (any sort of licensing, such as driver’s, marriage, etc; see chapter entitled “Your American Privileges”), when you pay your club dues, or when you break the club’s rules. Beyond that, the Board must stay out of your way so that you can go about your business without undue interference. You are entitled to your privacy and any activities on your part that do not fall under the Board’s discretion are not the Board’s business. In case you are worried that the Board may redefine its responsibilities or your rights, the “Club Charter” (the United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence) outlines the limits of their power clearly and includes a Bill of Rights for the members that are inviolable and unchangeable. And remember, Board members serve at your discretion; you can vote to kick sitting members off should they take the club in a direction you feel inappropriate or in contravention of the “charter.”

As you can see, American citizenship grants you a great deal of leeway. Your opportunities are limitless because citizenship means equality under the law. Under the American system, you are no better or worse than any of your fellow citizens, even those in government, who are subject to the same rules as everyone else. Of course no system is perfect, and if you feel that you are being singled out for discrimination or harassed by your government, or that your government is generally in violation of the Constitution, you have recourse (see chapters “The American Revolution,” “The American Civil War” and “Your American Justice System”). As equals, all American citizens are entitled to the same basic rights as everyone else, and you can feel secure that, whatever enterprise you undertake as a citizen, the fruits of said enterprise are yours to keep and utilize as you see fit.

I’m sure you are excited to start using your American citizenship. It is indeed wonderful and precious. Before doing so, however, please be sure to read the warning below. Enjoy your citizenship and welcome to the American Republic!

WARNING: While citizenship allows for individual freedom and the accrual of wealth, it also allows for failure in the pursuit of both. If you should find that, by your own agency, you should fail in either, be aware that you must bear the consequences of whatever actions led to said failure. Citizenship protects equality of opportunity and NOT equality of results. While many citizens do succeed, your experience may vary.

AMERICA: THE OWNER'S MANUAL (REFERENCE FREQUENTLY)

PREFACE

BY CINICINNATUS

In such times as these, with an election imminent that promises to unveil a future so terribly unlike our past, it is easy for Americans to lose their way. We have at times seen our country as what she is now rather than what she has always been and what she should be. We are today caught in the confluence of contemporary trends and carried along by its current, heavily buffeted by the rhetoric of two competing ideologies. We have to grab hold of something, and give reason and reflection a precious moment to sink in before we take our country down a path from which it can hardly return without too much self-inflicted harm. In order to understand where our country should go, we of course have to consider where it has been and, most importantly, from whence it came. In this spirit, I offer up the words of our venerated Founders to help us cut through the din and cacophony of electioneering and shameless politics. These are the men who literally made America with their words and blood. They constructed a system of government that is a model for eternal success, a success attested to with its modern-day survival, though it bears the scars and bruises of over two hundred years of tragedy and triumph. The words speak for themselves, and our history is their context. Consider this part of America: The Owner's Manual.

As long as Property exists, it will accumulate in Individuals and Families. As long as Marriage exists, Knowledge, Property and Influence will accumulate in Families.
-John Adams

There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
-John Adams

Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it.
-John Adams

Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.
-Thomas Jefferson

Excessive taxation will carry reason & reflection to every man's door, and particularly in the hour of election.
-Thomas Jefferson

Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our servant, not our master!
-Thomas Jefferson

When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.

-Thomas Jefferson

If, from the more wretched parts of the old world, we look at those which are in an advanced stage of improvement, we still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised, to furnish new pretenses for revenues and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without tribute.
-Thomas Paine

Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.
-Thomas Paine

The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.
-Thomas Paine

There are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the of the people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpation.
-James Madison

We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.
-James Madison

A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.
-James Madison

America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.
-James Madison

But ambitious encroachments of the federal government, on the authority of the State governments, would not excite the opposition of a single State, or of a few States only. They would be signals of general alarm... But what degree of madness could ever drive the federal government to such an extremity.
-James Madison

I own myself the friend to a very free system of commerce, and hold it as a truth, that commercial shackles are generally unjust, oppressive and impolitic — it is also a truth, that if industry and labour are left to take their own course, they will generally be directed to those objects which are the most productive, and this in a more certain and direct manner than the wisdom of the most enlightened legislature could point out.
-James Madison

The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.
-James Madison

What astonishing changes a few years are capable of producing! I am told that even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form of government without horror. From thinking proceeds speaking, thence to acting is often but a single step. But how irrevocable and tremendous! What a triumph for the advocates of despotism to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the basis of equal liberty are merely ideal & fallacious!
-George Washington

It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it.

-George Washington

I

No country upon earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings than United America. Wondrously strange, then, and much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means and to depart from the road which Providence has pointed us to so plainly; I cannot believe it will ever come to pass.
-George Washington