This proposal aims to create a more informed and engaged American citizenry by reducing standard work hours and dedicating that time to comprehensive civic education.
Core Concept
Reduce the standard workday to 6 hours, 5 days a week
Allocate 1.5 hours, 3 days a week, for mandatory civic education
Program Objectives
The goal is to cultivate an America where every citizen:
Understands the structure and function of our government
Knows their rights and responsibilities
Can actively participate in the democratic process
Is capable of holding elected officials accountable
Curriculum Overview
The civic education program will cover:
U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights
Federal, state, and local government structures
Legislative processes and how laws are made
Judicial system
Citizen’s role in democracy (voting, civic engagement, etc.)
Current political issues and their historical context
Law, our rights and government limitations
Education Delivery Methods
Interactive online modules - Trumps new education system
In-person workshops led by constitutional scholars and civic leaders
Economic impact: Studies suggest shorter work hours can lead to increased productivity
Implementation challenges: Phased approach allows for adjustments and refinements
Quality of education: Rigorous curriculum development and expert-led sessions ensure high standards
Conclusion
By reallocating time from work to civic education, we can create a populace that truly understands and actively participates in our democracy. This investment in citizen knowledge will strengthen our nation’s foundations and ensure a more robust, engaged America for generations to come.
Great post.
First, I totally agree we need a massive civics education for about 98% of the citizens of this country, and a massive increase in Civics education in our education system. This is NOT an argument against this policy but a discussion of possible failures of the idea to spur on discuss and determine solutions and possible alternatives.
A couple of thoughts.
I could possibly believe this is true in jobs where there may be a lot of “cyberloafing”, like office working. Some of the biggest productivity killers include social media and internet browsing, coffee and bathroom breaks, company meetings, email correspondence, distractions, and interruptions.
But how would this work with jobs that require 24/7 coverage, Fire, Police, Medical staff, some continuous manufacturing operations, (Steel Gas, power-electric, etc.), and batch production with multi operations where it is counterproductive shutting production down? Reducing hours here would mandate increasing staff, and costs.
Cost – Who pays for this training? If the employee is still on the clock, the employer pays possibly increasing their costs, if it on the citizens are off work, does the government pay for it, which means more tax money spent. (This is counterproductive to DOGE’s goals, but might be a reasonable tax expenditure.)
I do not know the security measures taken by on-line colleges to prevent this so this might be a moot point, but how do you prevent me from paying someone else from taking the classes in my place? There are no security measures in place today, but I can highly recommend the FREE courses from Hillsdale College for good a civics education. online.hillsdale.edu/courses
Who develops this curriculum? The Supreme Court. The arbiter of what is Constitutional and what is not has someone on it who has no definition of a woman. Again - online.hillsdale.edu/courses.
How do we solve the multiethnic language problem? Do we teach the information in multiple languages, and is that counterproductive to the idea of assimilation into the American idea?
Again, this is not meant to be an opposition to this policy, but something to spur discussion and improvement.
This is what 12 years in public school system are supposed to do. Adults have to work until the taxation to death is changed. Ending unconstitutional taxation will lower prices which will allow for less required work for some, others maybe not so much. There is nothing wrong with working 8 hours a day IF we were actually able to keep ALL the money earned. The issue is having to work 8 hours a day and not getting/keeping all the money earned. Hobby time and money would be available if people had ALL the money they earned.
Now, this proposal should be implemented into state curriculcums once the Federal Department of Education is abolished. Then the counties should be able to add/remove and then the parents vote on the curriculum. It also matters who is teaching history and civics. Everyone has a worldview and that worldview is where all teaching/curriculum comes from. There needs to be a biblical worldview curriculum and a non biblical worldview curriculum and the parents decide not the government. NO Federal funds.
True story. I worked for a professional testing company that tested Doctors, Nurses, Air Traffic Controllers, Building Contractors, and yes, Teachers. Anyone that needs a professional certificate. I can not tell you the number of COLLEGE EDUCATED people who came in and tested in elementary education who could not pass the test the first time, or second, or third time. It’s probably a bad thing if the Proctor for a test get to know you by name. Very sad.
Responding to your feedback - I believe the 8 hour workday was created as it sucked just enough life out of people to have much left to give to keeping government accountable. Regarding 24/7 coverage, 24 is just as easily divisible by 6 as it is 8. This education would be outside of any working environment. It would be a requirement by law requiring people to do it on their own time. I believe this would be a holistic approach to bringing our society back up to speed. With civics being brought back into our k-12 education system, I would see that in the future there may no longer be a need for continued education of our society, but there should be something in place to continuously keep people engaged in our government. I believe our economy would just as easily adjust to a 6 hour work day income to cover living expenses in the same way we adjusted from a single income being able to support a family to how two incomes barely can support a family when women entered the workforce. Eventually it all balances out to the extent our governing bodies allow.