The republicans are at war against education for a reason. An uneducated America votes republican

[Exultant Democracy]

snip:
Okay, now let's talk (dare I say rant?) about the 200 million Americans out there who cannot read a simple story in, say, Technology Review or the New York Times science section and understand even the basics of DNA or microchips or global warming.

This level of science illiteracy may explain why over 40 percent of Americans do not believe in evolution and about 20 percent, when asked if the earth orbits the sun or vice versa, say it's the sun that does the orbiting--placing these people in the same camp as the Inquisition that punished Galileo almost 400 years ago. It also explains the extraordinary disconnect between scientists and much of the public over issues the scientists think were settled long ago--never mind newer discoveries and research on topics such as the use of chimeras to study cancer, or pills that may extend life span by 30 or 40 percent. :

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/duncan/17535/

It isn't surprising that they don't understand complex issues like civil rights. How can Democrats win on the issues when enough American's too ignorant to understand them?

[bdamomma]

1. it's the way they can control the masses, uneducated and instill

fear in people, well not all of us, are biting.

[matt007]

2. I agree 110 percent

I'm from the south and that is my main problem. Even people in "college" who think they are educated get their views from fox or the like.

Not to mention the pervasive evangelical christian misinformation everywhere.

i'm abroad now. i'll see how the next election goes.

[Exultant Democracy]

3. Well I hope you start to feel more welcome home after 2008

[quinnox]

4. can't argue with that

The republicans seem to attract the uneducated ignorant illiterate hicks, while the Democrats get the educated major city smart people. That is fact.

[niyad]

5. I have always said that the dismal results of our "educational system" are no accident. an educated

public, capable of critical thinking and discernment, cannot be controlled or manipulated.

[treestar]

6. They have too much trust in authority

Though Bushitler may have done enough to mitigate that a great deal.

The older generation is especially trustful, I think (certain individuals excepted, obviously). They could believe the news in the era of Walter Cronkite, perhaps. Even my generation has the knee-jerk reaction to believe it's true if it's in the paper or on television.

We need to be more aware that the TV and newspapers always chose what to cover and quit letting them decide what is important. The internets are good for that.

[southerncrone]

7. There use to be some integrity in reporting & the FCC had teeth & a backbone then

It isn't just education. There has been a moral breakdown in the fabric of the nation. We became paranoid after Vietnam & tricky Dicky. We didn't trust ANY of our established institutions, resulting in throwing the baby out w/the bathwater. A general "Don't give a sh*t" attitude ensued, & unfortunately during the fog of that era, we lost control.

I am a teacher, & yes, there is a concerted effort to keep us busy w/paperwork & testing so we don't have time to teach our subject matter. But children come to school w/o any basic social skills because they are often raising themselves. Parents have no idea what their kids are doing, or WHERE THEY ARE!
Too many are being raised by overworked, overwhelmed single-parents, who are trying their best, but have to keep too many balls in the air at once.

Education faces many problems. But the education system is only one contributor to a person's EDUCATION. The FCC should require all stations become real citizens & offer at least 10% of their programming to educating our youth. Family members have a responsibility, also.

[treestar]

8. IA it can't be just education - there are so many teachers in my family

so I have heard many stories and it seems the schools are stuck with way more than they used to be. Though Bush and his No Child Left Behind stuff seems to have made it worse.

[southerncrone]

11. Most definitely

School systems are already financially strapped in trying to keep up w/technology, & now must accommodate smaller class sizes; SLL teachers; inclusion; expensive, mandated corporate-based testing; and decaying buildings. Of course ALL UNFUNDED MANDATES FROM NCLB!
It is a wonder we teach kids anything these days. Sad, sad, sad.
I won't even go into the poor pay issue.

[ComerPerro]

9. that's part of it. Plus, they push for two things:

home schooling and private schools.

Only the richest can send their kids to the best schools, and so to Republicans they are more deserving of better education. They think the same thing about health care, those who can pay more should get the best care.

Granted, liberals can do a good and responsible job home schooling, it is incredibly easy to warp a child's mind to make them into a fundie and a RWer through home schooling. The rules are so lax. You could basically teach them by listening to Rush Limbaugh 3 hours a day and get the same credit as someone with an actual, honest High School diploma

[southerncrone]

13. You are right on target

I've recently had necessary surgery (could not walk or sit). The bill would be over $120,000 if I didn't have insurance. However, the amount that the insurance co. has negotiated is $32,000, while I'll be out $600. Tell me the poor get a fair shake. It is criminal!

[ComerPerro]

14. worst thing I've ever heard is a RW radio host (some nobody, local)

saying that health insurance should be like car insurance. As in, if you're caught walking around without Health Insurance, you should be able to be arrested.

[gatorboy]

10. JESUS HAD A PET DINOSAUR!

Live with it people!

[salinen]

12. That's ridiculous

J's dinosaur was chained up because it was wild. Stop spreading shit.

[northofdenali]

15. The uneducated not only can't conceive the issues,

they really don't want to. If they're comfortable, housed, fed, tv'd, rv'd, and suv'd, they could care less.

