Richard Dreyfuss on Civics

When I ask students what was so revolutionary about our Revolutionary War, the answer is usually that we broke away from Great Britain. And I say, no, it was that for the first time ever, we were actualizing the idea that the ruler and the ruled were one thing and that the people were not the audience to the performance of the nobility, that we were all the same value and all contributed. And that was at the time probably the most important message in 13,000 years of politics.

A remarkable, thoughtful conversation with Richard Dreyfuss from the Diane Rehm Show about his new life's direction - from acting he's moved on to actualizing civics through a new organization, The Dreyfuss Initiative.

His website outlines what the Initiative is:

Civic education is the founding mandate of public education. Free public schools were developed in America for the express purpose of raising up good citizenship. This purpose has been abandoned and must be regained. Thus the mission of The Initiative is to create a demand for a more expert learning experience and to give our kids the splendid pleasure of learning what power they have.

Research over the past fifty years has demonstrated that the average American has, to say the least, a rather poor understanding of Civic Knowledge. But, by example, America has made democracy the governance system of choice.

Democracy, in any incarnation is the only governing system that requires some engagement by the civic body.