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The word "Average American" is getting worse and worse due to the education our teachers give us. I'm slow starting to realize this myself even though I am only 16. I dropped out of school and decided to go to online schooling..why is that? I believe I can learn faster on my own instead of wasting hours in class doing "arts and crafts" when I can easily learn it within a few minutes.
Oh the decadence and indolence of the West! The proletariat will rise again!
Don't forget the US-orchestrated coup in Guatemala in the 50's. It became the model for the Bay of Pigs affair in Cuba.
Americans don't only know their own history, they don't know each other's history. It's important for everyone to study African American history, Native American history, Hispanic-American history, Asian-American history and women's history. Knowing about slavery, Jim Crow, and removal to reservations doesn't begin to cut it. And I mean everyone; AA's should know about Native American history, about Asian exclusionary laws, about how White women became radicalized about their own situation while they were doing anti-slavery work, and so on. Same for Hispanics, Asians, women. Once you study all this, certain patterns emerge. All of this is important information for being an informed voter and living harmoniously in a multi-cultural multi-ethnic society.
This is true. How many people now believe that narive american culture was really cumbaya love of nature and they didn't spend any time trying to one up other tribes? And we need to study the *origions* of things. How many think, for instance, that slavery just popped into existance one day? The conditions that it grew out of are just as important and tell a huge story of a the grim world most lived in way back then.
It is fascinating to learn about the human element in a time, and how people really lived, since that is what connects us to it.
I was thinking "how did this guy not fry'? at the time and it was very clear he was being protected along with many others ranked higher than him!
He should have been court Martialed but he wasn't.
North had his conviction overturned when a judge ruled that the prosecutor had to prove that none of the jurors were influenced by North's immunity protected testimony before congress. Pretty hard to prove a negative.
I was having a political discussion with a friend who is what I call an "average" American. Very involved in the Republican party, but what shocked me about this person is her uttermost ignorance of American history.
Based on this experience, I would assume that there is a large segment of the population that knows absolutely nothing about American history and even events that took place less than 30 years ago.
In particular, I was explaining to her about the history of Nicaragua, how the US supported the Contras in that country and the Iran-Contra scandal, she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about!
Your example is a bit out there and unfair. Not everybody has been doing the same reading as you. Not everybody's mind and curiousity has driven them down the same route as you. I know many Americans - even those who are college educated or otherwise successful - have a difficult time with simple facts, such as Nicaragua's location. But lack of knowledge of your example isn't proof somebody is dumb or uneducated. It sounds like you're tooting your own horn more than anything and not realizing that the world doesn't revolve around your knowledge. How would you feel if somebody smarter and more educated than yourself dove into something very specific that you know nothing about and called you stupid for not knowing what they were talking about?
Since you're so smart, educated, and knowledgeable, I would like for you to explain for those of us who have no idea whatsoever what you were talking about in your example conversation with your average friend, what exactly you were talking about. A person with the qualities you seem to be claiming should be able to do so very quickly, briefly, and in a way that provides us a general outline of everything involved and a foundation for us to dig deeper into the same subject on our own.
North is a classic example of what you get when you don't know your history. Today, he's a respected former Marine and held up as an example of patriotism. But, back then, he was an officer who willingly broke a solemn and legally enforceable vow when he put his allegiance to the President before his allegiance to the Constitution. In the name of expediency, ideology and submission to "the leader," he deliberately and criminally helped circumvent the law of the United States and the Will of The People as expressed by their Constitutionally elected representatives.
Instead of being hailed as a hero, he should have been courts-martialed and thrown out of the service for violating his oath of commission.
But, who knows that today? Who cares?
That's pretty mild to say the least. The guy is a bona fide war criminal.
Multi-culturalism isn't working. It is isn't working here, nor is it working in Europe. We live in a country of voluntary segregation. If you've ever been to LA, you might understand this.
Well it works great here but I guess that is just because everything Canadian is just so superior.
I think both political parties may tend to perceive and interpret their county's history a little differently. How many liberals have ever heard of the Chappaquiddick Incident, the Sedition Act of 1918, or the fact that LBJ escalated the Vietnam War from 1965-66, while Nixon brought it to an end?
Oh Please...You think because a Democrat does something stupid we condone it? really? I think we are the ones to slam them the hardest because we hate being F'ed by our own! A liberal scorned is trouble indeed.
When I say the throwing of our elections by repugs is bad is isn't because of who did it but because it undermines a system both parties seem set on dismantling. I don't care that you vote Repub... but I care when you or I are denied that right to vote. On that we should all agree but it seems when it means they win, the rupugs turn a blind eye. This was a fundamental aspect of our country which is routinely being corrupted.... and yet people sit on their hands doing nothing, expecting nothing and getting the shaft...
btw.. Dems also had tramps in the white house with Kennedy and Clinton ( as did some repugs)
Obama supported the wars, and the Patriot Act, NDAA and more... all hideous to our government.
The right and left get too easily distracted by nothing and miss the big picture, then argue with each other as both parties sell our Constitution out. One would think that would be a simple point we would agree on but alas, no
Multi-culturalism isn't working. It is isn't working here, nor is it working in Europe. We live in a country of voluntary segregation. If you've ever been to LA, you might understand this.
It isn't working in Europe because until relatively recently, most of the European countries had pretty homogeneous populations. Surely you knew that. You can't compare the US and Europe on that score.
The word "Average American" is getting worse and worse due to the education our teachers give us. I'm slow starting to realize this myself even though I am only 16. I dropped out of school and decided to go to online schooling..why is that? I believe I can learn faster on my own instead of wasting hours in class doing "arts and crafts" when I can easily learn it within a few minutes.
What schools teach "arts and crafts" in highschool? I've never heard of it.
What schools teach "arts and crafts" in highschool? I've never heard of it.
You have got to be kidding!
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