I’m not trying to claim I’m some kind of fancy intellectual, but I do read Foreign Affairs magazine. I have an online subscription and an app on my iPhone. There was an essay in the March / April 2017 combined issue titled, “How America Lost Faith in Expertise” by Tom Nicoles. I have never heard of Tom Nicoles but apparently he works for the government is some capacity. He tells as story of a poll in 2014, following the Russian invasion of Crimea. The Washington Post put it out. In brief, it asked Americans if the US should jump into the fight and assist the Ukraine. Less than 20% of the people could even point to the Ukraine on a map. Full disclosure, neither can I. People who thought the Ukraine was in South America or Australia were very gung-ho about our intervention.
So, is it complete apathy about world events; is it CNN’s and FoxNew’s move from real international news to be a bunch of talking heads; is it laziness? No, it’s a lack of quality education. Why is the rest of the world so “fluent” in our history and current events and I can’t even name the President (I don’t even know if it is a “president” or prime minister or queen) of Canada??
If we really want to make a difference to our children or our local community or even to our country, we have to start paying attention to the degrading of our educational systems. Disclosure item 2, I think it is a purposeful way of dumbing down the country’s work force to control wages, benefits, and even lifestyle.
So, go study a map.
Kevin Driscoll 