"it is not necessary to burn the books. All we have to do is to leave them unread for a few generations."

Can ordinary humans study the great works of the past? Would they be able to grasp it, the knowledge of the ages, or is this something that has been reserved for the “elite” for good reason? Also, would anything in these dusty old books even pertain to the current times?

I have been talking about this idea for months here at home, with the people in my little circle, and I was surprised to hear two of them say that “not everyone can learn these things” and yet another said “what would be the point in reading such old books?” Fortunately for me, as I am still early in my learning and most certainly do not have all of the answers, the men who compiled the Great Books of the Western World discussed these topics in book 1, The Great Conversation.

Even though no one on SteemIt voiced these concerns, I thought I'd address them here for any quiet naysayers.

What are these books? What kind of an education could they offer to us living here in 2017?

“Until very recently these books have been central in education in the West. They were the principal instrument of liberal education, the education that men acquired as an end in itself, for no other purpose than that it would help them to be men, to lead human lives, and better lives than they would otherwise be able to lead.”
page 3, The Great Conversation

That was written in 1952, to put that “until very recently” part into perspective. This knowledge, some have called it our birthright as humans, has been absent from the lives of ordinary people for so very long.

I'm looking at you, John D. Rockefeller...and your friends.

“The aim of liberal education is human excellence, both private and public (for man is a political animal). Its object is the excellence of man as man and man as citizen. It regards man as an end, not as a means; and it regards the ends of life, and not the means to it. For this reason it is the education of free men. Other types of education or training treat men as means to some other end, or are at best concerned with the means of life, with earning a living, and not with its ends.”
page 3, The Great Conversation

These books contain information that has been occulted from us, causing humankind to forget our power so that we might toil our days away to fulfill the dreams of others.

What would an education in the liberal arts afford us?

“The method of liberal education is the liberal arts, and the result of liberal education is discipline in those arts. The liberal artist learns to read, write, speak, listen, understand, and think. He learns to reckon, measure, and manipulate matter, quantity, and motion in order to predict, produce, and exchange. As we live in the tradition, whether we know it or not, so we are all liberal artists, whether we know it or not. We all practice the liberal arts, well or badly, all the time every day. As we should understand the tradition as well as we can in order to understand ourselves, so we should be as good liberal artists as we can in order to become as fully human as we can.”
page 4, The Great Conversation

So, is it possible to offer this knowledge to everyone? Can everyone hope to obtain the end of becoming “fully human” or is the world doomed to always require a stunted slave class of humans?

“It would seem that this education is the best for everybody, if it is the best for the best, provided everybody can get it. The question, then, is : Can everybody get it? This is the most important question in education. Perhaps it is the most important question in the world.
Nobody knows the answer to this question. There has never been a time in history when everybody has had a chance to get a liberal education. We can, however, examine the alternatives, and the consequences of each.”
page 17, The Great Conversation

Nobody knows. It has not been tried. Those who deem themselves the puppetmasters, and whose families before them have tugged the strings of man in their day, they would find those tethers to the minds of the masses cut if we all decided to take what is ours to have.

So let us reward our fellows as they better themselves, let Steem be the spark that lights the way as we travel together into the unknown.

I've seen there is something going on here on SteemIt, people are waiting for some new information about how things are going to proceed. I intend to continue sharing my thoughts on this idea, but please don't think I'm trying to own it. I recognize my failings, in this instance it's mostly a lack of technical knowledge, but I would love do all that I can to make this happen. I cannot do this without help, and obviously we need Ned and Dan on board.

I am camille1234 in the SteemIt chat and also on the Steamtrail discord app, and I'm seeking companions to help awaken the minds of men, come say hi.

Just in case you missed my previous posts explaining the idea
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@camille1234/a-better-introduction-because-knowledge-is-power

https://steemit.com/education/@camille1234/a-couple-of-confessions-and-some-seeds