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58 SMT Magazine • August 2016 The easy and sometimes only way we have to react to a problem is to criticize, carp and blame. A citizen may be declaring her disgust over the result of a government social engineer- ing initiative, or a consumer may be slamming a poorly engineered consumer product that costs too much or is unreliable. The citizen and consumer have several tools in their respective toolboxes to register their disfavor. In a free so- ciety, freedom of the press and free speech are two of those important tools. It has been said that the antidote to irresponsible or ill-founded free speech is contained in more free speech. In an authoritarian-based society, the wrong free speech often leads to the tag of not being a team player or, worse, becoming an enemy of the state. Another more direct tool of change for the citizens living in countries with a republican (note the small "r") form of government, where elected representatives are charged with doing the will of the people, is the individual's vote. The United Kingdom is technically a con- stitutional monarchy. However, it is a repre- sentative republic in the sense that an elected parliament is charged with doing the will of the people—the queen is a traditional symbol with no law-making authority. Last month, the world watched as citizens in the U.K. voted di- rectly in a referendum to be extricated from the European Union—a vote that directly rebuked the members of parliament they had elected to represent them. Here in the states, Mr. Jefferson would be pleased. He believed in the collective wisdom of the people. He recognized that the people will make errors in judgment from time to time, but if left free would correct those er- rors. Jefferson's nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, believed that the people were the beast, and it was the government's job to control the beast. Thomas Jefferson believed that education is what transformed the beast into productive citizens who could govern themselves. He had a fervent belief in each man's education as a nec- by Tom Borkes THE JEFFERSON PROJECT Moving Beyond Paideia: Learning for Earning JUMPING OFF THE BANDWAGON