Self-government, one of the key principles of individual and societal freedom, is being culturally rejected by some academics. This malicious movement, if adopted by society, will undermine our cultures, our families, our economies, and our personal empowerment. Luckily, the solution to culture warfare has always had a simple yet powerful and effective solution; strengthen the people by strengthening the families.
In 1999, our family decided to take in troubled teens as a therapeutic treatment care foster family. The issues facing these troubled teens varied and required extensive learning and effort to overcome. But, my husband and I weren’t only concerned about the teens’ issues and behaviors. Those could be fixed in time. But, what about the long term futures of the children? What about their hearts and their personal empowerment? We wanted the teens who left our home to have the tools for self-government so that they could choose to live happy, productive lives no matter what they encountered during their life’s journeys.
Self-Government Is Powerful
Self-government is being able to determine the cause and effect of any given situation, and possessing a knowledge of your own behaviors so that you can control them. When a person self-governs they analyze themselves honestly, make plans for solving problems and getting better outcomes and then deliberately choose and act upon their plans. They don’t make excuses for themselves. They acknowledge their individual agency and personal power to choose and they exercise those powers deliberately while also taking responsibility for the effects of those choices; the consequences.
Likewise, a society who self-governs analyzes themselves honestly, plans for success and accepts the consequences of their choices. A self-governed individual or society also always recognizes the agency and freedom to self-govern that every other person has, and respects that personal power by not forcing or controlling others.
Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of the United States of America, was especially outspoken about the principle of self-government, and hoped that the USA would be a society who lived up to their duty and honor as a self-governing nation. He said:
“Every man, and every body of men on earth, possesses the right of self-government.” –Thomas Jefferson: Opinion on Residence Bill, 1790.
“Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.” –Thomas Jefferson: 1st Inaugural, 1801.
The Rejection Of Self-Government
Even though the principle of self-government is woven into our hearts, despite the fact that many people don’t learn how to self-govern themselves well, it’s being rejected. It used to be that self-government was always openly supported in words as a principle, even if it was neglected or rejected in family or governmental practices. But nowadays, controlling academics and activist groups as well as self-serving and lackadaisical individuals are openly pushing for the rejection of self-government.
In Dr. Carol Swain’s book, Black Eye For America, she exposed the disturbing rejection of self-government when she quoted the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture’s 2020 guidelines for what society needs to reject for racial reasons. The guidelines instruct individuals to reject the following:
- Individualism, individual autonomy, and self-reliance
- Two parent homes
- Objective, rational linear thinking
- Cause and Effect
- Math
- Belief that hard work pays off
- Property rights
- Planning for the future and delaying gratification
- Being polite
To reject individualism is to embrace collectivism (Marxism). To reject individual autonomy is to embrace co-dependence and irresponsibility. Self-reliance is an aspect of all self-control, independence and interdependence. If rejected, then a person would think that everything that happens to them is someone else’s fault.
Even though not every home has two parents present to raise the children, I have never heard any of my single parent friends or single parents who come to me for support or help declare that being a single parent is best. They always talk about how hard single parenting is because it isn’t the ideal situation for their family, but that they are doing the best that they can. Social science has also overwhelmingly proven that statistically, children fair better academically, socially, and morally when they come from two parent homes.
If we reject “objective, rational, linear thinking,” then we are forced to encourage and embrace subjective, irrational, cyclical thinking. That sounds like a person thinking that they are their own god, they are emotionally entitled, and don’t feel a need to make any sense when talking. It actually sounds like a lot of the drama happening on TikTok and other social media platforms.
To reject “cause and effect” is to reject the very definition of self-government and undermine human problem solving as well as science.
The rejection of math, which is behind nearly all of our technological and scientific advancements, is to reject progress and problem solving. Even if everyone isn’t good at math, we couldn’t live as we do without it.
The American dream is based on the idea that Americans can own, create, build, and repair whatever they are willing to work hard and wait for. The rejection of “hard work, property rights, planning for the future and delaying gratification” is the rejection of the American dream as well as the rejection of key principles of freedom.
Finally, the rejection of “being polite” is embracing being rude, unkind, uncaring, uncivilized, and animalistic. To reject a basic sign of respect, such as politeness, is to promote war, selfishness, social and emotional isolation, anxiety, broken relationships, drama, bullying, abuse, objectification, bias, and more.
The Simple Solution
When something is simple it is plain, ordinary, and single. The simple solution to the rejection of our principles of freedom and self-government is to practice and learn self-government ourselves and in our homes.
The most basic governmental structure in society is the family government. It is one single group of people who are together to nurture each other. To nurture is to strengthen, train, nourish, grow, and correct. These are the basic functions of families.
If parents, regularly analyze themselves (hearts, minds, and behaviors), then children will see self-government as a truth/principle to live by. Self-government is hard work, it takes time (often a whole lifetime), it relies upon understanding cause and effect and problem solving, and is the very essence of self-reliance. It’s powerful! When parents are self-governed, then they are calm, connected, nurturing, kind, and consistent in their teaching. This type of teaching imparts a self-government legacy to their children.
Just because some people are rejecting self-government, doesn’t mean that our children need to believe the manipulations. Show them, in your home culture that the principles that society is rejecting are truths that you stand for. Show the children, with your example, that self-government is possible and powerful!
Start learning self-government with this free Calm Parenting Toolkit.
