GhostSoldier
9th May 2005, 01:28
[...]
Even after five years in the United States, I continue to be surprised by the omnipresence of patriotic conformism. This phenomenon long predates 11 September. When my son started playing baseball this year, he and his friends were made to recite the Little League pledge which begins: "I trust in God. I love my country and respect its laws." What has that got to do with sportsmanship? When, a few weeks later, he and I went to see our first ball game at Dodger Stadium, I was flabbergasted all over again when the crowd rose to sing the national anthem. This was just a routine game, not an international fixture. So what was with all the flag-waving?
[...]
People love to beat up on Americans for their ignorance of the wider world, and there is no lack of evidence to back them up. Every now and again, a gob-smacking poll will reveal that most of the population can't place the Middle East on the map, or think that Africa is part of Asia, or some similar nonsense. Ignorance is not, of course, an exclusively American vice, but there is something goofily compelling about its expression in so deeply insular a country as the United States. I spent the period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany reporting for an international news agency; nine months into the year-long assignment, I learned that most US newspaper readers had no notion that East and West Germany had ever been divided.
[...]
Two examples. On 19 March, the day the war with Iraq began, two experts in child psychology appeared on a highly regarded radio show in southern California to talk about the best way parents should explain world events to their impressionable offspring. Betsy Brown Braun, a child development specialist, acknowledged the difficulty of justifying the morality of warfare to children forever being told to resolve their differences without resorting to violence. But her solution was simply to defer to the official line. Parents, she said, should explain that "we tried to talk to people in Iraq", but that this is "a dangerous situation that has to be stopped". "Think what you will about President Bush," she went on, "it is our job to let our children know that President Bush's number one concern is that everyone who lives in this United States is safe, that we're not trying to hurt anybody, that we want to keep all the people in the world safe."
[...]
The curriculum itself displays a similar lack of seriousness. In California, for example, no history or geography is introduced until the fourth grade (that is, age 9), and there is no exposure to the contemporary world outside the United States until high school. Even in the upper grades, most students will focus on 20th century US history, economics and US government institutions. So it is entirely possible to graduate from the school system, perhaps even excel academically, while barely knowing that the rest of the world exists.
[...]
With his six-year-old son enrolled in Californian state school, Andrew Gumbel finds its roots in a conformist education system ill at ease with dissent or critical thought ... (http://www.pipeline.com/~rgibson/brainwashed.html)
Opinions, Discussion, Critisim?
The majority of Americans are not taught to think critically. They are not taught how to assess and a situation using logic. They are not aware of logic fallacies and as a result do not recognize when opinions and general ideologies are used to sway their opinion, enlist their action, and rationalize their economic support. Indeed, their economic support is designed to make their direct involvement exclusive - go to work, operate in what are customary social fashions, obey the law, pay taxes and you will be defined as an upstanding citizen -
The majority of americans are raised in ideological fashion... religion is a major factor in many lives and T.V. is employed to entertain/babysit... and T.V. is not a well known source for objective reasoning skills. The Theta wave induction is perfect for suggestion and at an early age, people are learning to be commercialized and have their imagination be dictated by cartoons. It is true that parents are largly responsible for the thought process of their child, much less their education. I believe their is a vaunted misconception held by these same parents that the system has their child's best interest in mind and as a result, they don't expend any effort in their child's experience.
Americans (in particular) are brought up with quick-fixes - Nobody ever wants things done the right way - its all now now now... We are treating the headache when it pops up - rather than fixing the problem causing the headache... (The supposed 'War on Terror' is the perfect example of this...
The nefariously subtle passage of time encourages and rewards routine and in this routine we as a society get lost in blind pursuits... A critical mind isn't rewarded like the conformed mind...
Even after five years in the United States, I continue to be surprised by the omnipresence of patriotic conformism. This phenomenon long predates 11 September. When my son started playing baseball this year, he and his friends were made to recite the Little League pledge which begins: "I trust in God. I love my country and respect its laws." What has that got to do with sportsmanship? When, a few weeks later, he and I went to see our first ball game at Dodger Stadium, I was flabbergasted all over again when the crowd rose to sing the national anthem. This was just a routine game, not an international fixture. So what was with all the flag-waving?
[...]
People love to beat up on Americans for their ignorance of the wider world, and there is no lack of evidence to back them up. Every now and again, a gob-smacking poll will reveal that most of the population can't place the Middle East on the map, or think that Africa is part of Asia, or some similar nonsense. Ignorance is not, of course, an exclusively American vice, but there is something goofily compelling about its expression in so deeply insular a country as the United States. I spent the period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany reporting for an international news agency; nine months into the year-long assignment, I learned that most US newspaper readers had no notion that East and West Germany had ever been divided.
[...]
Two examples. On 19 March, the day the war with Iraq began, two experts in child psychology appeared on a highly regarded radio show in southern California to talk about the best way parents should explain world events to their impressionable offspring. Betsy Brown Braun, a child development specialist, acknowledged the difficulty of justifying the morality of warfare to children forever being told to resolve their differences without resorting to violence. But her solution was simply to defer to the official line. Parents, she said, should explain that "we tried to talk to people in Iraq", but that this is "a dangerous situation that has to be stopped". "Think what you will about President Bush," she went on, "it is our job to let our children know that President Bush's number one concern is that everyone who lives in this United States is safe, that we're not trying to hurt anybody, that we want to keep all the people in the world safe."
[...]
The curriculum itself displays a similar lack of seriousness. In California, for example, no history or geography is introduced until the fourth grade (that is, age 9), and there is no exposure to the contemporary world outside the United States until high school. Even in the upper grades, most students will focus on 20th century US history, economics and US government institutions. So it is entirely possible to graduate from the school system, perhaps even excel academically, while barely knowing that the rest of the world exists.
[...]
With his six-year-old son enrolled in Californian state school, Andrew Gumbel finds its roots in a conformist education system ill at ease with dissent or critical thought ... (http://www.pipeline.com/~rgibson/brainwashed.html)
Opinions, Discussion, Critisim?
The majority of Americans are not taught to think critically. They are not taught how to assess and a situation using logic. They are not aware of logic fallacies and as a result do not recognize when opinions and general ideologies are used to sway their opinion, enlist their action, and rationalize their economic support. Indeed, their economic support is designed to make their direct involvement exclusive - go to work, operate in what are customary social fashions, obey the law, pay taxes and you will be defined as an upstanding citizen -
The majority of americans are raised in ideological fashion... religion is a major factor in many lives and T.V. is employed to entertain/babysit... and T.V. is not a well known source for objective reasoning skills. The Theta wave induction is perfect for suggestion and at an early age, people are learning to be commercialized and have their imagination be dictated by cartoons. It is true that parents are largly responsible for the thought process of their child, much less their education. I believe their is a vaunted misconception held by these same parents that the system has their child's best interest in mind and as a result, they don't expend any effort in their child's experience.
Americans (in particular) are brought up with quick-fixes - Nobody ever wants things done the right way - its all now now now... We are treating the headache when it pops up - rather than fixing the problem causing the headache... (The supposed 'War on Terror' is the perfect example of this...
The nefariously subtle passage of time encourages and rewards routine and in this routine we as a society get lost in blind pursuits... A critical mind isn't rewarded like the conformed mind...