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Even after five years in the United States, I continue to be surprised by the omnipresence of patriotic conformism. This phenomenon long predates 11 September. When my son started playing baseball this year, he and his friends were made to recite the Little League pledge which begins: "I trust in God. I love my country and respect its laws." What has that got to do with sportsmanship? When, a few weeks later, he and I went to see our first ball game at Dodger Stadium, I was flabbergasted all over again when the crowd rose to sing the national anthem. This was just a routine game, not an international fixture. So what was with all the flag-waving?
[...]
People love to beat up on Americans for their ignorance of the wider world, and there is no lack of evidence to back them up. Every now and again, a gob-smacking poll will reveal that most of the population can't place the Middle East on the map, or think that Africa is part of Asia, or some similar nonsense. Ignorance is not, of course, an exclusively American vice, but there is something goofily compelling about its expression in so deeply insular a country as the United States. I spent the period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany reporting for an international news agency; nine months into the year-long assignment, I learned that most US newspaper readers had no notion that East and West Germany had ever been divided.
[...]
Two examples. On 19 March, the day the war with Iraq began, two experts in child psychology appeared on a highly regarded radio show in southern California to talk about the best way parents should explain world events to their impressionable offspring. Betsy Brown Braun, a child development specialist, acknowledged the difficulty of justifying the morality of warfare to children forever being told to resolve their differences without resorting to violence. But her solution was simply to defer to the official line. Parents, she said, should explain that "we tried to talk to people in Iraq", but that this is "a dangerous situation that has to be stopped". "Think what you will about President Bush," she went on, "it is our job to let our children know that President Bush's number one concern is that everyone who lives in this United States is safe, that we're not trying to hurt anybody, that we want to keep all the people in the world safe."
[...]
The curriculum itself displays a similar lack of seriousness. In California, for example, no history or geography is introduced until the fourth grade (that is, age 9), and there is no exposure to the contemporary world outside the United States until high school. Even in the upper grades, most students will focus on 20th century US history, economics and US government institutions. So it is entirely possible to graduate from the school system, perhaps even excel academically, while barely knowing that the rest of the world exists.
[...]
LINK: A great do or die land
Two examples. On 19 March, the day the war with Iraq began, two experts in child psychology appeared on a highly regarded radio show in southern California to talk about the best way parents should explain world events to their impressionable offspring. Betsy Brown Braun, a child development specialist, acknowledged the difficulty of justifying the morality of warfare to children forever being told to resolve their differences without resorting to violence. But her solution was simply to defer to the official line. Parents, she said, should explain that "we tried to talk to people in Iraq", but that this is "a dangerous situation that has to be stopped". "Think what you will about President Bush," she went on, "it is our job to let our children know that President Bush's number one concern is that everyone who lives in this United States is safe, that we're not trying to hurt anybody, that we want to keep all the people in the world safe."
Originally posted by WyrdeOne
I lay blame squarely at the feet of American parents. No nation spends less time with their children...
...Parents don't have enough time, or rather, they don't make enough time....
originally posted by WyrdeOne
I lay blame squarely at the feet of American parents. No nation spends less time with their children, and no nation complains more loudly about the education system as a knee-jerk reaction to the rampant stupidity that results.
Don't get me wrong, the education system is in shambles, but that's beside the point. The point is, they're your kids, so educate them.
originally posted by WyrdeOne
Parents don't have enough time, or rather, they don't make enough time. Kids are coming into the world looking up to musicians and movie stars because they lack the guidance necessary to fully realise their potential.
originally posted by WyrdeOne
We're raised to be good little consumers, mindless, soul-less, drug addicted psychotics. We're told that soda, coffee and cigarettes, pharmaceutical’s and food additives are good for us, and herb, blow, and other assorted 'narcotics' are bad for us. That's a blatant double standard reinforced by stupid parents, which makes for stupid kids. We're told that we're insane, "Mental illness rates are SKYROCKETING" and on top of that, we're told it's all our fault. Never mind the fact that we live in a hypocritical, insane society. That couldn't possibly have anything to do with it right?
I think there will either be a very real change in the next decade or less, or else this country, and indeed the world is doomed. No pressure or anything.
Originally posted by ghostsoldier
Instead of always treating your headaches when they arise, why not think about whats CAUSING them – and come up with a solution to that!
Originally posted by Jedi_Master
Our education is in a shambles huh ?
So tell me folks... just why are people from other countries coming over here to learn in our universities?
Originally posted by Jedi_Master
Our education is in a shambles huh ?
So tell me folks... just why are people from other countries coming over here to learn in our universities?
The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004).
The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
"The International Adult Literacy Survey...found that Americans with less than nine years of education 'score worse than virtually all of the other countries'" (Jeremy Rifkin's superbly documented book The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, p.78
"The European Union leads the U.S. in...the number of science and engineering graduates; public research and development (R&D) expenditures; and new capital raised" (The European Dream, p.70).
"Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990s as the largest producer of scientific literature" (The European Dream, p.70).
Nevertheless, Congress cut funds to the National Science Foundation. The agency will issue 1,000 fewer research grants this year (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004).
Foreign applications to U.S. grad schools declined 28 percent last year. Foreign student enrollment on all levels fell for the first time in three decades, but increased greatly in Europe and China. Last year Chinese grad-school graduates in the U.S. dropped 56 percent, Indians 51 percent, South Koreans 28 percent (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004). We're not the place to be anymore.
Originally posted by ghostsoldier
I would have thought having 12000 gun related murders in your country would be enough to prove that… Are you aware that more US Citizens were murdered in Washington in 2003, than all the soldiers that were killed in Iraq - During the first year of the invasion…
Musicians such as; Christine Aguleira, Britany Spears, J-Lo, all the other skanks out there… OR… 50 Cent, Ja-Rule, G-Unit, or all the rest of the self-proclaimed “gangsters” and “drug-dealers” who treat women as objects… No wonder you are all so derelict, all you have to do is watch an episode of Jerry Springer and you can easily see the problems with America… Kids grow up watching a show about “My Girlfriend is sleeping with my brothers dad, who happens to be in the KKK!” … Its that kind of rubbish that makes me despise your country ing!
The majority of americans are not taught to think critically. They are not taught how to assess and a situation using logic. They are not aware of logic fallacies and as a result do not recognize when opinions and general ideologies are used to sway their opinion, enlist their action, and rationalize their economic support. Indeed, their economic support is designed to make their direct involvement exclusive.........go to work, operate in what are customary social fashions, obey the law, pay taxes and you will be defined as an upstanding citizen.
The majority of americans are raised in ideological fashion.....religion is a major factor in many lives and T.V. is employed to entertain/babysit....and T.V. is not a well known source for objective reasoning skills. The Theta wave induction is perfect for suggestion and at an early age, people are learning to be commercialized and have their imagination be dictated by cartoons. It is true that parents are largly responsible for the thought process of their child, much less their education. I believe their is a vaunted misconception held by these same parents that the system has their child's best interest in mind and as a result, they don't expend any effort in their child's experience.
Experience.....that which are personalities and subsequent intellectual thoughts are formed and checked against reality........but who among us even realize that this current day is an experience? The nefariously subtle passage of time encourages and rewards routine and in this routine we as a society get lost in blind pursuits....most of them out there more than others. A critical mind isn't rewarded like the conformed mind.........