It is less worrisome that these people are college students, than that they are eligible VOTERS.
It also bothers me that the best and brightest who now control things believe that the common person on the street should not be allowed to pick the size of beverage they drink; or size (by number of cartridges) of magazines they put in their weapons; or fat/salt/sugar content of the food they eat; or MPG they obtain from the engine they'd prefer in the vehicle they drive; nor even select an appropriate form of proof of citizenship and identity that might be presented for various civic purposes -- and yet such presumeably incompetent people must not be in any degree hindered from voting.
I did not know any of the pop culture questions- rarely watch the tube. How do people get this far along and not know anything about our history? Have the schools given up teaching anything about it?
I'm trying to remember my state of mind when I was a college student. Certainly I knew who won the Civil War and from whom the U.S. won its independence, but I'm not sure I'd want to be able to contemplate closely how little I knew or cared about who was holding the VP's office at the time. In high school or junior high school I knew Hubert Humphrey was VP, then I knew Nixon was Bad, and Agnew was Bad, and I distrusted Gerald Ford because he pardoned Nixon, which was Bad. That was about the extent of my political awareness through my senior year of high school.
Even at this moment, I'm drawing a blank on who served as Gerald Ford's VP. I'm drawing an equal blank on who was Carter's VP. When Reagan rolled around, I was waking up, but by then I was 24 years old. I thought Reagan was inexplicable, the sort of man who'd call ketchup a vegetable, and had unsound views about nuclear deterrence.
OK, Nelson Rockefeller and Walter Mondale. I really couldn't swear to having been aware of their names when they were serving as VPs under Ford and Carter. I remember Mondale only when he was himself running for President.
And I confess, I was perfectly aware that Brad Pitt is currently married to Angelina Jolie, having previously been married to Jennifer Anniston. I even know that Jolie was previously married to Billy Bob Thornton and that she is the son of Jon Voigt.
But, but--which civil war was she asking about? The series of them in the mid- to late-17th century, the one in the latter part of the 18th century, or the one in the mid-19th century? They were all, after all, inter-related cousins' wars.
When did we gain our independence? Again, a vague question. Did she mean when we asserted it (which time--there were four such declarations in that critical year?), or when we succeeded in enforcing it? If the latter, did she mean really enforcing it, or when a treaty was signed?
The other questions--no excuse. That is what we teach our kids these days, though.
FWIW, I just had a conversation with a seventh-grader of my acquaintance who -- though still unable to name Joe Biden -- gave a pretty plausible account of the role of the office of Vice President, the working of the electoral college, and the Supreme Court. So all is not lost!
On the other subjects, he correctly identified the winner of the Civil War and the country from which we obtained independence, but did not correctly identify the year. This he confidently gave as 1836, quoting Marty Robbins:
Back in Eighteen Thirty-Six, Houston said to Travis: "Get some volunteers and go/ Fortify the Alamo."
Those of us who read political blogs are political junkies of sorts. When I was 10 years old, I filled my bedroom door with the sloganeering of the various presidential candidates. When I was 14 I gladly signed up for an Introduction to Politics course where, among other things, I wrote a paper on Soviet Agriculture. Most younger people are not political junkies.
Moreover, the quality of instruction in American History has gone down in the last 30+ years, as the left has taken over.How many college students actually take American History?
Jay Leno often went into the street to conduct such "ignoramus in the street" interviews.
The main sewer media and their sit com comedians are even more ignorant and retarded, since they hold positions of authority and influence whereas the normal peasant isn't expected to run any kind of fiefdom.
I was a tad disappointed to find a seventh-grader of my acquaintance did not know these things, or only knew partial and fractured answers.
I thought about how I knew these things when I was younger (I'm pretty sure I knew the answers to all those questions when I was in Junior High) and I realized just how little our popular culture gives us any useful understanding of our history. I remember watching John Wayne westerns and war movies on Saturday afternoon with my father, and so having some basic knowledge about the civil war, or WWII imparted. The bicentennial struck when I was nine, so it would be hard for me not to have 1776 tattooed on my frontal lobe, and the 'Schoolhouse Rock' American history shorts were pretty useful too. I don't think I got that much more schooling in the history of the United States then has my son, so the fact that most of the entertainment the kids like today is fantasy based has the side effect of diluting their knowledge of our history.
Culture- it's where we shape our future. Or don't.
20 comments:
Welcome to the future.
Well, when you don't study history anymore, this is what you get.
Perfect malleable followers, unable to recognize folly.
Perhaps one should cut people a little slack for not recognizing who holds the "bucket of warm piss."
But they knew who Brad Pitt (sp?) was hollywood-married to, so I take back the benefit of the doubt.
It is less worrisome that these people are college students, than that they are eligible VOTERS.
