For three hot days, from July 1 to July 3, 1863, more than 150,000 soldiers from the armies of the United States of America and the Confederate States of America slashed at each other in the hills and through the fields around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
We memorized this speech in grammar school. It still moves me by its simple elegance. America has been blessed by some of her leaders. Lincoln is one who moved US forward by reminding us who we are (to be).
In Indianapolis, at PS 84, in 1956, we had to memorize and recite the Gettysburg Address in our Social Studies class, and we also had to learn the Preamble to the Constitution so we could grow up as good citizens. We discussed the phenomenon of a Negro woman, Anathena Lee, being denied access to I believe the U of Alabama. We had to write a critique of either Stevenson or Eisenhower stating why one should, or should not, be elected. Bless Mrs. Ewing, our dedicated teacher. This curriculum shaped my life in many ways. Is this still done, or do we not teach what Ron deSantis doesn't want us to hear?
I too had to recite from memory those two historical gems. I memorized a fair amount of useless stuff in elementary school, such at the total banana crop tonnage of some central American nation, but I have thought about those two passages throughout my life. Lincoln's Birthday was a national holiday then and we prepared for it by hearing quotations and lore from Lincoln's life and times. I believe it significantly affected my sense of social justice.
JL and Frank, I too had to memorize the Gettysburg address and later, when I found that my Boy Scout group had never heard of it, I made them memorize it.
But, what I did NOT memorize were the dates and text of the Jim Crow laws put in place in the United States AFTER Lincoln's speech. Laws that produced legalized and legitimized inequality and terrorized black people for a century.
Lincoln's war was only partly successful and the echo we see today, in the Republican Party, is yet another sign that the Civil War did "free" the slaves but Jim Crow/Americans then brutalized those black Americans which resulted in a huge diaspora to the north where black folks were crowded into slums because the Northern white was not exactly enthusiastic about black folks either.
America The Beautiful. Yes indeed.
Now, let me get back to my job as American Military Contractor shipping weapons to Israel to exterminate Palestinians.
Ok, not really. But, I hope you see my point. Rousing though Dr. Richardson's writing is, we cannot lose sight of who we really are. Or we will not change.
Seems that 'we' meaning young adults of today along with 'you and I' could benefit 'muchly' from a post primary session of education. Not a collegiate course, but a more critical understanding of what has made this country worth keeping. Instead we are burdened with an overload of dung the likes of the Geo Santo's/Lindsey Grahams/Rudy G/Sidney P/J.Jordan/netanyah-who's/fo-news/Bo-burps/MTG/theTrumpsyndicate/theRNC..adinfinitum! And, that "crap".., unlike camel dung, it won't burn, just smolders obscuring everything.
Like others, I’m old enough to have had a good grounding in classes in civics (req in 8th grade), American history (middle and high school), government (required in 10th grade), economics (high school, college, graduate degree), political science (college). I’m not sure kids learning today could have the benefit we had.
Starting in the 1910's and especially the 1920's, American education changed significantly, with history, civics and economics becoming a new subject - social studies - that grew until it became a consistent part of primary school education throughout the country.
The result has been generations of students, my own children included, who had huge gaps in their knowledge of American history, in particular, only partially remedied by studies for college A/P exams during the latter years of high school.
So tell me, what happened in the United States from the 1780's and the beginning of the Civil War (four score and seven years)? You don't know, do you?
Who took over for Lincoln as President after he was assassinated and what was his role in destroying Lincoln's plans for reconstruction? Don't know that either, do you?
How did Jim Crow get started? Who were the Wobblies and what effect did they and the nascent American labor movement have in bringing about major positive changes in American life?
I could go on, but hopefully my point has been made, that you're a product of a stripped-down primary and middle school curriculum and if you know the answers to any of the questions above and the many more I could ask that might well draw a blank, it's because after your school years you became curious about what you didn't know or understand and read about it on your own.
If our educational curricula are not revised to be inclusive of what has been purposefully left out, or if we allow Ron DeSantis and his followers to further strip down what we teach our kids, then we'll truly have a Know-Nothing country susceptible to fascist dictatorship. (I won't ask if you know who the Know-Nothings were because I'm pretty sure that was taken out of your education as well.)
I have observed a self-defeating trend for some in society to recognize large problems to be solved and to take refuge in believing that it is too late for them to learn, but "the young" will save us. Except that when "the young" get to the age of self-care, they are obliged to adapt, to a large degree, to the status quo. Idealists can even be ground into cynics. Meanwhile we are a society as a whole, yet, for all the talk of "lifelong learning" we mostly think in terms of teaching to the young. Part of what makes us human is that, barring dementia, we can learn to the day we die. And as a society, we need to learn at every age. We need to build encouragement of curiosity and critical thinking throughout society, and I believe that there are many, many ways that this can be done.
