Yes. We live in an entirely different age now; technology has made instant gratification standard and widespread. Progress is often incremental, yes, in inches, and people today are just too impatient for that. We have become a nation of spoiled children. I vote for candidate A, and if he doesn't give me enough of what I want (and for many people ALL of what I want) then I am going to vote him out and all the rest of his party to teach them a lesson. This is partially what happened with Obama in 10, and what happened to Biden/Harris in 24. This childish impatience coupled with a severe lack of knowledge of how govt and politics works, combined with a decline and or lack of reasoning and analytical skills has gotten us here. Oh, and add widespread apathy, ennui, and a growing nihilism. It's what makes it hard to cut through media narratives and the defeatist attitude of believing politics is boring and has nothing to do with our lives.
I think the problem is we are an uneducated population so our decisions are based on our emotions, which while good in some ways, are terrible for political decisions. People said they would vote for Bush over Kerry because they could see themselves having a beer with Bush but not with Kerry. Emotion over education. People voted for Felon Trump because they believed only he could improve their lives. Again, emotion over education. Education is key, and for once, the government should stop listening to and acquiescing to parents. Standards in what is taught and how it should be measured is key. Stop with the 6.5 hours/day and 180 school days per year. Be radical; downgrade sports, so there is more time for academics such as liberal arts. I have worked with people, college graduates, who could not complete a single thought in their sentences, much less a paragraph. Spelling, and punctuation are by the boards. If you don’t expect high standards from people, you will never get high standards. Low expectations is a spiral circle to the bottom.
My wife, a retired attorney and undergrad English major, taught legal writing for a semester. She flunked two students who had MAs in the humanities. How could that happen? Hw did these people get passing grades on their theses? Profs reviewed her tentative grades and approved.
Yes!! Begin with phonics in teaching reading again. Include memorization as kids grow older in both literature and math. Have classroom maps as well as teaching World Geography. Timelines for visual History. English Grammar with sentence construction. etc etc. We can do a great job again with Education. Provide a Trade School near each Public H.S.
Yes. We live in an entirely different age now; technology has made instant gratification standard and widespread. Progress is often incremental, yes, in inches, and people today are just too impatient for that. We have become a nation of spoiled children. I vote for candidate A, and if he doesn't give me enough of what I want (and for many people ALL of what I want) then I am going to vote him out and all the rest of his party to teach them a lesson. This is partially what happened with Obama in 10, and what happened to Biden/Harris in 24. This childish impatience coupled with a severe lack of knowledge of how govt and politics works, combined with a decline and or lack of reasoning and analytical skills has gotten us here. Oh, and add widespread apathy, ennui, and a growing nihilism. It's what makes it hard to cut through media narratives and the defeatist attitude of believing politics is boring and has nothing to do with our lives.
It takes an educated population to
I’m troubled by the widespread apathy among the younger generations- how to get them more engaged? It’s their future being destroyed.
Get them off cell phones and computer screens. Release them outside.
FYI, from Jonathan Haidt today: "What Kids Told Us About How to Get Them Off Their Phones" (https://www.afterbabel.com/p/kids-freedom-smartphones?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1221094&post_id=170138422&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1dlvn&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email).
I think the problem is we are an uneducated population so our decisions are based on our emotions, which while good in some ways, are terrible for political decisions. People said they would vote for Bush over Kerry because they could see themselves having a beer with Bush but not with Kerry. Emotion over education. People voted for Felon Trump because they believed only he could improve their lives. Again, emotion over education. Education is key, and for once, the government should stop listening to and acquiescing to parents. Standards in what is taught and how it should be measured is key. Stop with the 6.5 hours/day and 180 school days per year. Be radical; downgrade sports, so there is more time for academics such as liberal arts. I have worked with people, college graduates, who could not complete a single thought in their sentences, much less a paragraph. Spelling, and punctuation are by the boards. If you don’t expect high standards from people, you will never get high standards. Low expectations is a spiral circle to the bottom.
My wife, a retired attorney and undergrad English major, taught legal writing for a semester. She flunked two students who had MAs in the humanities. How could that happen? Hw did these people get passing grades on their theses? Profs reviewed her tentative grades and approved.
I think the expression for your wife is “This would make a cat bark!”
Yes!! Begin with phonics in teaching reading again. Include memorization as kids grow older in both literature and math. Have classroom maps as well as teaching World Geography. Timelines for visual History. English Grammar with sentence construction. etc etc. We can do a great job again with Education. Provide a Trade School near each Public H.S.
All these things and more. We can and should leave our children and their children the full education they deserve. They are the future.