The Future of the Past

The cultural struggle today is an effort to preserve the mind and thought. The reason for the disquiet of so many Americans is not primarily economic, it is cultural. It is the sense that the tie to the past has been cut and we are hurtling toward a dead future in which all the generations of the past, including our own, will be forgotten forever. This is exacerbated by the all too evident truth that there is not only a lack of knowledge about the past among the young but a disdain for its pursuit. For a film representation of this of this disquiet I speak of see the thoughtful and allegorical movie "Children of Men."

The battle to preserve mind and thought is in a great way about preservation of the past since it is a practical impossibility to preserve the ideas, art, philosophy, psychology, history, ethics, metaphysics, and theology for the future without their conveyance from the past into the future using the present as the great conduit of knowledge.

Too often when one hears the term "preservation of the past" one believes this to mean a glorification of the past and all its ideas, philosophy, art and so on. This is anything but the case. It is as essential to preserve those elements of the past we are in strong opposition to as it is to preserve those of which we agree. This is not only out of respect for pluralism and the opinions of others. It is out of a recognition that it is just as often that our opinions and views rest upon oppositions as they do upon advocations. It is at once true that our advocations are often strengthend by our oppositions. A passionate advocate of Keynesian economics ought to read as much Milton Friedman as possible. All seeking to prevent genocide ought to read "Mein Kampf" or Mao's "Little Red Book."

I do not advocate an open mind. I advocate a mind ready to devour every piece of wisdom and knowledge it can reasonably consume. I advocate a mind with an open mouth to greedily gobble up and suck up knowledge and thought. Then closing that mind and chewing on the ideas that it has taken in before opening again. This is the essence of education.

I have dedicated my life to the preservation of the past and the conveyance of that past into the future. This is the only way that there will be a future worth living in. This will allow people of the future to do their own devouring and thinking. It will allow them to form their own beliefs in advocation, opposition, or innovation of those of the past. It will give them the tools to be free citizens in a democratic republic. The preservation of knowledge can save our nation.

To preserve the past is to rescue the future from the tyranny of an ignorant dark age that the present state of our culture and society ominously portends.