A Foundation of Trust

The cornerstone of what we here attempt to build is community. The foundation of any genuine community is trust. We seek to build something that will last for centuries. The pyramids built by the ancient Egyptians remain standing today, because their builders gave them an enduring foundation.

We want to do the same. We are not any better, nor a whole lot worse, than the average person. We are just as prone to error as anyone. So, our only hope of creating an enduring foundation of trust is to operate entirely in the open, completely subject to observation, analysis, criticism.

We intend to build trust by deserving it. This is not to say that we won't make mistakes. All we can guarantee is that we will persevere in trying to get it right. Though we may err, at least we will do our best to be open to correction.

It has been said that the truth in any proposition varies in inverse proportion to its argumentative defense. So, we're going to try to avoid defensiveness. Anything we say or do is open to your -- or anyone else's -- criticism.

While we are totally devoted to warrior care, our ultimate mission transcends even this lofty purpose. As much as we love our wounded warriors, what we would really like to do is to dramatically change the future so as to remove the inevitability of the wars which tear apart the bodies of our best and bravest.

The only force capable of this, in our view, is universal education. Our ultimate goal is to launch the greatest school in all of human history. We envision not just a new and better university, but a new paradigm for education, a superuniversity, a great Temple of Truth served by scholars whose lives are dedicated to the quest for knowledge, wisdom, truth. The purpose of this school is to teach people how to live better lives.

But it is not just learned, reasoned, civil discourse that we seek to advance. We want to create a school that welcomes everyone who wants to learn, that accepts each student as he is and develops a comprehensively individualized curriculum just for that person. As each individual is unique, so will each program of instruction be unique.

In order to dissipate the dark clouds of ignorance which threaten to engulf our planet, we must create the greatest school that ever existed. The bad news is that we are completely incompetent to achieve such an enterprise. The good news is that virtually everything needed to create such a school is already at hand. What we cannot do when few in numbers, we can do together, working together as an army of non-violent but assertive intellectual warriors.

What we need to do is to raise the banner and sound the call to arms. Let every honest student and every true scholar step forward. If you love the truth and are willing to follow it wherever it leads, in this you have the only required credentials. You are part, if you wish, of one of the noblest enterprises ever attempted.

If we are successful, we shall change the world. If we fail, we fail knowing that our cause is just and good. We also know that ultimate victory for our cause -- be in eons in the future -- is certain, for the final victory for truth is inevitable. The world of which we dare to dream -- the vision of a peaceful paradise crowned by truth, beauty, and goodness which has inspired dreamers of all ages -- will not appear in our time.

But if we fail to struggle to move humanity towards that goal, it will be that much farther in the future and its attainment will be the achievement of others, not ours. We have faith in the goodness of God and in the ultimate triumph of his plan for humanity. Like other visionaries, we know that we will not reach the promised land. But we see it, and to know that through our efforts it shall be obtained is enough.

I wish it were possible to talk about these things without grandiosity, but I just don't know how. I have to give up my fear of being thought mad. Besides, history suggests that being thought insane is a necessary if insufficient criterion for greatness. Regardless of others' opinion, I know what I know and I shall do what I can do.

On January 1, 2009, we plan to officially launch this community. By now, a smart person like you will have figured out that you will receive an enthusiastic welcome if you want to help.