The following is a bit of rambling – collecting my thoughts, but somewhat inspired by recent reading and Obama’s team, and the Enlightenment.

If we were to divide people in the world in two, we might have one group called the Intellectuals (not meaning necessarily they are all smart) and the Producers (not meaning they are all productive).  The Intellectuals would comprise educators (teachers, professors, academics), philosophers, theologians, scientists, artists, writers (fiction, non-fiction, news, commentary, editors), politicians, lawyers, and others that think more than make.  The Producers would be those  involved in manufacturing and distributing products.  They would comprise farmers, inventors, manufacturers, process engineers, retailers, shippers, assembly line workers, and administrators in manufacturing. 

The reason for these two catagories is to simplify my declaration.  As Producers they must focus daily on the product, its design, demand, supply, cost and changes in markets causing the need for new products, replacements as well as improvements.  It is time consuming and leaves little time to consider worldly or other worldly needs.  The Intellectuals on the other hand have nothing but time to think, contemplate, write, and consider the world.  In many cases the Intellectuals feel compelled or are required to write.  They are enabled and compelled to fill the pages of texts, pamphlets, newspapers and today the Internet with their thoughts.

As never before I now have time to think and read and consider the world.  Before that I was trying to make a living, be productive, support my family, and build a reserve for the future.  In many ways it is now a joyous luxury, but I am beginning to see there exists those that have written and offered their thoughts historically and caused changes in the world that resulted from their Intellectual association more than from a Producer association.  This can be disturbing, and may cause chaos (in fact may have caused chaos) that can only be dealt with from the entry of competing Intellectual thought, while the Produces simply continue to try to produce within the chaos engendered.   This may be a condemnation of the Intellectual community, which is not wholly intended, as I have, as have most, benefited from the historical documents written, the texts prepared, the lectures given and the books written.  What, however, is the influence the Intellectual group has on others, even on the Producers, or societies regard for the Producers?  What is the need for open mindedness and objectivity, and the mechanism for such to exist in each individual so that a differentiation can be made between truth and deceit? 

The fallback is a moral compass, a GPS that needs to be handy and referenced when questions arise, doubts arise, judgments are needed and truth revealed is required.  We are finding our children are being trained in ways that may create a dependence on a secular society and the aims of such a culture, without any comparative element that provides a counter argument, another view, that when left to the consciousness of man, the human intellect can then decipher, decide for one self, the path that means the most.  The moral compass would include an intangible, an unknown, the element of divine law.  It would not be present to the exclusion of natural laws, or the endeavors to understand even more our existence and how our universe and world function.  Humans are uniquely gifted with the ability to learn, to remember past and consider future events, to grow in knowledge and wisdom, but they need the time, the exposure, and the skills to develop and then use their learning for the good of others.  Man needs all the foundations, three sides of a rectangle will not be enough to support the structure above, the fourth side is necessary also.  That side is the Bible.  Families today are charged with the sole responsibility to teach their children, and we must begin early.  Our youth needs to know themselves and their gifts, understanding each of us has a purpose, and knowing that purpose and their direction in life will provide a more meaningful and focued pathway for them to follow. 

We need the Intellectuals, but we need even more the Producers.  A world without Producers cannot sustain the Intellectuals.  How would they otherwise be fed?  Only the Dark Ages can follow anew if that were the case.  Producers work all day, come home tired, want a meal and rest – they may read or watch the news – information fed to them by the Intellectuals.  Seldom do the Producers prepare the news, they may make the news or become the news, but only if so chosen by the Intellectuals as fodder for their written word.   If there were only one book for the Producers to use, with so little time to teach and guide, the resource most meaningful to insuring their off-spring will continue in their ways and be faithful servants, respectful of their fellowman and loving the Lord, it would be the Word.  All other texts need discernment before they can be used as gospel.  The Word has already been well scrubbed and the facts of life are succinctly put.   Let the Scripture continue to be the primary moral compass of man. 

More ramblings to follow in the future.  Please share your own thinking.