It also bothers me that the best and brightest who now control things believe that the common person on the street should not be allowed to pick the size of beverage they drink; or size (by number of cartridges) of magazines they put in their weapons; or fat/salt/sugar content of the food they eat; or MPG they obtain from the engine they'd prefer in the vehicle they drive; nor even select an appropriate form of proof of citizenship and identity that might be presented for various civic purposes -- and yet such presumeably incompetent people must not be in any degree hindered from voting.
I did not know any of the pop culture questions- rarely watch the tube. How do people get this far along and not know anything about our history? Have the schools given up teaching anything about it?
I'm trying to remember my state of mind when I was a college student. Certainly I knew who won the Civil War and from whom the U.S. won its independence, but I'm not sure I'd want to be able to contemplate closely how little I knew or cared about who was holding the VP's office at the time. In high school or junior high school I knew Hubert Humphrey was VP, then I knew Nixon was Bad, and Agnew was Bad, and I distrusted Gerald Ford because he pardoned Nixon, which was Bad. That was about the extent of my political awareness through my senior year of high school.
Even at this moment, I'm drawing a blank on who served as Gerald Ford's VP. I'm drawing an equal blank on who was Carter's VP. When Reagan rolled around, I was waking up, but by then I was 24 years old. I thought Reagan was inexplicable, the sort of man who'd call ketchup a vegetable, and had unsound views about nuclear deterrence.
OK, Nelson Rockefeller and Walter Mondale. I really couldn't swear to having been aware of their names when they were serving as VPs under Ford and Carter. I remember Mondale only when he was himself running for President.
And I confess, I was perfectly aware that Brad Pitt is currently married to Angelina Jolie, having previously been married to Jennifer Anniston. I even know that Jolie was previously married to Billy Bob Thornton and that she is the son of Jon Voigt.
But, but--which civil war was she asking about? The series of them in the mid- to late-17th century, the one in the latter part of the 18th century, or the one in the mid-19th century? They were all, after all, inter-related cousins' wars.
When did we gain our independence? Again, a vague question. Did she mean when we asserted it (which time--there were four such declarations in that critical year?), or when we succeeded in enforcing it? If the latter, did she mean really enforcing it, or when a treaty was signed?
The other questions--no excuse. That is what we teach our kids these days, though.
Eric Hines
...and that she is the son of Jon Voigt.
That's stunning news.
FWIW, I just had a conversation with a seventh-grader of my acquaintance who -- though still unable to name Joe Biden -- gave a pretty plausible account of the role of the office of Vice President, the working of the electoral college, and the Supreme Court. So all is not lost!
On the other subjects, he correctly identified the winner of the Civil War and the country from which we obtained independence, but did not correctly identify the year. This he confidently gave as 1836, quoting Marty Robbins:
Back in Eighteen Thirty-Six,
Houston said to Travis:
"Get some volunteers and go/
Fortify the Alamo."
I wonder if this was a selective sample of the students interviewed; ie the more clueless ones, or if the video is really playing it straight.
Well, two of the students were psychology majors, which suggests a bias towards the clueless. On the other hand, it is very popular.
And, as Eric Blair pointed out, no history majors. That's a shame.
Those of us who read political blogs are political junkies of sorts. When I was 10 years old, I filled my bedroom door with the sloganeering of the various presidential candidates. When I was 14 I gladly signed up for an Introduction to Politics course where, among other things, I wrote a paper on Soviet Agriculture. Most younger people are not political junkies.
Moreover, the quality of instruction in American History has gone down in the last 30+ years, as the left has taken over.How many college students actually take American History?
Jay Leno often went into the street to conduct such "ignoramus in the street" interviews.
One of my favorite video of the ignoramus in the street is Obama Is Not A Keynesian, He's An American!
"I thought you said 'Kenyan.'"
Elves that never grow up. Will they be able to fight off the orks and goblin hordes?
The main sewer media and their sit com comedians are even more ignorant and retarded, since they hold positions of authority and influence whereas the normal peasant isn't expected to run any kind of fiefdom.
I was a tad disappointed to find a seventh-grader of my acquaintance did not know these things, or only knew partial and fractured answers.
I thought about how I knew these things when I was younger (I'm pretty sure I knew the answers to all those questions when I was in Junior High) and I realized just how little our popular culture gives us any useful understanding of our history. I remember watching John Wayne westerns and war movies on Saturday afternoon with my father, and so having some basic knowledge about the civil war, or WWII imparted. The bicentennial struck when I was nine, so it would be hard for me not to have 1776 tattooed on my frontal lobe, and the 'Schoolhouse Rock' American history shorts were pretty useful too. I don't think I got that much more schooling in the history of the United States then has my son, so the fact that most of the entertainment the kids like today is fantasy based has the side effect of diluting their knowledge of our history.
Culture- it's where we shape our future. Or don't.
Well, it's where the future is shaped. Whether we have anything to do with it or not is another matter.
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