Education: spiritual views can break old patterns

Lewis Bell

In the field of education it is a commonplace that "education is the key to economic development." Yet we often hear the complaint "If we just had more money to fund education, it would create a climate to attract business." Such fear and defeatism would continue to produce stagnation and economic bad news. It becomes a vicious circle.

A prominent government leader once told the writer, "Dr. Bell, you can't change things in this part of the country; you might as well quit trying." This was a number of years ago when I was employed by my university as a fiscal consultant for the legislature. We were actively engaged in a major effort to replace a repressive tax structure with a system more conducive to sound economic development.

My own experience has led me to more hopeful and positive conclusions than those of my colleague in government. I believe it is possible to change, and a better concept of education can play a significant role in helping to move human thought from accepting defeat and limitation to problem-solving that "unleashes" the countless answers which exist in the mental realm.