Education: The Path to Freedom

Picture it, Europe, 10,000 BC, a tribe of early man is hunting in the woods. Og is the tribe's best hunter; none of the others can compare to his ability to throw one spear at a deer and bring it down. Og is celebrated by the tribe, they sing songs about him, make jewelry for him and do whatever else cavemen do for one another to show gratitude.

Og is heralded as a superman, someone born with inherently superior powers, that none of his peers can achieve. They are simply grateful that Og can kill a sufficient number of animals for the tribe to survive. They lament the day that Og and his ability to bring home the meat dies.

What the tribesmen do not know is that Og is just a regular caveman like everyone else. He puts his loincloth on just like the next caveguy or gal. He's no stronger, quicker , quieter, or smarter than any of his other cavemates. So why is Og such a better killer?

It's because Og figured out through trial and error that when you aim for the heart of the beast, and it enters through the heart, the animal is much more likely to stop running, fall over and die. All the others never bothered to hone their skills to the degree that Og did.

So Og is now in a prehistoric moral dilemma: does he tell his fellow tribesmen his technique or does he keep it to himself and lavish in the praise of a hero and die with his secret?

Obviously, if Og told his tribesmen his technique, they will no doubt apply it and see immediate and measurable positive results. The other hunters will get as good if not better than Og at hunting and no doubt build upon his success. So even though Og's personal glory and fame may dry up, his tribe's chances for survival will increase exponentially.

Naturally, Og will teach his tribesmen his hitherto esoteric technique. Teaching is the sharing of new information to other human beings so that they can apply the information to better their own lives. Teaching is an act of generosity since Og didn't have to share; he chose to so that others may grow.

What happens next? The students will take the new information and indeed they become as good or even better at hunting than Og. Now Og doesn't have to put in as many hours hunting since others can pick up the slack. This creates leisure time for Og and he parlays his act of generosity by encouraging a culture of teaching. He exhorts his fellow hunters to find even better ways to hunt deer so that yields can increase exponentially.

The other tribesmen, who deeply respect Og, the great hunter and teacher, heed his call: Thog found a new way to sharpen his spear tip so that it will keep its edge for an extended period of time. Now the tribesmen have less prep work and can sleep in a little more, thus increasing their mental clarity. One especially thoughtful and refreshed hunter found it was better to hunt in two teams: one to approach the deer from rear, scaring it, and the others in front who are lying in wait for the deers approach. Ug, the new kid, hypothesized that the team should hunt deer in the morning, and by building on that initiative, the tribesmen discovered a hunting schedule that maximized yields.

Most importantly was the tribe's decision to teach the children these techniques at an early age: if they did, they surmised, and some calamity hit the elders, the children wouldn't have to start from square one; they'd take what their ancestors have learned, utilize it and build on it. Educating the children becomes a priority because it not only maintains the status quo, it allows the whole of the tribe to grow in ways yet imagined.

And so we have it today; each generation's primary responsibility is to teach the future one all that we have learned so that the next generation can improve itself and become more civilized. All it takes is one generation to forsake its primary responsibility of teaching and we go back to finding the best way to hunt deer, just like Og. Education is the key to prosperity and vice versa. The very poor, who spend all waking hours tilling the earth, have no time left over to become more educated. And without education, you have not chance of true prosperity.

Therefore, the two Baha'i principles of universal education and eliminating extreme poverty go hand and hand. We must not accept a world where huge strata of humanity live and die without a proper education; without it, you will see zounds of Ogs, who will not only use guns instead of spears, but will also kill other humans instead of deer. Without education, man will have no time to reflect on his spiritual nature so that he can engage with his fellow man with the utmost respect and morality.

Our children, who for a short time remain young and most viable to new ideas, must be taught all that should be known so that upon maturation, they are extraordinarily ready for the tests that the world beholds each and all of us. If their youth is squandered in the context of war, poverty, or in the willful ignorance of a likeminded genereration, we can not expect the lot of humanity to improve.

Peace leads to prosperity and prosperity lends itself to an environment fit for teaching so that the current generation can learn what it means to live in a peaceful prosperous world so that their children's children's children can grow and become ever more civilized.

Liberty, Justice, In God We Trust,

Todd