Editor’s note: this column is the second part of a three-part series on rethinking the issues of the 2008 election.

There is joke about a Zen master in New York City who owns a hot dog stand. One day a man walks up to the Zen master’s stand and requests a hot dog with the works. The Zen master hands the man his hot dog and the man hands him a $20, which the vendor pockets. The man asks for his change, to which the Zen master replies, “Change comes only from within.”

In my last column, I argued that change in our government can only come from the American people. I ended with several questions, discussing how we can foster innovation, encourage individual responsibility, and promote equality, understanding, and respect for our fellow human beings. Most importantly, the overarching question was, “How do we place the power of governance back in the hands of the commonwealth?” The answer to all of these questions lies in improving the way we educate future generations.

We are stifling innovation and prosperous change in our future by encouraging that, which represents our future, our children, to accept life as is. Every time we tell a child, “Do as you are told,” every time we give them an allowance or reward them for doing as they are told, completing chores, memorizing facts – we are encouraging them to become the norm.

Instead of fostering creativity, encouraging children to become leaders and to take responsibility into their own hands at a young age, we are asking them to do what their leaders tell them. In essence, we are creating the 21st century flock of sheep: children that can repeat Thomas Jefferson adages and the number pi to six digits. We are turning our children into monkeys that will unquestioningly do menial tasks for food and pay. We are creating lambs that are ready for slaughter when the next political war rolls around.

Every time a child asks, “Why?” and we respond with “Because it is” or “Because I said so,” we are not rewarding children for asking questions and developing their own conclusions. We are culturally insulating our kids by sending them to “good schools” with “good children” and “good teachers” instead of promoting diversity within school districts.

Instead of sending our kids to local schools within culturally insulated neighborhoods, why are we not having a requirement for diversity within our public school system? Instead of promoting a memory based grading system within our grading, testing and curricula, why are we not encouraging a culture of innovation and repair, of working with the land, and do-it-yourself responsibility?

The question I leave you with is, “Why has every great nation fallen?”

E-mail Jenn your thoughts on educational innovation to [email protected].