Question Everything

We are not free. We only have the illusion of freedom. We are handed a brochure of options to choose from and within those options, there is freedom. But if there was real freedom, the options would be limitless. All of society would be on the table for discussion. Yet we have only two real political parties, one system of government and one way of life. You would imagine in a free society that everything, our government, our morals, our rules, and every way in which we live and operate in our society would be on the table for discussion, but in my experience I have found this not to be so. People can fight and argue all they want about the death penalty or abortion, but if you ask people to question democracy or education, the conversation will more likely reach a very abrupt ending. And these are just two examples, but the sad reality is that there are many more. 

Now I am not saying that democracy is bad, or that children should not be sent to school, but I am saying that they should be questioned. The only way that we can build anything great is by constantly testing it and scrutinizing it. No topic should be off limits. Every aspect of our lives should be under questioning. Just because everyone does live this way doesn't mean it is the way we should live. I would argue that there is no ONE way that anyone should live. We are all different and should all be allowed to live however and believe whatever we want. I believe that for all the good that education does it can easily breed conformity. 

Education for me is the big one. But if you even broach the subject about not sending your child to school with some people and you will find extreme resistance. You can't even bring up the conversation. Something is very backwards about that to me. It may seem like I am against education, but in fact it I am completely for education, but a more progressive form. Young children need to understand the rules of our society so when they get a little older they can adjust the model so that it may be better. Children need to understand our way of life so they can make it BETTER. If our way of life has any chance at getting better it is the newer generations that can do this. I look to my parents and I think of all the things that I could teach them to be happier in their lives, and in my heart believe that my son can teach me just as much if not more. I think that parents teach children, and then it is the job of children to teach the parents. Children has just as much to teach as to learn. The younger generations are there to teach us how to find happiness and follow our dreams, which our parents forgot. If nothing else, there can teach us how to stay open. It is unfortunate because more often then not whatever generation you belong to, everyone always thinks the next doesn't know how to live, or they are ruining the world. Just as you have no right to be told what to do, you have no right to tell anyone else what to do. This concept is not new, and has existed as far back as recorded history, and will exist likely for many to come. I say this not because I am still part of a younger generation, but because that is how life works.

Every spring new flowers grow and blossom in the garden. The old flowers don't school and scold the new ones on how to be a genuine flower, because the young ones already know how to do it. They are flowers. That is what they do. There is no chance they could be anything else. The old flowers say "How wonderful! New flowers!" They gaze upon them and are reminded how glorious and beautiful it is being a flower. Some grow short, others grow long, some come in different colors, have fewer or more leaves and so forth. The old flowers are reminded how wonderful it is to exist. 

We in this culture have such a negative view of children. People don't think so, but look at our culture. Everything in our way of life is guided towards degrees, masters degrees, and careers. Everything is about adulthood. That is the purpose of school, and it seems to be the purpose of life in america. Children are guided to be hardworking adults. Children are taught to follow their dreams, so long as that dream includes a job with a salary. Children are taught to be happy, so long as that happiness includes an opposite sex partner and a few children who they can raise in the same way that you raised them. Those who do not fit these models are outcasts in our society. We need to stop and ask ourselves is this what children want, or is that what we want? Do we really have any clue what is best for our children? We don't even know what is best for ourselves, how on earth can we know what is best for someone else. 

The beauty of life is in its diversity, but yet we are all conditioned to go to school, graduate with a degree, get a career, a spouse and a few kids, a big house with a white picket fence, slave away for 40 hours a week, get old, die and never, NEVER question it. Is this really what is best? Is this really what you want or what you want for your children? This may be how some people want to live and they are more than welcome to do so, but if someone does not want to, they should be encouraged to do so. People should not be culturally conditioned to a standard of living. There is no standard of living. Life is to be lived, and not lived only within the parameters of specific guidelines. Question everything. Find out what works for you.