This is a very good thread, one that should be read by everyone in my opninion.

As an inhabitant of the Netherlands, and a student of a high school I also witness that some groups of children are becoming 'stupid'. Personally I am currently in my final year of what is the highest form of high-school education you can get, but even on this level you can see that people aren't too clever. They just learn whatever our school tells them to learn and they get high grades (lots of them get higher grades than I do) but when you try to have a serious conversation you are usually left talking to yourself...

Another recent event that shocked me was the big protest against more hours of education per year. Our government was planning to raise to number of educational hours from 960 to 1040 hours (this means two extra hours in a schoolweek).

As a result loads of teenagers decided that they did not agree with being educated more and they protested in all the big cities (inlcuding Rotterdam where I live). Even young children were talking about skipping school so that they could riot along. Unfortunately the motivations of most children were exactly the other way around.

When I asked a few kids why they were going to strike they didn't even know. They just did it so they didn't have to go to school. I just can't understand this. How can you be so ungrateful? You get the opportunity to learn and become educated in the Netherlands. There are millions of children begging to live in a system like ours. And this is the result? Terrible.

excuse the double post, something went wrong there...

[edit on 12/29/2007 by NoSuchAgency]

Skynews is the perfect example in the UK in how the news likes to cover stories which have no interest to the nation. Like, one example, a man in South Africa who had a pet hippo.

Really, is that more important than the prospect of a recession in the United Kingdom next year? Our politicians are currently have a debate on a new constitution, but you wouldn't think it because the news hardly discusses it!

Newspapers are much, much worse. *spits on The Sun and The Mirror*, how can these papers claim the morale high ground on political issues when all the news printed is celebrity gossip?!?! blows my mind

Thank you for the excellent post!

I wish it was not true, but unfortunately the evidence is all around us. As a teacher, I see it way too often. We were cleaning out our old book room to move to a new building and found some old math books. I was shocked at the level of 'basic' math in them. My students today wouldn't be able to do it. In fact, when we picked books for the new year, we specifically looked for low reading levels and lots of pretty pictures to keep our student's attention. Sad, isn't it?

Originally posted by Gun Totin Gerbil
You think this ill-education, unawareness is reflected in the music that these generations produce ? , the US used to produce a lot of political motivated groups, so did the uk with the likes of the Clash. Nowadays the music is as dumbed down as the people , theres no ingenuity, no inspiration, no rebellion.

Just off the top of my head:

Bad Religion
Bionic Jive
Black 47
Body Count
Brooks & Dunn
Corrosition of Conformity
Flogging Molly
Green Day
Halford
Lost Children of Babylon
NoFx
Paris
Re:Ignition
Spearhead / Michael Franti
Steve Earle
U.S. Bombs
X-Clan

...and many others if I looked through my rated music at music.yahoo.com

Even Zombies Ate My Neighbors by Single File (which I just heard) is probably a slam at the phoney War-on-a-Tactic as much as Snakes on a Plane by Cobra Starship.

You need something like a premium service from Yahoo to hear it though (at least legally in what once was America).

Originally posted by agent_01
Interesting and I think a very true topic.... I wonder what the world might be like with no TV?

But like they say, thats why they call TV programming, because it is exactly that, programming.

The Matrix has you Neo!

Programming.....I totally agree.

I can tell you exactly what life is like with no TV.
It's great!

I am fully self-sufficient. if something breaks, I can fix it. If something threatens me, I can defend myself. I'm not fat! I'm healthy! And I am far more intelligent than any of the people around me in my environment.
I am not a dumb consumer, I don't eat fast food, but rather cook myself and eat smart.

I have lots of hobbies. I play guitar, I am a boxer, a runner, I build things continuously in my shop rather than buy some pre-manufactured crap.

When I need to know something I can go on the internet and find the info I need and choose what information is pertinent to my task.

I must admit that sometimes I try to watch TV, but I see hidden agenda in everything. They are either trying to change one's perceptions of reality, or reduce your moral standards. This usually means I only end up being able to sit in the livingroom for about 10 minutes at a time.

I have found that by not watching TV, I am a survivor with my own views and opinions, my own limits and not what's imposed on me, and I have an ever-widening ability to question and understand things as they really are without any prejudice.

TV is something I highly recommend people avoid, because regardless of who you think you are, you will be harmed or influenced by it. No good comes from it. make your own choices and develop your own views.
See things in reality, not the way they want you to see them.

All that, and without it, you'll save about 100 dollars a month in America.

Good thread! Surprised to see how few responses, but I guess that sums it up!