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Friday, December 05, 2008

'Ignorance Reigns Supreme'

In a stunning syndicated op-ed on just how thoroughly American citizens have been dumbed down by our sorry educational system, Dr. Walter Williams points to the disheartening survey that shows less than 50% of Americans can name the 3 branches of government.

It only gets worse from there.

Only 27% know that the Bill of Rights prohibits the U.S. from establishing an official religion of the state.

The literacy level of Americans when it comes to civics is remarkably poor. 71% failed the civics test.

Based on a review of these stats, along with data from a few other surveys, Williams makes this dire assessment:
With limited thinking abilities and knowledge of our heritage, we Americans set ourselves up as easy prey for charlatans, hustlers and quacks. If we don't know the constitutional limits placed on Congress and the White House, politicians can do just about anything they wish to control our lives, from deciding what kind of light bulbs we can use to whether the government can take over our health care system or bailout failing businesses. We just think Congress can do anything upon which they can get a majority vote.

Read the whole thing and ponder over it carefully. We need to do some serious revamping of our educational system from top to bottom, even if it means laying to rest government-run schools.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is precisely why we do not need, and should have never implemented a centralized education system — public schools.

The same goes for state run, state funded colleges and universities.

Ultimately, they all lead to the "norming" of educational standards to the lowest common denominator, and to handing out "free" education to certain constituencies in return for political support.

Welshman said...

Exactly...