I bring you 28 Thoughts of Simon Rodriguez (Simón Narciso de Jesus Carreño Rodríguez) or Samuel Robinson, as he was known in exile.
Simon Rodriguez was a Caracas bastion of liberating thought. He is the father of the ideas of independence and freedom in America, because he was the teacher of Simón Bolívar; To whom he instilled a general education based on ideas of equality and independence for citizens and the continent.
Its formation starts from the admiration to authors like: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire, Locke and Saint-Simon. He rejected all monarchical domination; His intellectual influence was decisive to begin the wars of independence and to begin to create a republican and independent continent.
1- It is not dream nor delirium, but philosophy Nor the place where this is done will be imaginary, Like the one that appeared the Chancellor Tomás Moro; S or Utopia will, in fact, be America.
2- Where will we go looking for models? Spanish America is original. They must be their institutions and their Government and Originals of one and the other. We invented it and erred.
3- Acquiring social lights means rectifying Inculcated or ill-formed ideas. Through dealing with reality In an inseparable conjugation To think and act Under the knowledge of the principles Of independence and absolute generalization.
4- Acquiring social virtues means moderating With self-love, in an inseparable conjugation Of Feeling and Thinking, on the ground Moral of the maxim "Think of everyone so that everyone For all to think of you" Pursuing simultaneously The benefit of all The society and of each individual.
5- The teacher of children should be wise, enlightened, philosophical and communicative, because his job is to train men for society.
6 - Ignorance is the cause of all the evils that man makes and does to others; And this is inevitable, because monicience does not fit in a man: it can fit, to a certain extent, in a society (for the most and the least distinguishes one from another). A man is not guilty because he ignores - little is what he can know - but will be guilty if he is in charge of doing what he does not know.
7- The Spanish Colonial stage, imposed its culture, its religion, its laws, there was the culture of domination, of the exploitation of social exclusion, in Spanish-speaking America.
8- In Europe, there are political-economic transformations, the transition from the feudal socio-economic stage to the era of capitalism, the first industries, the formation of national bourgeoisies, the accumulation of capital, science as a computer Of earthly life and religion as the computer of the spiritual.
9- Acquaint the child to be truthful, faithful, helpful, measured, beneficent, grateful, consistent, generous, kind, diligent, careful, neat; To respect the reputation and to fulfill what it promises. And leave the skills to your charge; He will know how to look for teachers when he is young.
10- The title of teacher should be given only to the one who knows how to teach, this is the one who teaches to learn; Not the one who instructs or indicates what is to be learned, nor the one who advises to learn. The teacher who knows how to give the first instructions, continues to teach virtually everything that is learned later, because he taught to learn.
11- Only with the hope of getting people thinking about the education of the people can we advocate general education. And one must advocate for it; For the time has come to teach people to live, that they may do what is evil to do.
12- Man is not ignorant because he is poor, but the opposite.
13- To instruct is not to educate; Nor instruction can be an equivalent of education, although instructing is educated.
14- Teach, and they will know who; Educate, and they will have someone to do.
15- Teach the children to be questioners, so that, asking for the why of what they are commanded to do; Become accustomed to obey reason, not to authority as the limited, not to the custom as the stupid.
16- Teaching is to make understanding; Is to employ the understanding; Not make memory work.
17- No one does what he does not know well; Therefore, no republic will ever be made with ignorant people, whatever the plan may be.
18- The fundamental labor force is that of the slaves and Indians, who helped in agricultural work, construction of forts, cities, churches and villages.
19- A man is not guilty because he ignores (little what can be known) but will be, if he is in charge of knowing what he does not know.
20- The Lights Acquired on Art of Living d They suggest that societies can exist without Kings and without Congresses.
twenty-one- It is up to the teachers to make the children aware of the value of work, so that they can appreciate the value of things.
22- There is no interest where the end of the action was not set. What is not made is not understood, and what is not understood does not matter. To call, to capture and to focus attention, are the three parts of the art of teaching. And not all teachers excel at all three.
23- In the American colonies, Spain establishes an extractive economy of precious stones, species and foods. There is a port economy.
24- The philosophers of Europe, convinced of the futility of their doctrine In the old world, they would like to be able to fly to the new...
25- In South America, the republics are established but not founded.
26- Whosoever does not know, any man deceives him. Anyone who does not have it, everyone buys it.
27 - To enjoy the goods of freedom, the printing press should have no other limits than those imposed by respect for society.
References
- We invent or err (2004) Simón Rodríguez. Basic library of Venezuelan authors. Mote Ávila Publishers. Venezuela.
- Thought and action (2015) Simón Rodríguez. Retrieved from: aimaboffil.wordpress.com.
- Puiggros, A (2005) From Simón Rodríguez to Paulo Freire: education for Latin American integration. Editorial: Ediciones Colihue.