Anna Stwora Hispanic Center of Excellence Summer 2002 The Power of Knowledge           James Madison, founding father and former president of the United States of America once said, "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." Madison tried to point out the importance of knowledge by this statement, being a former president, he interacted with many types of people, and not all of them had the power of knowledge.           Consequently, the opinion of Madison was that knowledge controls ignorance. Madison also added that a country, or a group of individuals who want to govern themselves or make their own laws in order to be an autonomous state, will have to gain as much knowledge as possible to succeed.           Ignorance has different definitions; some might be ignorant about religion or cultures or plainly not interested in anything. This behavior is dominantly seen in small towns or communities where the lack of diverse cultures, races and religions can be one of the main reasons for the lack of knowledge. In general, people who are not educated are said to be ignorant, which may or may not apply as a general rule of thumb.           Unfortunately, very educated people can be ignorant as well. This type of ignorance is not necessarily a reflection on their intelligence or knowledge in their own profession, but too often a person, that for example is a nurse or even a doctor, will only have knowledge in a particular field. This person can be ignorant to all the other beautiful or terrible events happening every day on our planet. Consequently, the idea of a well- rounded individual becomes more and more important in today's society. The US, being a melting pot of different cultures, races and religions, cannot become complacent about ignorance and still expect to function properly as a democracy or republic.           New statistics show the number of functionally illiterate people in this country is on the rise. The consequences evolving from this fact can be tremendous; a healthy and flourishing government needs educated citizens to keep the economy high and ignorance at the lowest level possible. Imagine illiterate and even ignorant people leading a powerful country; it could be devastating for the whole world. Therefore, a nation should always do its best to educate the youth and make them well-rounded individuals. The power of knowledge becomes the most important aspect in life if people expect to govern themselves.