A big barrier, of course is those with entrenched investments in controlling others to satisfy their self-serving agendas, an the lies they tell so that we don't notice and object. It seems to me that phenomenon is our specie's greatest and most stubborn problem; but even the awareness that it is there is step toward reducing it. And let's as a matter of cultural custom call out and distrust proven liars. It seems to me we have become more lax within my lifetime. Remember the "coverup" which was Nixon's undoing? Remember the "scandal" of the "$64.000 Question" quiz show? Remember even the Governments remedies to the "Savings and Loan" scandal vs the subprime disaster The Great Recession).
"And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place," -Sen. Dick Durbin
It is, indeed, America the Beautiful Mike. My continuing question to all the people who like to complain about this Country is this: Where is the perfect Country?
This line from an old poem (The Desiderata) comes to mind when I think of this Country. "Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism."
There are good people in Washington and in our Country doing great things.
Also.
Did you read President Biden's statement in the Washington Post this weekend? He addresses, very clearly, the need for a humanitarian approach in the Israeli/Palestine conflict. It is important we not radicalize this ancient and extremely complex Middle East reality.
I have not lost sight of who we are. I deeply love this Country and will continue to support it's arc towards Democracy; however imperfect.
"But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;"
Barbara. Thank you for your caution about my, possibly, missing those aspects of America that are good and true.
I am sure I do miss many aspects of both the upside and downside of America BUT, I have written here before about leaving a rural East Texas farm existence, where money just did not exist, and converting myself, through the free public University System in Texas, to an engineer and then working for some poorly managed companies up here in the Northeast while I saved and invested my money to change my own life.
I am a living example of the "good" that America offers anyone who can work 16 hour days for years on end to move "their place" in life.
Not only that, I have written about how the people of East Texas helped each other, supported each other, and were, back then, generally kind or at least live and let live.
America has a lot of positive aspects. Yes. But, IF we focus on that, then, we don't move the ball on those things that are ugly.
As for President Biden, he has enabled Israel's horrible response to Hamas by giving the green light to awful destruction. Sure, now Biden is back pedaling. But, NetanYahoo will do whatever he wants.
As for Hamas, we cannot expect to empower Israel to steal land for 100 years from the Palestinians, kill them at will without due process on their own land, and generally treat them worse than cur dogs without a response.
What would you do if someone put you in an open air prison, took your land, stole you kids future, and insured you were a prisoner in your own land?
Jennifer Rubin and many other are writing concerning this complex situation dating back decades. There is not only the current conflict but the Middle East peace, and Russian support of Hamas and Russia's effort to incite an explosion of conflict in this region. President Biden and Secretary Blinken have been advocating all along for the Palestinians. And. Frankly Mike your last sentence is a bit out of line in a discussion like we are having. I am not going to going to take it personally, but our opportunity here is to not inflame an already supremely volatile situation.
Here is what President Biden wrote:
"Both Putin and Hamas are fighting to wipe a neighboring democracy off the map. And both Putin and Hamas hope to collapse broader regional stability and integration and take advantage of the ensuing disorder. America cannot, and will not, let that happen. For our own national security interests — and for the good of the entire world.
To start, Gaza must never again be used as a platform for terrorism. There must be no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, no reoccupation, no siege or blockade, and no reduction in territory. And after this war is over, the voices of Palestinian people and their aspirations must be at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza.
As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution."
Finally, Biden writes about violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, violence that poses a threat to the post-war solutions. Biden writes,
I have been emphatic with Israel’s leaders that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those committing the violence must be held accountable. The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank.
Quote from the Washington Post and comment by Hubbell.
Excellent comment and exactly what I was thinking. We have been blessed by exception leaders but though they have influenced many....hatred and prejudices are used by those who seek power and control. These are demented power-hungry individuals. Unfortunately, the church has been captivated by these lower thoughts and beliefs regarding their fellow men and women.
Also, placing ourselves infront of information screens does not assist in our thought-life. More prejudices are introduced. So many are alone or become a part of a like minded group who believe lies as if they are the ones who really know what is going on in the world. The aftermath of COVID is still a problem for many. Recovery within the areas of education and healthcare continues.
Truth has become a precious commodity....and where to find it.
"Lincoln's War"? I could have sworn that history books record the beginning of the Civil War on April 12, 1861, when *Confederate* forces fired on Fort Sumter.
At one point many doctors believed that compounds of mercury were healthful, but no, the element is a highly toxic heavy metal. Charting our course with bad or ignored information is just plain heading for trouble.
People equipped with less education from which to base discernment, are defenseless against the lieing seductions of the demagogues. Low-information voters are exactly the herd demagogues hope for. This is no doubt why ex-College-History-Teacher Newt Gingrich toured the newsy Channels early this Millennium to advance the proposal that it is an irresponsible waste of family fortune to squander it on post-Highschool tuition. And more recently, Schmucker Carlson picked up this banner. They hope to deny voters the self-defense engendered through education.
