There is a difference between educating an individual and changing the nature of an individual. Traditional Conservatives want to educate and be educated. Progressives want to change and be changed. Granted, some things need to be changed, but I believe the change should come about as a result of education and choice, not as a result of big government dictating a collective sense of acuity or morality. Unfortunately in this process of discussing and arguing conservative thought vs. progressive thought, in recent years we have created a new power conservatism that interprets education as instructive exhortation. This elite conservative has no desire to learn as the progressive learns – from credentialed expertise. This new conservative believes he or she has all the knowledge necessary from tradition and from his or her own indoctrination. This elite conservative believes that because a progressive desires to use their learning as a tool to manipulate and change the nature of an individual, the learning is bad. This could not be further from the truth. The learning is not bad, (though personally I would agree that the progressive slant is skewed). For the conservative though, the learning could be used differently: as a tool to conserve and advance equality of opportunity, allowing the best of an individual to come about; (which as I understand it, is the original purpose of Traditional American Conservatism). To deny learning because it is a progressive tool to be feared, leads the elite conservative to work to advance regressive thought, which plays out as oxymoronic as it sounds. It is closer to the truth to make the following observations:

1. The elite conservative leaders use fear as a tool to encourage the majority conservative to deny knowledge, and
2. The progressive leaders use fear as a tool to encourage the progressive majority to deny equality of opportunity.

I believe in knowledge and I believe in equality of opportunity. But in our current state, what we are left with is ignorance and a feeble, unworkable attempt at equality of outcomes. Education is not populist rhetoric. Education will not magically transform reality into a Garden of Eden. Education should not incite arrogance or insecurity or fear. Education should lead to knowledge that first facilitates survival, then allows one to pursue personal well-being, and only then naturally enhances a collective well-being. As a culture we have become averse to education. We have come to think of learning as a social exercise that encourages amicability and conformity. We have come to think of debate and argument as an activity that builds confidence and reinforces certainty. We have come to think of activism as a learning exercise that encourages allegiance to a specific faction or ideology. We have lost our way. We no longer know “how” to think. Thinking has become a superficial exercise in futility that offers an illusion of free will. We no longer know how to listen for understanding. We no longer know how to consider a differing opinion, how to analyze the process by which another individual may have come to their belief, or how to incorporate the best features of their thought into my thought. I promise that every ideology has best features and to understand the thought process will lead to a melding and evolution that can only result in greater depth and advancement toward (both individual and collective) well-being. And isn't that what we are all striving for? Imagine: A purposeful entanglement of old and new knowledge that will enhance and advance individual and collective well-being.