Counter-Revolutionary Classical Education

Counter-Revolutionary Classical Education
From our Online Academy teacher, Adam De Gree
Our schools, universities, and media have been captured by a cult. We need a counter-revolution that replaces the revolutionary dogmas of DEI with what has always been at the core of a good education.

1.    The Good
2.    The True
3.    The Beautiful
 
At Classical Historian, we uphold these eternal values. Our materials are apolitical, and we welcome dialogue with anyone who honestly seeks the truth. But that doesn't mean that we don't see what's happening to our country.

According to a comprehensive survey by The Institute for Citizens & Scholars, only 27% of people under the age of 45 have "a very basic understanding" of history. In the words of esteemed historian David McCullough, Americans are suffering from collective amnesia. The result? A people that has no defense against would-be revolutionaries.

As of 2024, it's clear that radicals dominate nearly every institution that Americans rely on to learn about the world. Prestigious universities tolerate vicious antisemitism in the name of social justice. The head of NPR claims that truth is subjective and brags about working with the CIA to censor Wikipedia. Federal agencies conspire with Big Tech to suppress dissent. Men give birth, left is right, up is down, war is peace.

The American way of life is under attack. We believe that the best way that ordinary people can protect their traditions is to ensure their children receive a genuine, rigorous, and classical education. As James Madison wrote, "The advancement and diffusion of knowledge...is the only guardian of true liberty."
 
Parallel Education System
Since so many schools have been captured by ideologues, Americans have started building a parallel education system. This system, comprised of charter schools, private classical schools, and homeschools, exists side-by-side with traditional institutions. In it, students and families are receiving a better education than in mainstream schools. 

This isn't the first time this has happened. Czechoslovak dissidents like Vaclav Havel faced a similar situation in Czechoslovakia in the late 1970s. Seeing that the Communist Party had corrupted every social organization, they started forming what they called the parallel polis, or parallel society.

Czechoslovak dissidents founded an underground university, scouting groups, Christian communities, theater associations, and printing presses. They fundraised for those who had been "cancelled" out of a job for speaking the truth. Most importantly, they created the opportunity to live a normal life in a revolutionary regime.

And as N.S. Lyons writes:
"In doing so they did far more than keep up morale with pleasant intellectual diversions. They built a resilient base of organization from the ground up. They forged an experienced leadership cadre. They created a flexible underground network-state. And, when the weakened Communist state collapsed, they found themselves poised to quickly step in and fill the vacuum. Suddenly their parallel polis became the polis. Much of the chaos that other post-Communist states faced was thereby peacefully avoided."

The parallel education system we're now seeing shoot up across America is built upon time-tested principles. If public schools can't be saved, they don't need to be. We have an alternative. 
 
Educating American Leaders
Americans know enough about traditional public education to know that they've had enough of it. Homeschooling is growing at a record pace, and in 2024, more than 1 in 20 American schoolchildren learn at home. Moreover, the number of charter schools has grown by about 50 percent over the last ten years.

Excitingly, there are likely over 1 million students receiving a classical education right now. And with 34 percent of students set to benefit from school choice in 2024, that number is growing fast. 

​Critics might point out that this still leaves the vast majority of students in the public school system. That's certainly true. But consider this: 54% of American adults read at or below the sixth-grade level. Moreover, a full 21% of adults are illiterate. Are these ill-served Americans likely to form the next generation of leaders? That seems unlikely.

On the other hand, students in the parallel education system consistently outperform those in mainstream schools. Homeschoolers earn significantly higher test scores than public school students, and they have higher than average social, emotional, and psychological development. More importantly, they enjoy more professional success, participate in more community service activities, and internalize the values of their parents at higher rates than the public schooled. 

The burgeoning charter school movement is seeing similar results. According to a comprehensive study of over 6,000 charter schools, 83 percent of charter school students perform at or better than their peer cohort in reading, and 75 percent perform the same or better in math. And while studies on classical school performance are few and far between, early research shows that classical school graduates have huge advantages over public school students. 

This indicates that the future leaders of America won't be coming from public schools. They will have had the great advantage of learning in the parallel education system.
 
Raising Critical Thinkers
How is any of this counter-revolutionary? Here's what John Adams had to say on this topic:

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

Knowledge is a prerequisite for self-government. If we lose our knowledge, we will lose our ability to govern ourselves. But that does not mean that there will be no government. It simply means that the government will no longer be of the people, by the people, and for the people. Instead, it will be a government of the powerful, by the powerful, and for the powerful. 

But it's not just that an uneducated populace cannot govern itself. It's that people who have been cut off from their heritage make easy prey for ideological radicals. If they do not understand the many catastrophes of history, people will not appreciate the civilization that sustains them. To the contrary, they will be manipulated by those who want to tear it down.

Just consider the scenes unfolding across college campuses in 2024. As students with no knowledge of world history or geography chanted, "From the River to the Sea" without knowing which river or what sea they were referring to, America's enemies must have been deeply satisfied. The empty heads of American youth served as fertile soil for explicitly Marxist propaganda. 
 
Counter-Revolutionary Classical Education
Revolutionary regimes have always preyed on the ignorant. People who have no critical thinking skills have formed the backbone of totalitarian societies from Czechoslovakia to Ethiopia and from China to Cuba. Ironically, many have supported oppression in the name of social justice and humanitarian principles. 

Classical education stands as an obstacle to those who would destroy their own country. Rather than raising the useful idiots of tomorrow, it cultivates critical thinkers who know a rat when they see one.

Students who have grappled with the great ideas of Western Civilization will not jump on the bandwagon and call for an end to America. Instead, they will be drawn towards Truth, Beauty, and Goodness like a deer is drawn to running water. Thanks to them, we can have hope in our nation's future. 

We provide classical history curriculum, history games, online discussion courses, and educator resources for the counter-revolution. Join us.  
 
It’s Personal
When our co-founder Zdenka went to school in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s, teachers had to teach Communist ideology in the classroom. Anyone caught teaching counter to this thinking could be turned into the authorities. Good Czechoslovak Communists, they said, would report any counter-revolutionary activities to the relevant authorities.

When Zdenka was in her early 20s, Czechs and Slovaks rose up peacefully to overthrow the Marxists. She joined protests and passed out pamphlets calling for freedom. Some of her friends were arrested and beaten by police for their "counter-revolutionary activities."

Luckily, the counter-revolution carried the day. Ordinary people stood up to state violence and said that they didn't want to live in a revolutionary regime. They wanted a return to normalcy.

Growing up in a totalitarian society, Zdenka used to look to America as an example of freedom. Yet after living in California for over 20 years, she knows that many Marxists have brought their revolution here.

Americans still enjoy freedoms that are rarely protected in other countries. But as time goes on, it's becoming more difficult to live a normal life in the US. Everywhere you look, you see people trying to replace normalcy with revolutionary ideas.

Not at Classical Historian. We offer a traditional historical perspective, one that rejects revolutionary dogmas. We believe in good old ideas like beauty, truth, and goodness. Our materials promote the virtues required for self-government. And yes, we're proud to be an American company.

If these are counter-revolutionary ideas, then we're proud to be counter-revolutionary educators. But really, we just think we're normal Americans.