Dear Fellow American,
Do you have a “sweet tooth?”
Maybe you watch one too many episodes of your favorite show, put off a task you know you should do, or occasionally indulge a little more than you intended. Me? I have a crippling weakness for potato chips!
We all struggle with temptations we’d like to control. Why? Because self-government is DIFFICULT.
But self-government is essential to a free society. If we cannot govern ourselves, how can we govern a nation?
One of my favorite lessons on this subject comes from The Odyssey.
As Odysseus sails home from the Trojan War, he must pass the Sirens, whose beautiful songs lure sailors to their destruction.
Knowing he won’t be able to resist them on his own, Odysseus orders his crew to tie him to the ship’s mast and refuse to release him, no matter what he says.
When the Sirens sing, he desperately wants to follow them. But the ropes hold. And because they do, he survives.
It’s a memorable story. But it’s also a profound lesson...freedom does not mean doing whatever we want whenever we want. True freedom requires self-command.
It requires the ability to govern our passions, discipline our desires, and choose what is right.
In other words, political self-government begins with personal self-government. That lesson is needed today as much as it was three thousand years ago.
That is one of the reasons why Hillsdale College launched a FREE online course on The Odyssey, and a special educational initiative to share its timeless lessons with Americans nationwide.
Our goal is to place this story before at least 100,000 students, parents, teachers, and lifelong learners and encourage them to think seriously about the virtues that sustain families, communities, and free societies.
But we cannot do that without you. Will you help?
Your gift today will help more Americans encounter these permanent truths through Hillsdale’s educational outreach.
Whether you choose to give $50, $100, $250, or another amount, your support will help introduce students, parents, and lifelong learners to timeless lessons on self-government, self-command, courage, duty, and leadership through this course and Hillsdale’s other educational programs.
So, please make your gift today using this secure link:
https://secured.hillsdale.edu/hillsdale/the-odyssey-support
Hillsdale does all this work while refusing every penny of government funding—not even indirect funding through student grants and loans. That means this effort depends entirely on supporters like you.
By supporting this initiative, you can help thousands of Americans encounter one of history’s greatest lessons on freedom, responsibility, and the discipline required to govern oneself.
Thank you for teaching truth to the next generation.
