I’m a product of that public school education you so love to denigrate, and I’ll wager any amount of imaginary money you want that I know far, far more about history than you ever will.
fennec, I agree with your posts. Critical thinking skills (how to analyze, how to weigh information) are sorely lacking I believe. I’m astounded by people I know who truly think if they read something on the Internet it must be true and they don’t know to check it out or look further, even when it defies common sense.
Quite right, fennec, bcs - liberal arts, in particular, is designed to teach people to do comparison and contrast and reason analytically and conceptually, regardless of your major. One reason why so many leaders were liberal arts majors…see for example A New Case for the Liberal Arts, by Winter, McClelland, and Stewart.
Scott, you went a little bolistic there. Since the women’s ERA, the main difference I see that has hurt Americans is the fact that when most women started working, the cost of living skyrocketed because nearly everything is priced based on two-income families now, whether or not two members of the same family are actually earning money or not. Because we are not suppose to be able to get ahead, only greedy government and businesses can do that!
@ Doc, Fenec: Blame no child left behind, which focuses on teaching kids how to pass a test, as opposed to thinking and problem solving like in the past. Also add the myth of charter schools (which are private schools that suck, ex. Miami Beach Charter School closing because of debt and bad grades) and voucher programs (STATE MONEY to CHURCHES that have religious schools) and you’ll know why kids these days haven’t learned a thing.
To be fair to No Child (which is horrible), our problems existed long before that. Up till the 20th century, school was a pretty elite enterprise. Kids got through 3rd or 4th grade usually, then went to work on the farm or some other trade. A high school diploma was a guarantee of a good middle class life.
With the industrial revolution, there was a need for more slightly better educated workers – a reading was important for more jobs that involved more complex machinery. So, education became more accessible because it served the purposes of the economy. Of course, when the Depression hit, there were a lot of older kids now unemployed, and a move to get them into high school started. By the time World War II rolled around, high school was a given. But with all those extra kids, it became harder for the schools to handle them. The diploma also lost its panache because everyone got one. High School became a holding cell for countless kids who would previously have gotten a job. But education was not designed to help them get ahead. It was still designed to teach them just enough to work in the factories. Only the upper class kids got the better education.
This doesn’t excuse terrible practices coming later, but it does give a bit of context for a confused and strange system that is bigger than any one person’s ability to fix. Just like a war, it’s easy to create the mess than it is to clean it up.
toasteroven over 14 years ago
Explain it, before hinge-jawed Uncle Sam swallows you whole.
toasteroven over 14 years ago
Hey scott.
I’m a product of that public school education you so love to denigrate, and I’ll wager any amount of imaginary money you want that I know far, far more about history than you ever will.
Bring it on, son.
Charles Brobst Premium Member over 14 years ago
Put your straight jacket back on Scott!
Let us sane people keep in mind that it was Bush and his Republican handlers who gave us:Deficits, Debt, Bank Failures, Bailouts, Foreclosures.
Dtroutma over 14 years ago
Can Scooter get any more gay??
believecommonsense over 14 years ago
fennec, I agree with your posts. Critical thinking skills (how to analyze, how to weigh information) are sorely lacking I believe. I’m astounded by people I know who truly think if they read something on the Internet it must be true and they don’t know to check it out or look further, even when it defies common sense.
Motivemagus over 14 years ago
Quite right, fennec, bcs - liberal arts, in particular, is designed to teach people to do comparison and contrast and reason analytically and conceptually, regardless of your major. One reason why so many leaders were liberal arts majors…see for example A New Case for the Liberal Arts, by Winter, McClelland, and Stewart.
Michigander over 14 years ago
Scott, you went a little bolistic there. Since the women’s ERA, the main difference I see that has hurt Americans is the fact that when most women started working, the cost of living skyrocketed because nearly everything is priced based on two-income families now, whether or not two members of the same family are actually earning money or not. Because we are not suppose to be able to get ahead, only greedy government and businesses can do that!
d_legendary1 over 14 years ago
@ Doc, Fenec: Blame no child left behind, which focuses on teaching kids how to pass a test, as opposed to thinking and problem solving like in the past. Also add the myth of charter schools (which are private schools that suck, ex. Miami Beach Charter School closing because of debt and bad grades) and voucher programs (STATE MONEY to CHURCHES that have religious schools) and you’ll know why kids these days haven’t learned a thing.
cdward over 14 years ago
To be fair to No Child (which is horrible), our problems existed long before that. Up till the 20th century, school was a pretty elite enterprise. Kids got through 3rd or 4th grade usually, then went to work on the farm or some other trade. A high school diploma was a guarantee of a good middle class life.
With the industrial revolution, there was a need for more slightly better educated workers – a reading was important for more jobs that involved more complex machinery. So, education became more accessible because it served the purposes of the economy. Of course, when the Depression hit, there were a lot of older kids now unemployed, and a move to get them into high school started. By the time World War II rolled around, high school was a given. But with all those extra kids, it became harder for the schools to handle them. The diploma also lost its panache because everyone got one. High School became a holding cell for countless kids who would previously have gotten a job. But education was not designed to help them get ahead. It was still designed to teach them just enough to work in the factories. Only the upper class kids got the better education.
This doesn’t excuse terrible practices coming later, but it does give a bit of context for a confused and strange system that is bigger than any one person’s ability to fix. Just like a war, it’s easy to create the mess than it is to clean it up.
believecommonsense over 14 years ago
neocon, you’re also needed on Catalino, 10/21. I can’t do it as well as you can.