“A Well Informed Citizenry…”
by Rick Meckstroth,
Rural Custer County Citizen
Thomas Jefferson has a very famous quote: “A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.”
At a conference this past weekend, I saw a great example of how well (or poorly) informed we are that came from a recent study conducted by the The Institute for Citizens and Scholars (formerly Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.) According to the report, only 39 percent of Americans can pass a multiple choice test with questions taken from the U.S. Citizenship Test (the passing score is 60% correct). Less than a quarter (24%), knew why the colonists fought the British and 2 percent thought we fought World War II over climate change.
If one looks deeper into the numbers, they would see that 74% of my generation of +65 year old Americans can pass the test. Contrast that with Americans aged 45 or younger and only 19% passed. With the median age of +60 years in Custer County, perhaps that is why we have so many self-avowed patriots. But more importantly, it is clear we have failed to educate several generations of Americans on the timeless principles of liberty in America’s founding and that
is tragic.
If you feel we are failing today’s younger generations on our founding principles, there is hope. Colorado has a very unique program that teaches the timeless principles of America’s founding with the mission to preserve and celebrate the greatest free country the world has ever seen. The Leadership Program of the Rockies (or LPR for short) has trained over 2,000 Colorado citizens on America’s founding principles over the last 25 years- why they were important when Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and how they apply to our challenges today. In fact, LPR alumni have become local and national elected officials, top state leaders, federal judges, and presidential cabinet members. Others have become prominent activists in the political process, policy change, business, and especially in education.
LPR is not run by a political party, nor is it a one-time seminar or conference; rather, it’s a class of nine-full day sessions. Each class focuses on the preservation of the American idea and builds capabilities of the attendees to become screaming advocates for freedom. Four Custer County citizens are graduates of LPR and even includes an LPR Faculty member that is an expert on laissez-faire capitalism and Ayn Rand’s writings.
If you are interested, you can learn more at leadershipprogram.org and there is no other program like it in the remaining 49 states. Each year, LPR conducts an Annual Retreat that just occurred at the Broadmoor on February 19 & 20 and included about 600 past graduates and followers- the second largest gathering of liberty-lovers in Colorado. Speakers this year included Daniel Krauthammer, Buck Sexton, Newt Gingrich, Jonathan Turley and many more.
This year’s LPR Retreat focused on the preparation and an early celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence to be celebrated next year. Who will own the 250th celebration next year in Custer County? Maybe we should use this celebration to find our way to a better informed citizenry in the Wet Mountain Valley?