Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery. ~ Horace Mann
America did something profound. Among other things it created the first nation where rights were not given to the people by a monarch or ruler.
A ruler or king or President didn’t have power over the person, thus, the right to bear arms or pursue happiness wasn’t theirs to give.
It also formed the first land where your end was not determined by your beginning.
Of course, you could have a leg up in the way of a rich father with many connections, but that rich father wasn’t a king. He wasn’t a prince or a duke (aside from John Wayne). He was simply a man who earned more than other men, usually by providing some service better than other men had provided it before him.
No matter the class or race or sex, humans in America have risen. Sometimes it’s taken generations, other times decades, and other times years as the result of a very good idea.
It is skill, knowledge, and talent that sets men apart in America, not birthright, and any man has the ability to develop skill and acquire knowledge. You don’t need a mentor. You don’t need an education to get an education.
We have libraries and used books. You can buy a ‘mentor’ for 30 cents and read his advice over a weekend.
When America was formed, it was also the only place where land was a man’s. It wasn’t on loan from the crown like it was in Britain. If a man bought land he owned it, and he owned what was underneath it.
In Canada we only own the plot a few feet deep. If we’re sitting on a field of oil, that oil isn’t truly legally ours.
America, no matter what it’s become or what you think of it, is the land of the free. It’s a grand experiment that shook the world.
If you’re a man, today, living in America, you have an opportunity like no other. Seize it. Don’t get caught thinking about what may have been or wishing about what could be. Make what will be by the sweat of your brow.
Become an educated man by studying and reading and learning even if it’s not in a formal classroom, and no matter where you start, you’ll create an uneven playing field in your favour.