What they don't realize is that they have allowed the US to become the CorpUS, and they are actually serfs to King Money.

[Exultant Democracy]

18. Well the adults are certainly willfully ignorant, but we can't blame the children

[northofdenali]

19. Oh, I agree 100%, Leviathan. Although I believe that anyone

who remains "willfully" ignorant has no excuse if the world runs over the top of them.

I made certain my daughter could read incredibly well, spell correctly, use the English language both orally and in writing, knew history, knew science and math - and this was before 8th grade. Her teacher's certainly wouldn't have - they didn't have the time with all the garbage paperwork and "social issues" classes they had to teach, let alone the 40 kids per class challenge.

Unfortunately, it's true and sad that the children of the ignorant often grow up the same way. There are many who make it out of that cycle, but many more who don't.

Willful ignorance, to my mind, is inexcusable in an adult.

[cassiepriam]

16. Keep the masses stupid and poor. nt

[Arugula Latte]

17. Corporations need people to flip burgers.

I agree, the dismal edjumacashun system is no accident.

[BlooInBloo]

20. And that's EXTRA sad, because pop science is ALREADY tailored to idiots.

[WinkyDink]

21. Of course. I laugh when Republicans claim the NEA is "liberal", when all the

public school administrators I ever knew (and there were plenty) questioned the need for Liberal Arts. Pedestrian writing "skills" and understanding directions, yes; literary interpretations, discussions, analyses, not so much.

[Quantess]

22. Repukes also don't care about mercury levels in the environment.

Mercury is a proven teratogen, which means it is known to cause birth defects. Mercury is harful to a developing nervous system, for example, the brain. Mercury is harmful to fetal brain development.

Does the Bush administration care that environmental mercury levels have increased? If you don't know the answer, take a guess.

[Quantess]

23. Here's a link about the harmful effects of mercury to children:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070308.wxhmercury08/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home

[Morgana LaFey]

26. I can go ya one better on that one

Get a load of THIS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VImCpWzXJ_w

[Greyhound]

24. Once you consider that our Public education system was developed in the 19th century to

produce an obedient population capable of following simple instruction, and above all, to comply with the demands of authority, it has been quite successful. Unfortunately, one of the requirements for this type of indoctrination (it's not truly education) is that there must be a lack of critical thinking. If one seeks a reason for following orders, one might conclude that the order is wrong and that must not be permitted.

[Quantess]

25. That's only your opinion of why the public school system was created.

I don't agree with your theory.

Mandatory school attendance, and public schools, were created to keep children out of the workforce until they were adolescents. Child labor was seen as a threat to adult male workers, because child labor drove wages down.

[Greyhound]

27. Actually it's not opinion at all, but a well documented fact.

Even a superficial investigation of the origins of the American public education system will clearly show you that it was developed to train an agrarian populace to conform to the demands and schedule of the industrial society that was being propagated as its replacement.

Of course it does depend on your actually looking into it, I have little hope that you will.

TTFN

[Quantess]

28. I took your words as a challenge.

I looked up "public school history" on Google, but I didn't see anything supporting your claim (in post #24). I'm sure yours is a popular theory, but it is not as mainstream of a theory as you say it is.

However, what I said about child labor is true and well documented.
http://www.princeton.edu/~kdoran/jobmarketpaper.html

Upon edit: your post #26 sounds right, and I wouldn't argue with that. Your post, #24 is the one that sounds less credible.

[Greyhound]

29. If you're really interested, here's a work that, while rather more lengthy

than can be gone into on a BBS, is pretty thorough and documents the evolution of the educational system we have now.

http://mhkeehn.tripod.com/ughoae.pdf">It is titled "The Underground History of American Education: An Intimate Investigation into the Problem of Modern Schooling" By John Gatto

From a short synopsis which you can read http://mhkeehn.tripod.com/ughoae.pdf">here.

Fingers are pointed at various aspects of the schooling system—overcrowded classrooms, lack of funding, teachers who can't pass competency exams in their fields, etc. But these are just secondary problems. Even if they were cleared up, schools would still suck. Why? Because they were designed to.

How can I make such a bold statement? How do I know why America's public school system was designed the way it was (age-segregated, six to eight 50-minute classes in a row announced by Pavlovian bells, emphasis on rote memorization, lorded over by unquestionable authority figures, etc.)? Because the men who designed, funded, and implemented America's formal educational system in the late 1800s and early 1900s wrote about what they were doing.

[Quantess]

31. Thanks for posting that! (EOM)

[Greyhound]

32. My pleasure.

He goes off a little wacky in making his recommendations, and in the conclusions he draws toward the end, but the research is well done and it's all right there in black and white.
:kick:

[Odin2005]

30. It's the Neo-Cons' elitist, totalitarian roots roots showing.

Leo Strauss, the founder of Neo-Conservatism got a lot of his BS from Plato's elitist, totalitarian political philosophy. Plato thought that the masses had to be kept ignorant of "true knowledge" via propaganda and official deception lest they use that "true knowledge" to threaten the rule of the Philosopher-Kings.