To the Editor:
Thomas Jefferson wrote, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilisation, it expects what never was and never will be.”
Jefferson wrote this quote in a letter to Charles Yancey on Jan. 6, 1816. The letter emphasizes his belief in the importance of an educated public to a functioning republic.
He stated that government officials tend to infringe upon the liberty and property of their constituents, and that the only safe place for these is with the informed people themselves.
Jefferson also highlighted the role of a free press in keeping the public informed, saying that “where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.”
Today’s attacks on education and the press are not an attack on liberalism, they are an attack on Americanism. For an ignorant electorate is a pliable citizenry, bendable to the will of an authoritarian government.
Believe what you will about the value of a college education, but as someone who spends his time with young adults every week, there is much to be learned and much to be unlearned in an environment of debate and discussion.
Where else would today’s students have the time to do this, if not in college? All those in authority today had the benefit of a college education, and would not be where they are if not for it. What they recognize and what we must too is that for them to preserve their power, we need to rely on them as our teachers, and not on our own ability to be critical thinkers. We cannot allow that if we are to preserve our humanity. Else we cede power over our own destiny.
Mike Bellissimo
West Tisbury
Mike Bellissimo is a professor of management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. –Ed.
