Ted Magnuson

Henry Ford famously quipped 'History is Bunk.'
In the chaos of the present day, at least as recorded in our newspapers, one can only wonder what illustrious title will be give to the throes of the early 21st Century in the textbooks of the 23rd Century.

Birthing pangs of a bold new interconnectedness, a new understanding of 'Systems Theory', a new birth of freedom--more 'Quick' and less 'Dead?'

What of the intellectual capacity of the 12 year old 'tween' in that far distant future, circa 2212? How will the stratification of society impact the child's development and future? Specifically, what dynamic will inform 'the wealthy and the rest?' Will the upper crust be expanded to 10% of the population while the lower tiers fonder in some kind of Matrix limbo funded in large part by the Earned Income Tax Credit?

Yet, Henry Ford may be on to something. History is bunk. The glossy pages of the history books are rife with 'The Golden Age, The Renaissance, The Age of Discovery and The Age of Enlightenment. Yet even in those gilded times, people struggled, had their questions, and doubted the resilience of the species to last much longer.

In Those Self Evident Truths, I have made available key documents in the rise of democracy. Democracy: what a concept. How can we define democracy without using concepts like:
'Liberty'- a self directed exploration of life and the world?
'Law'- a system of rules equally administered to all.
'Opportunity'- The ability to coordinate individual resources to pursuit one's own vision.

How these concepts are defined and practiced, ah, there's the rub.
It looks good on paper.
And now for the Real World Application.
It's a never ending story where one generation takes over where the previous one left off.
History is not bunk, sunk or in a funk, not on our watch.
Not, that is, if enough of us are doing our jobs the right way.
What does that way look like?
One place we can find the roadmap, oddly enough is History.
We can find inspiration for the journey in the words of Jefferson, Lincoln and even the Barons of Runnymede who banded together to hold King John accountable to them, making the early beach head on representational government.
That is my hope; that you may find inspiration in these words from History, the actual documents that have done much to forward democracy on its way.
In Those Self Evident Truths.

America is the oldest democracy doing business today. Our forebearers have set the standard. We must not fail their trust!