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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow Freedom Became Free-dumb in America
I dont use the term as an insult the American idiot. I mean it in a precise way, as I try to remind people. For the Greeks, idiot carried a precise and special meaning. The person who was only interested in private life, private gain, private advantage. Who had no conception of a public good, common wealth, shared interest. To the Greeks, the pioneers of democracy, the creators of the demos, such a person was the most contemptible of all. Because even the Greeks seemed to understand: you cant make a functioning democracy out of idiots.
How Freedom Became Free-dumb in America
shockey80
(4,379 posts)patphil
(6,172 posts)Eleanor Roosevelt once said:
"Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect."
We can see how that is playing out right now in America.
CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)And "right"ly so.
In a nearby school district, they had a pretend active shooter burst into a classroom and "take out" the teacher.
In the room was the teacher's son, one of the school's best wrestlers (you know where this is going). After a fellow plain clothes officer and five students got the son off the shooter, the shooter needed medical assistance. He had cuts, bruises, and a possible concussion.
It's been a couple of years and they haven't done it since.