Loading ...Some wisdom from the late William F. Buckley:
“The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry.”
“We are so concerned to flatter the majority that we lose sight of how very often it is necessary, in order to preserve freedom for the minority, let alone for the individual, to face that majority down.”
“Though liberals do a great deal of talking about hearing other points of view, it sometimes shocks them to learn that there are other points of view.”
“I am obliged to confess I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University.”
“The largest cultural menace in America is the conformity of the intellectual cliques which, in education as well as the arts, are out to impose upon the nation their modish fads and fallacies, and have nearly succeeded in doing so. In this cultural issue, we are, without reservations, on the side of excellence and of honest intellectual combat rather than conformity.”
I’ll add: The only way to have an assertive citizenry is to teach them to be so.
Good advice.
But assertiveness does not come easily to many.
Being that way, can create sparks and friction when others bristle.
You have to be thicker skinned toward their responses.
Self confidence is also necessary. That takes time for most of us.
How much time does one need? If you cannot have confidence in truth, in what can you have confidence?
And that’s why it needs to be taught in the homes, all the time. Government indoctrination centers (public schools) only teach snowflake fear, so where else are they going to get it – from the pansies parading around in uniform???
Of course, one can always choose to be a government bitch, I guess.