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Tyranny -- Arbitrary or despotic exercise of power; the exercise of power over subjects and others with a rigor not authorized by law or justice, or not requisite for the purposes of government. (Webster’s, 1828)
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The Setting

Once upon a time in a far-off land, people were told by their leaders what and how to believe.  They had no choice in the matter; but this was a good thing, they were told, not only for the welfare of the state, but also for their own temporal and eternal happiness.

Objections to this order simply were not tolerated.  Physical oppression was the primary vehicle used by the ruling elite to extract submission and compliance.  The extreme amount of pain and the loss of limb and life was of such magnitude to be hardly fathomable by the human mind.  Even so, belief orthodoxy was never achieved because the mind can still be free although the body shackled and broken.

With the opportunity to begin anew in a different land, those formerly oppressed now exuberantly promoted what they so long had been prohibited from practicing.  This new orthodoxy interestingly was also good for the country as well as the citizens’ own temporal and eternal happiness.  Freshly mindful of being persecuted in the old country for objecting to the mandated beliefs, these new leaders, for the most part, eventually saw the error of similarly persecuting their detractors.  So a great experiment was launched to reciprocate to others, for the first time, the liberty of belief they so fervently desired for themselves.

But since this precious new experiment was so right and so good for humanity, the leaders dared not blindly entrust it to the unenlightened general public.  This time, now truly in possession of "real truth," the leaders felt an obligation to ensure that the newly granted liberty of the people was properly safeguarded.  Even in granting this liberty they, by being able to grant it, still held the ultimate responsibility.  So initially, parents were allowed to properly equip their children, but the leaders, hungry for control and believing that only they could do it correctly, reclaimed control of the educational process.  Curriculum and teachers were certified, after being duly trained, and children were forced by law to submit to the government’s education system.

And, oh, what truth these new leaders discovered!  They found that the mind could by controlled directly rather than, as in the old country, by way of conquering the body.  Soon, people were so enamored with the allowed possibility by their leaders that the leaders knew best for them and their country, they willingly agreed to pay for this forced indoctrination process.  The indoctrination process of the government was so efficient that the majority of recipient-taxpayers saw no problem with giving up their liberty and educating their own children to do the same.  Objections to this indoctrination process and poor achievements were viewed as reasons for strengthening and extending the system, not for questioning it.  Since the government had supposedly succeeded with the masses, even the recalcitrant could assumedly be made to think correctly if the government was just given more control and more money.  The indoctrination was so effective that even when revealed they were becoming more and more illiterate, citizens took little offense.  The occurrence of illiteracy and loss of liberty (even when made obvious) was easily offset by the confirmation of the high standard of living most people enjoyed and by the unwavering, fully indoctrinated belief that government control of education was essential to this country’s success.

THE END  (We hope not!!)

Related Links

Tyranny Through Public Education - Central

Opening Quotes, Example Injustices, and Acknowledgements

Table of Contents

Chapter 10 Part 1

Chapter 10 Part 2

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