'When the Student is Ready, the Teacher Will Appear'
The Buddhists have a lot on the ball. When we are ready to learn something, teachers seem to magically show up. It isn't really magic. It's just that we weren't really ready to learn until that point. My dad quoted this proverb quite a bit. It's true. Look for the teachers when you're ready to learn. You will find them. Sometimes they were with you all along. Sometimes the right person seems to come into your life at exactly the right moment. This is not divine intervention. It's just that you were ready to embrace a new idea.
My parents are great teachers. I was also fortunate to have some excellent teachers in my academic life. My husband is an amazing teacher, too. I was a little lost when I met Bill. My career was pretty stagnant. I didn't like my job at all and didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I just knew that I loved him and that, somehow, being with him would make everything better. It has, but not because he fixed things for me or 'rescued' me. I had to fix things for myself. I had to find my direction and rediscover some parts of myself that I thought were buried so deep that they were irretrievable.
Bill has a rather unique approach to the world. He sees things differently from anyone I've ever met. At first, I thought his philosophy was too black and white, too simple and way too extreme. But, he kept talking and I continued to listen. I realized, slowly, that my reactions to the concepts he was introducing me to were a direct result of our societal indoctrination. The values being taught in public schools are way off the mark right now. 'The Greater Good' has become more important than the individual. We are taught to be 'selfless' and to 'give back' (even when we haven't taken anything). We are taught that our government is there to take care of us because we may not be capable of taking care of ourselves. We are taught that we are all magically entitled to certain things, without having to earn them. We are taught to trust without questioning. Both private and public schools are teaching us to turn off our brains and stop questioning. They teach to the test and wonder why students retain nothing. We have illiterate high school graduates. WHY? Because our government is in charge of our schools, even the private ones. The governments standards are far too low and the funding (taxes) is poorly managed. We have frustrated teachers, students who are failing and parents who aren't parenting. The system is perfectly designed to get these results. That is why the system needs to go.
It has taken me every bit of seven years to fully embrace the things that Bill already knew. He's nine years older than me, so I do cut myself a little bit of slack. We don't agree about absolutely everything, but I've definitely accepted more of his philosophy than I've rejected. I haven't done that because he's my husband and I have to. I have a good brain and am capable of forming my own conclusions when presented with new information. We've talked, argued and talked some more. I've read and researched ideas and concepts on my own. In my own good time, I've learned to understand more of what is really happening in our country and in our world. It's a relief to finally know what I value and to have a clear direction.
If I were to sum up our philosophy as simply as possible, it is this. A=A. The first time he said this to me, I believe I said something like, 'What the @#$% is that supposed to mean? Of course A=A!' He explained that this is Ayn Rand's philosophy. Again, I encourage you to read anything and everything she's ever written. I don't agree with every single thing she says, but most of it is frighteningly accurate. Here's what we think she means:
Existence exists. We don't need to say, 'I think, therefore I am' because it's redundant. We only need to say, 'I am'. The individual is the most important thing. Rational thought is our greatest ability. Our emotions are a consequence of our rational thought and our underlying values. We are in control of our emotions and our behavior, and no one else's. People should be free to live any way they choose, as long as our individual rights are protected. (See the Bill of Rights.)
If you accept all of the above, life becomes very simple. I am responsible for myself and the people I've chosen to create. I should not be forced to be responsible for anyone else at any time. No one should be able to take my money or property for any reason. That's why income tax is wrong. That's why almost every government program should be stopped. Our government should only handle the military and the courts. The only tax that is truly fair is sales tax. And, since the government would be much, much smaller, that tax wouldn't have to be very high. See what I mean by extreme?
If we had more of our, hard-earned money, rather than giving half of it to the government, we could then CHOOSE to support causes that are near and dear to our hearts. If I think education is important, I could give money to private schools for scholarships. If I think taking care of the mentally ill and disabled is important, I could support private institutions that care for them. However, I couldn't be forced to take care of people who are capable of taking care of themselves, but refuse to do it. (I'm talking about Welfare here.) Do you see where I'm going with this? If we truly had a free market and if we were truly a capitalist society, all of these problems would not exist. The good and productive would be rewarded. The lazy and useless would fail. Our society would continue to get better because we would stop punishing the productive and rewarding the failures.
These aren't new ideas, but they aren't popular. Why? Because we have been taught to be afraid. We have been taught not to think. We have been taught that we can't take care of ourselves and that we should value someone else's needs over our own. Those teachings are evil.
