Foundations of Liberty

Course Description

You are a concerned citizen. You want to do your part to preserve liberty in the land and for your posterity but you have a busy life now and a business to run or an employer to answer to or a household to manage—or all of the above.

Welcome to the life of the original American Founders. Today, our nation is calling for a new generation of founders who are willing to stand up and exert the same kind of intellect, sacrifice and Public Virtue that was exhibited in the 1700's.

Foundations of Liberty is a course of study designed specifically to give you the base you need to lead out as a New American Founder and still allow you to meet your current obligations of building your marriage, family and developing your career or business. This course, however, is not for the faint of heart. You will study hard, learning lessons from the past and applying those lessons to real life situations, in real time. You will learn a whole new vocabulary and gain an entire new body of knowledge that will arm you and enable you to intelligently and authoritatively discuss topics such as states rights vs federal governance, economics, the proper role of government, the 28 Principles of Liberty, the U.S. Constitution with all of its auxiliaries, political philosophy, domestic and foreign policy, Social Leadership and much more.

This course is a series of lectures that will give the budding leadership of a local area the depth and background they need to understand proper forms and make sound, lasting decisions.

This is about promoting micro over macro, local and state over federal, family over community, spouse primary to family. The idea is to create real patriotism, where we build at home first, then work our way up and out, from the inside-out.

We want to redefine citizenship and patriotism as helping the nation by creating better marriages and families. We want to communicate that the only way to fix Washington,D.C. is to admit that we are a part of the problem, to re-evaluate (ReValue) our own selves, marriages, families and communities and make the changes necessary to be better people. This will result in less personal vice and broken marriages, happier and loving families, better neighborhoods, leading to improved communities, superior local leaders and no-nonsense state level leadership and finally, inspiring national leaders.

This doctrine was taught by the philosopher Confucius in 500BC. The substance of the Confucian philosophy is this segment from what is known as the Great Learning, the second of the 9 Chinese Classics. Allow me to go over this as it is worth taking the time:

The ancients who wished to illustrate the highest virtue throughout the empire first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their own states, they first regulated their own families. Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their own selves. Wishing to cultivate their own selves, they rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the utmost, their knowledge. Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things.

Things being investigated, knowledge became complete. Their knowledge being complete, their thoughts were sincere. Their thoughts being sincere, their hearts were rectified. Their hearts being rectified, their own selves were cultivated. Their own selves being cultivated, their families were regulated. Their families being regulated, their states were rightly governed. Their states being rightly governed, the whole empire was made tranquil and happy.

500 years after Confucius, Christ proclaimed these same eternal truths in the Sermon on the Mount. And almost 2 millennia later, Gandhi lived his life by this same ancient wisdom.

Remember that our republican system of government was not applied from the top down. It was practiced at the most local and family levels before anything like a state level was ever created. Then after more than 150 years, the first federal level (Continental Congress - 1774) was instituted. We are decedents of a very Democratic/Republican lifestyle. We need to return to it.

Course Guidelines

1. It is a real imperative that the books to be studied are ordered weeks in advance of when you need them. Sad experience has taught us that procrastination in this area never ends well and can cause real stress as you try to cram 30 hours of study into a week due to unavailability or late delivery. I encourage you to bring the book/s for Lecture One and Lecture Two to Lecture One and so on.*
2. Schedule, schedule, schedule. Please create a study schedule and stick to it. Ten hours a week of consistent study will be plenty to meet the needs of this course, if you are consistent.
3. Be prepared to discuss openly in class. At least 50% of each class will involve serious interaction with me and other class members. Discussion is a principal aid to learning in this course.
4. Please be 5 minutes early to class. All classes will begin promptly. Late arrivals create a disturbance for the class and considerable frustration for the late student.
5. Writing in your books is encouraged. That what margins are for. Please annotate in your books in a manner that allows you to quickly and efficiently find your references. (Methods discussed in the first class).
6. Bring munchies. Be sure to bring whatever you need to stay alert and engaged. We will not be taking many breaks. Dress in layers so you can adjust your clothing to meet your temperature needs.

* The timing of book acquisition is critical to a successful class and learning process. Please be sure to purchase and have books on hand at least 30 days prior to the lecture. For example, be sure to purchase and have in your hands the books for lecture 2 before lecture one begins. There will be no time to purchase books and get them read for lecture 2 once lecture 1 has been completed.

Foundations of Liberty Lecture Handhouts

Foundations of Liberty Purchase Guide

Logistics

Preparation:

Complete assigned readings.

What to Bring:

• Please bring your books and notes with you.
• Be prepared to take notes during the course.
• You can bring your own coffee, soda, or water. 
• You can bring munchies and/or a sack lunch.

Message from Dr. Brooks:

• Whatever your circumstances, I promise that if you will make the effort to complete these readings, this class will be a paradigm shifting experience for you. Please come prepared to discuss, speculate, argue, disagree, have your ideas accepted by others, have your ideas dismissed kindly by others, and see a contrast of ideas, cultures and perspectives that may be new to you.
• Please write in the books. THAT IS WHAT MARGINS ARE FOR!!
• Please identify and mark well excerpts you want to discuss and share with others.
• Dress in layers as I like to keep the classroom on the cool side, it helps us remain alert.
• Remember, the elections are over and regardless how they turned out for you, what we are now engaged in is America's back-up plan for the future. For your children, your grand-children and their children. We must never loose sight of this objective.