Stumble It!Nov 23 2008
One only evil
There has been much talk and derision from her former running mates’ aids that Sarah Palin was a lunkhead from the sticks; her lack of awareness that Africa was a continent and not a country, her inability to name the U.S. trading partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), her refusal to prepare for interviews, and her chatting with a faux French president have all made the rounds. Much of this ignorance was known, of course, before hand - or at least there was a general assumption of its existence - even among those who supported the Republican ticket. But, as it turns out, her ignorance is America’s politician’s ignorance…and we are much the poorer for it.
As I may have mentioned in “Oh History, Where Art Thou?,” Americans are terribly unaware of some of the most basic, most fundamental, cores of the American political system, history, and world events. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute released a report in which a 33 question “Civic Literacy Test” was administered to 2500 “elected officials” with such questions as “What are the three branches of the federal government” and “name one right guaranteed by the first amendment.” The average for the exam was a stupendously-low 44%. If you have ever wondered why government seems to be broken, wonder no further.
Ah, but how did the American public fare in this test which also asked “Sputnik was the name given to the first…” and “Name two countries that were our enemies in World War Two.”? As it turns out, a marginally better 49% (about two questions more than their elected officials).
The problem, the ISI argues, is that technical training is on the rise and civics training is on the decline. In American society, the television has replaced social and civic interaction - even watching documentaries seems to be of no help, according to the ISI. The remedy? The ISI encourages open, honest discussions about civics, rights, responsibilities, history, social matters, and other “uncomfortable” subjects that are not so easily grasped as the final score of a football game and are not so easily broken up into “good” versus “bad” or “right” versus “wrong.” Of course, this has been a fundamental problem in human societies for as long as there has been civilization. Socrates, the great Greek philosopher, was forced to drink hemlock for the crime of making his students think critically - in other words, his thoughts became dangerous.
Speaking of dangerous thoughts, you should check out the American Library Association’s list of banned books (some books may seem familiar to those in Alaska).
In short, I urge you to read, talk, argue, and - most important of all - consider that you just may be wrong, ignorant, or ill-educated. There is no shame in being ill-educated as long as you strive to expand your horizons, see things from other people’s perspectives, empathize with their points of view, and ultimately think critically about the world and the people in it.
“He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge;and one only evil, namely, ignorance.”
~Diogenes Laertius on Socrates
QED
——————–Resources——————–
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
American Library Association list of Banned Books (2007)