I'm so thankful that my husband has been patient enough to keep talking about these things with me. I'm so glad that I finally get it. I feel like it's taken me a long time to finally 'see the light', but it is a beautiful thing.
Thank you, Bill. For everything.
My parents are great teachers. I was also fortunate to have some excellent teachers in my academic life. My husband is an amazing teacher, too. I was a little lost when I met Bill. My career was pretty stagnant. I didn't like my job at all and didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I just knew that I loved him and that, somehow, being with him would make everything better. It has, but not because he fixed things for me or 'rescued' me. I had to fix things for myself. I had to find my direction and rediscover some parts of myself that I thought were buried so deep that they were irretrievable.
Bill has a rather unique approach to the world. He sees things differently from anyone I've ever met. At first, I thought his philosophy was too black and white, too simple and way too extreme. But, he kept talking and I continued to listen. I realized, slowly, that my reactions to the concepts he was introducing me to were a direct result of our societal indoctrination. The values being taught in public schools are way off the mark right now. 'The Greater Good' has become more important than the individual. We are taught to be 'selfless' and to 'give back' (even when we haven't taken anything). We are taught that our government is there to take care of us because we may not be capable of taking care of ourselves. We are taught that we are all magically entitled to certain things, without having to earn them. We are taught to trust without questioning. Both private and public schools are teaching us to turn off our brains and stop questioning. They teach to the test and wonder why students retain nothing. We have illiterate high school graduates. WHY? Because our government is in charge of our schools, even the private ones. The governments standards are far too low and the funding (taxes) is poorly managed. We have frustrated teachers, students who are failing and parents who aren't parenting. The system is perfectly designed to get these results. That is why the system needs to go.
It has taken me every bit of seven years to fully embrace the things that Bill already knew. He's nine years older than me, so I do cut myself a little bit of slack. We don't agree about absolutely everything, but I've definitely accepted more of his philosophy than I've rejected. I haven't done that because he's my husband and I have to. I have a good brain and am capable of forming my own conclusions when presented with new information. We've talked, argued and talked some more. I've read and researched ideas and concepts on my own. In my own good time, I've learned to understand more of what is really happening in our country and in our world. It's a relief to finally know what I value and to have a clear direction.
If I were to sum up our philosophy as simply as possible, it is this. A=A. The first time he said this to me, I believe I said something like, 'What the @#$% is that supposed to mean? Of course A=A!' He explained that this is Ayn Rand's philosophy. Again, I encourage you to read anything and everything she's ever written. I don't agree with every single thing she says, but most of it is frighteningly accurate. Here's what we think she means:
Existence exists. We don't need to say, 'I think, therefore I am' because it's redundant. We only need to say, 'I am'. The individual is the most important thing. Rational thought is our greatest ability. Our emotions are a consequence of our rational thought and our underlying values. We are in control of our emotions and our behavior, and no one else's. People should be free to live any way they choose, as long as our individual rights are protected. (See the Bill of Rights.)
If you accept all of the above, life becomes very simple. I am responsible for myself and the people I've chosen to create. I should not be forced to be responsible for anyone else at any time. No one should be able to take my money or property for any reason. That's why income tax is wrong. That's why almost every government program should be stopped. Our government should only handle the military and the courts. The only tax that is truly fair is sales tax. And, since the government would be much, much smaller, that tax wouldn't have to be very high. See what I mean by extreme?
If we had more of our, hard-earned money, rather than giving half of it to the government, we could then CHOOSE to support causes that are near and dear to our hearts. If I think education is important, I could give money to private schools for scholarships. If I think taking care of the mentally ill and disabled is important, I could support private institutions that care for them. However, I couldn't be forced to take care of people who are capable of taking care of themselves, but refuse to do it. (I'm talking about Welfare here.) Do you see where I'm going with this? If we truly had a free market and if we were truly a capitalist society, all of these problems would not exist. The good and productive would be rewarded. The lazy and useless would fail. Our society would continue to get better because we would stop punishing the productive and rewarding the failures.
These aren't new ideas, but they aren't popular. Why? Because we have been taught to be afraid. We have been taught not to think. We have been taught that we can't take care of ourselves and that we should value someone else's needs over our own. Those teachings are evil.
I'm so thankful that my husband has been patient enough to keep talking about these things with me. I'm so glad that I finally get it. I feel like it's taken me a long time to finally 'see the light', but it is a beautiful thing.
Thank you, Bill. For everything.
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