A Policy For America and the What Happened to the Peace Between That Time and Now Essay

A Policy For America and the 'What Happened to the Peace Between That Time and Now' EssayA group of American school children look at an essay they wrote about the Seventh Century war and ask 'what happened to the peace between that time and now?' The question is interesting because it brings up some basic questions that are asked over again by those of us who see the relevance of history lessons in our own lives.It is important for the student to recognize what is going on with his or her history; it is essential for us to come to terms with the world we live in and to grasp the lessons of the past. This can happen only if we learn about the history of the world and who has been shaping it and how.So for those of us who go to school, as well as those of us who write for a living, the job of A Policy for America and the recent paper by A Policy for America 's Job Experience Project is to bring our students up to date on all kinds of issues that affect our national and international po licies. While I appreciate the ability of teachers to bring history to life, I also realize that in a competitive world, as well as a troubled world, time matters. We have to teach our students about the battles of the past, the successes and failures of the past.In addition, we need to help our students understand the basis for principles that govern their thinking and action. The writings of Paul Tillich, William F. Buckley, Irving Kristol, Milton Friedman, and others offer real lessons that can help us understand and encourage our young people to think, act, and make sense of the world we live in. Just as it is important for us to understand the lessons of history, it is important for us to understand the lessons of the present.The A Policy for America project is one of those projects. They have developed a great series of essays, which are critical essays by American citizens, which are informative essays by American citizens, and which discuss current events and issues in a sti mulating way. It is important for us to encourage our students to engage in this kind of scholarly study; it will teach them how to be informed citizens, not just passive consumers of knowledge.In a Policy for America article titled 'The Gathering Storm,' the author, David L. Frisbie, tells of the first of many such studies. He describes how, in the early 1990s, the government of Canada announced that it would consider reconsidering a decision to allow nuclear weapons to be stored at its northern nuclear site. Canadian officials warned that if the United States did not resolve the issue, it could turn into a nuclear arms race with nuclear powers like Russia, China, and North Korea.We have seen what can happen when students in one part of the country are not aware of what is going on in the rest of the country; we also have seen what can happen when students in one part of the country do not see the lessons of history and fail to learn from them. But, when we want our children to dea l with the world we live in and to deal with the challenges that confront us today, we must teach them the lessons of history.