The Power of the Family Dinner Conversation / #theFreedomPapers #education #criticalthinking #family
Knowledge is not simply ‘power,’ it is dormant power. Letters can be used to create words to craft ideas and create intellectual discussion, but in and of themselves, they are only letters; instruments to aid us in communication. The application of knowledge, of those letters into choice words creates the ability to exercise power through the construction of ideas that can be communicative.
Distilled: Knowledge is dormant power. The application of knowledge is power in action.
It is nearly impossible for the American educational system to correct itself from its current trajectory regarding the understanding of the most important twenty first century skills required to shape new generations of Americans in the form and fashion needed. A recurring message demand is that we focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), when in fact we have to get STEEM, in order to exercise the application of that knowledge. The extra ‘E’ is entrepreneurship. Moreover, it is not enough to create an enterprising labor force of focused professionals, we have to get critical as active participants in how our local, national and global community operates. The addition of entrepreneurially-toned, critically thinking active citizens who happen to also be consummate scientists, technology-professionals, engineers and applied mathematicians introduces a scaled dynamism into American life hereto not ever experienced.
Established political organizations will not advocate for the upbringing of such a class of citizenship, for it would soon rock the current political climate, bringing forth a wave of mindful citizenry, a squelching of the ways and means of the current television and online social media news themes and informational layouts, as well as a turning of the tables within university academic institutions. These same organizations and entities which would receive the brunt of change would and do censor the rise of such an idea, given that it would bring about the demise of the leftist, social-progressive hegemony over the channels of information distribution. Simply put, the current victors of the battle of ideas stay on top by directly and indirectly containing the message output to the American populace. Thus, they impact and contain (to an exceeding large degree) the thinking and feeling of hearts and minds by controlling news, entertainment, printed media, and academic-institution informational discourse. In such a climate, open-minded, independent critical thinkers, regardless of their professional focus, will always be outsiders in a matrix system that is heavily slanted towards favoring a political left, neoliberal, globalist ideological construct. Such an ideology has a right to exist in a free nation as the United States of America, yet the proponents of it have literally positioned themselves as the informational gatekeepers, leaving a lopsided ideological status quo wherein conservative hearts and minds are ostracized, sidelined and ridiculed, rather than engaged in critical discussion.
So it becomes then, it is nearly impossible for the American citizenry to break free from such a social-political arrangement and history repeats itself according to the dictates of the leftist agenda.
What can be done? What can parents do to gain a foothold in the shaping of their children’s minds?
1. Have dinner time family conversations on age-appropriate local and national issues
a. Practice protecting familial relationships in the midst of disagreements.
2. Have your children be creators of content, rather than receiving antennas.
a. Turn off the television, the movie watching and the inappropriate music listening.
1. Create art stations: Purchase portable painting easels and keep a steady supply of paint brushes, paints, and canvasses ready to be used. Have these set up so that your child merely has to sit down and get a cup of water to clear the paint from the brushes.
2. Role-model as parents that you are creators of content and action also: be painters, writers, athletes and spontaneous, outspoken citizens, harmless as doves, but clever as snakes. Be meditators, singers, dancers and engineer new modes of familial operational dynamics together with your children.
In order to develop a critically thinking, open-minded society we must realize that we are innately powerful already as individuals. We need not start shouting in the streets, but become writers and discussers of ideas. The spoken word, as Frederick Douglass realized, will be forgotten after a few days, but the written word remains in a physical way, ready to be re-read and studied, time and time again. The more families value the nurturing of critical thinking, the stronger will be the innate, God-given liberties and freedoms we enjoy. It is in this kind of mindfulness that a readiness to discern stays toned and an ever-present potential for civic-minded action can be realized at any time.
Knowledge is not simply ‘power,’ it is dormant power. Letters can be used to create words to craft ideas and create intellectual discussion, but in and of themselves, they are only letters; instruments to aid us in communication. The application of knowledge, of those letters into choice words creates the ability to exercise power through the construction of ideas that can be communicative.
Distilled: Knowledge is dormant power. The application of knowledge is power in action.
It is nearly impossible for the American educational system to correct itself from its current trajectory regarding the understanding of the most important twenty first century skills required to shape new generations of Americans in the form and fashion needed. A recurring message demand is that we focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), when in fact we have to get STEEM, in order to exercise the application of that knowledge. The extra ‘E’ is entrepreneurship. Moreover, it is not enough to create an enterprising labor force of focused professionals, we have to get critical as active participants in how our local, national and global community operates. The addition of entrepreneurially-toned, critically thinking active citizens who happen to also be consummate scientists, technology-professionals, engineers and applied mathematicians introduces a scaled dynamism into American life hereto not ever experienced.
Established political organizations will not advocate for the upbringing of such a class of citizenship, for it would soon rock the current political climate, bringing forth a wave of mindful citizenry, a squelching of the ways and means of the current television and online social media news themes and informational layouts, as well as a turning of the tables within university academic institutions. These same organizations and entities which would receive the brunt of change would and do censor the rise of such an idea, given that it would bring about the demise of the leftist, social-progressive hegemony over the channels of information distribution. Simply put, the current victors of the battle of ideas stay on top by directly and indirectly containing the message output to the American populace. Thus, they impact and contain (to an exceeding large degree) the thinking and feeling of hearts and minds by controlling news, entertainment, printed media, and academic-institution informational discourse. In such a climate, open-minded, independent critical thinkers, regardless of their professional focus, will always be outsiders in a matrix system that is heavily slanted towards favoring a political left, neoliberal, globalist ideological construct. Such an ideology has a right to exist in a free nation as the United States of America, yet the proponents of it have literally positioned themselves as the informational gatekeepers, leaving a lopsided ideological status quo wherein conservative hearts and minds are ostracized, sidelined and ridiculed, rather than engaged in critical discussion.
So it becomes then, it is nearly impossible for the American citizenry to break free from such a social-political arrangement and history repeats itself according to the dictates of the leftist agenda.
What can be done? What can parents do to gain a foothold in the shaping of their children’s minds?
1. Have dinner time family conversations on age-appropriate local and national issues
a. Practice protecting familial relationships in the midst of disagreements.
2. Have your children be creators of content, rather than receiving antennas.
a. Turn off the television, the movie watching and the inappropriate music listening.
1. Create art stations: Purchase portable painting easels and keep a steady supply of paint brushes, paints, and canvasses ready to be used. Have these set up so that your child merely has to sit down and get a cup of water to clear the paint from the brushes.
2. Role-model as parents that you are creators of content and action also: be painters, writers, athletes and spontaneous, outspoken citizens, harmless as doves, but clever as snakes. Be meditators, singers, dancers and engineer new modes of familial operational dynamics together with your children.
In order to develop a critically thinking, open-minded society we must realize that we are innately powerful already as individuals. We need not start shouting in the streets, but become writers and discussers of ideas. The spoken word, as Frederick Douglass realized, will be forgotten after a few days, but the written word remains in a physical way, ready to be re-read and studied, time and time again. The more families value the nurturing of critical thinking, the stronger will be the innate, God-given liberties and freedoms we enjoy. It is in this kind of mindfulness that a readiness to discern stays toned and an ever-present potential for civic-minded action can be realized at any time.
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