The Dreyfuss Initiative - A Bold Vision
In the Fall (2010) the Dreyfuss Initiative will spearhead "It's Time for a Talk--The National Conversation" intended to link a purposeful diverse variety of websites representing disparate political opinions and a wide range of social sectors to foster a discussion related to the future of America.
thedreyfussinitiative.org
September 17 is National Constitution Day
Democracy as a Dickensian Tale
The Dreyfuss Initiative will create a broadcast special that will explore and educate its audience in a unique and entertaining way. This special will bring together great historians, comics, thinkers, artists and stars in a Dickensian style narrative: think of Democracy as David Copperfield: a perilous birth, a scorned childhood, held in contempt and ridicule, a surprising victory, and carrying within it the seeds of its own destruction.
Astronomers are always saying “Don’t look directly at the sun or you’ll burn your eyeballs to a crisp.” Take the lesson; you can learn more by looking slightly away.
A Board game based on the notion that the British were too smart to lose the colonies so quickly, and Representation in Parliament was a given. What does that world look like?
Lee wins the battle of Gettysburg? The board game? What does that world look like?
Churchill dies in 1931 in a NY traffic accident; what world is created?
Army staffs and war colleges are always gaming the war. Could they game the peace?
A multi-part series written for America called Miracle at Philadelphia, a suspense thriller, a political thriller, an amazing character study of among others, the Thomas Jefferson who not only never lost, but was the ‘Last Man Standing,’ who played chess 3 moves ahead, and destroyed all his enemies; George Washington, easy to overlook and morally indispensable; Hamilton, the most human genius; Adams and Madison, who turned on their own revolution.
Making the Connection
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the home of the National Constitution Center (NCC) in Philadelphia, the city where the Constitution itself was written. Gettysburg Battlefield is a drive from anywhere. Once you arrive, the enormity and almost sacred atmosphere is undeniable, but as those who have tried over the years can tell you, getting people to come is difficult.
The approaching Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War (2011-2015) offers the current generation of Americans a most important opportunity to know, discuss, and commemorate this country's greatest national crisis, while at the same time exploring its enduring relevance in the 21st century.
-The National Park Service
Imagine that a Dedicated Train could connect Philadelphia and Gettysburg and Washington, DC. It would illuminate the birth, rebirth, and practice of the Ideas that have become identified as the Ideas of America.
Imagine that on a given day a permanent exhibit at the NCC is inaugurated, that is a journey of illumination of The Enlightenment and its values; and what the world was like before it, the values it held up that revolutionized political thought in the West, and how those values were actualized in the creation of America. On that day, also inaugurated is the first Train that is a train of experiential learning, in different ways it explores the stories of America, of how the Founders left unsolved the problem of human slavery, the creation of the notions of states' rights, etc.
Imagine the train decked out in memorabilia, detailed in every way to be the Train that was used its heyday around 1880, including Bunting, Flags, portraits of those who participated in the war, what we were before the war and what we became after.
Imagine Barbara Streisand, Bill Moyers, Bill Bennett, Rush Limbaugh, and all the most famous and articulate spokespeople of The Left and Right, in panels and speeches that lead the audience through the tale of the Devil’s Bargain that allowed for the Nation and made the Civil War inevitable.
Imagine that on that train, among the honored guests, are the winners of essay contests held in high schools around the nation, whose writing is read and discussed. Imagine that the Birth of the Constitution and the rebirth of the America was the main topic of discussion. Imagine that when the train arrives in Gettysburg, that at the theater next to the train depot (which has been recently restored to a hall of nostalgic beauty and grandeur), there is a Gala, where the stars from the left and right come together to present the Process of the Constitution, which must be taught and re-taught to everyone, students, teachers, parents and Press.
Imagine that the next day the group takes a tour of the battlefield, that the story of that battle, that sacrifice, which became the re-dedication of America to the Declaration, and teaches the morality being fought for, the old principles being defended and the new ones fought for, be the text of the guides who lead the guests around the one place in the nation that is sacred ground. And then imagine the train going on to Washington DC, where the history and meaning of the country are practiced for good or ill every day.
Any person who wishes to listen to these discussions, hear the debates, attend the gala and ride on that first train (except for the students) would pay a high price for the privilege.
After that first spectacular beginning, tickets would be cheaper than a football game. A simple train ride, with a regular schedule, once a week, perhaps, so that school children can plan trips from faraway districts, poor and rich districts, which become a center of focus like the Lincoln Memorial, or the Washington monument.
However, each trip will include seminars and speeches that bring the experience to life so that the connection between Philadelphia, the Battlefield and DC is the ever-present history class, a variety of points of views, stories of battle and heroism. Stories that make us think about what the world would be like had the battle ended differently. What worlds would have been created, who we are and who we might have become.
The Train that represents the Light of Self-government, belief in the republican idea, the uniqueness of circumstance that allowed the nation to be created, the future that it exemplified, and the nature of the effort, ongoing, that is required of ourselves.
It may sound difficult and it is. It may sound impossible which it isn’t. That it can be done we have no doubt; that it can be done and be profitable to all parties, we are certain. It only needs the doing.
The National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, Gettysburg and DC have much to gain. Every school child, every citizen who took the journey would be more closely tied to America, Democracy, our history, our singular story and singular gift to mankind.
Government of the People, by and for the People, shall perish from the earth if we as citizens say about our problems, “There is nothing we can do.”
The Dreyfuss Initiative will allow for teachers to learn to teach, to demand more of themselves and their students, and to kill off finally the decomposing valueless notion that Civics is boring. Let’s find another word.
thedreyfussinitiative.org |
