Only Fox could take this nonsense seriously and actually have one bird brain agree with the premise. Our boys watched the show.
According to many teachers the kids today are often the way the simpletons on Fox describe them, but I would attribute it to parents and American culture. Asian students who have been Americanized are the same as our wonder kids. I am not sure why. Could it be we have it too easy today? Our parents drilled the great depression into our heads so whatever we had was great. Madison avenue on the other hand preaches a gospel of materialism. Money is gawd in America, so changing that value is a bit hard. If the stats are true and our life is so much better and easier what does that do to a person's psyche.
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"I was raised to be ashamed of my ignorance, and to try to do something about it if at all possible. I carry that burden to this day, and have successfully passed it on to my children. I dont believe I have the right to an opinion about something I know nothing aboutconstitutional law, for example, or sailinga notion that puts me sadly out of step with a growing majority of my countrymen, many of whom may be unable to tell you anything at all about Islam, say, or socialism, or climate change, except that they hate it, are against it, dont believe in it. Worse still (or more amusing, depending on the day) are those who can tell you, and then offer up a stew of New Age blather, right-wing rant, and bloggers speculation thats so divorced from actual, demonstrable fact, thats so not true, as the kids would say, that the mind goes numb with wonder. Way I see it is, a man in the Tulsa Motel 6 swimming pool told me last summer, if English was good enough for Jesus Christ, its good enough for us.
Quite possibly, this belief in our own opinion, regardless of the facts, may be what separates us from the nations of the world, what makes us unique in Gods eyes. The average German or Czech, though possibly no less ignorant than his American counterpart, will probably consider the possibility that someone who has spent his life studying something may have an opinion worth considering. Not the American. Although perfectly willing to recognize expertise in basketball, for example, or refrigerator repair, when it comes to the realm of ideas, all folks (and their opinions) are suddenly equal. Thus evolution is a damned lie, global warming a liberal hoax, and Republicans care about people like you."
Article appeared in Notesbook. Harper's Magazine
According to many teachers the kids today are often the way the simpletons on Fox describe them, but I would attribute it to parents and American culture. Asian students who have been Americanized are the same as our wonder kids. I am not sure why. Could it be we have it too easy today? Our parents drilled the great depression into our heads so whatever we had was great. Madison avenue on the other hand preaches a gospel of materialism. Money is gawd in America, so changing that value is a bit hard. If the stats are true and our life is so much better and easier what does that do to a person's psyche.
====
"I was raised to be ashamed of my ignorance, and to try to do something about it if at all possible. I carry that burden to this day, and have successfully passed it on to my children. I dont believe I have the right to an opinion about something I know nothing aboutconstitutional law, for example, or sailinga notion that puts me sadly out of step with a growing majority of my countrymen, many of whom may be unable to tell you anything at all about Islam, say, or socialism, or climate change, except that they hate it, are against it, dont believe in it. Worse still (or more amusing, depending on the day) are those who can tell you, and then offer up a stew of New Age blather, right-wing rant, and bloggers speculation thats so divorced from actual, demonstrable fact, thats so not true, as the kids would say, that the mind goes numb with wonder. Way I see it is, a man in the Tulsa Motel 6 swimming pool told me last summer, if English was good enough for Jesus Christ, its good enough for us.
Quite possibly, this belief in our own opinion, regardless of the facts, may be what separates us from the nations of the world, what makes us unique in Gods eyes. The average German or Czech, though possibly no less ignorant than his American counterpart, will probably consider the possibility that someone who has spent his life studying something may have an opinion worth considering. Not the American. Although perfectly willing to recognize expertise in basketball, for example, or refrigerator repair, when it comes to the realm of ideas, all folks (and their opinions) are suddenly equal. Thus evolution is a damned lie, global warming a liberal hoax, and Republicans care about people like you."
Article appeared in Notesbook. Harper's Magazine