Florida is heavily gerrymandered to benefit the Republican party in a state with close to equal party registrations the Republicans hold 71% of all legislators in the entire legislative body. Dems are the minority party in the legislature. Not likely there will be a change with Republicans holding a super majority and just last year redrawing the legislative districts to benefit them both in Florida and Washington for the next ten years. DeSantis cannot run for governor again as he is term limited. But the good news is that Florida is a state that mandates civic education throughout elementary and secondary public schools.
You are free to go to the State of Florida website and click on the DOE (Department of Education website). There you will find the curricula, standards and benchmarks for each of the courses. You can then evaluate the quality of the education to your standards. Remember, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. The same holds true for those sitting in the chairs within a classroom. That is the parents responsibility to make sure they communicate their expectations for their child's learning to their child and oversee the child's achievement of those expectations.
I too had such an experience in a suburb of Milwaukee in the late 50s. None of my grandchildren has been tasked to do either recitation. Thank you for your wrods.
They are poorer for it. Sad what students today are missing. I hate to think what “home-schooled” kids learn. In my experience, a well-educated home schooler is a novel exception.
But Jeri, home schooling insures my child stays safely ensconced in whatever I teach them to "believe" and never has to worry about coming across anyone who thinks or believes anything different.
C'mon. What could be better than producing an adult, who, at age 18, has no idea what "diversity of thought" is and will shut his or her mind as tight as a jail cell in Attica upon encountering such a thought?
Wait, that's why my kids went to Public School. To learn algebra and learn now to navigate the real world. Like I did (sort of). Plus, my son learned to fistfight his way out of insults. Always a great skill to have!
I was a teacher; I come from a long line of teachers. I was disheartened when my brother offered to send his grandchildren to private school, so they would not be indoctrinated. My mother would have been so disappointed! Indoctrination goes on in private schools and lots of home schooling situations. Public school teachers don't have time to "indoctrinate" anyone. They have to get students ready for end of year tests.
I attended a base school for Air Force kids. My mother taught there, and my brother and I went to school where she taught. I went to school with kids of all different races and backgrounds. I am so much better for having done so.
I suspect Air Force Base School gave a balanced education. I was in the AF from 1963-67, the Cold War era and was surprised to see the English version of Pravda being sold in the BX.
Mike S, My second comment to you is a total agreement. This is a digression from HCR's blog but I believe that the cause of the high suicide rates of teenagers and their acknowledged widespread unhappiness is that their pampered, protected, and digital obsession does not prepare them for the real world.
Ha.. "In my experience"... you and I (I'm 80) will not be around to really "experience" the effect of a homeschooled population along with the damage being inflicted by the 'moron & grifter alliance (MAGA).
The advantage of old age, but hate to miss the wonders of science. The human frailties, not so much. Nazis making a comeback is more than this old Ike admirer can deal with. The young of today have not been immersed in the horror of that time and the millions of murdered Jews.
Or the French Revolution and the March of history from the Crusades to the Age of Enlightenment and our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. “Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it.”
Words of George Santayana at the exit to Dachau (1973). I wonder if the small desk is still there.
How will the Ukrainians learn to use these sophisticated weapons that our soldiers take months to learn? Answer: Faster than you think. Two languages (at least) at first grade and two alphabets.
That’s beautiful! Made me tear just after watching a long eulogy (MSNBC) for Rosalyn Carter. We need a Secretary of Education who wants to educate EVERYONE, not prepare “students” to be serfs for big business. Thanks to the hard work of the Kochs, the Heritage Foundation and the Republican Party in conjunction with Big Business and Big Pharma, we no longer have the public schools of the 19th and 20th (until post-WWII) centuries. Our universities have discontinued the core curriculum that made them universities. Liberal arts colleges are disappearing, even though I read occasionally that liberal arts students are valued by employers because they can “think.”
Great comment Frank. And, for remembering "Mrs Ewing". I can only wonder what children today of your age back then will remember of what some teacher of theirs imparted to them in the recent 'ten years' of public school? I am not only wondering what the kids are being told (err learnt!) by these 'teachers' of today. Not to demean "teachers of today", but worrying more about the credibility of the institutions they have emanated from.
Interesting, back in the mid 50s, I attended PS 84 but I lived in the Bronx, NYC.
I wonder how many PS 84s there are?
The curriculum was similar for us back then...I think that there is still a national requirement for civics training but it's the 21st, digitized century now, children have access to and are distracted by devices, the internet and social media. Now, 50% of our elected lawmakers have gone off the rails. Some (GOP members) are feckless and batsh*t crazy but they are not patriotic.
I don't remember that the civics education had a great deal of impact on me at the time but I had to take that Oath to defend the Constitution when I joined the USMC at age 18 and it was quite a while before I realized that oaths are important.
All these people who claim to be patriotic, conservative and morally superior. They wave their flags, hold up their bibles and curse the libs but want nothing more than to dismantle our government. they want no restrictions on their "Freedoms".
The Social Contract is another word for our Constitution. The Framers did their best to provide us with something that would provide citizens with some security and assurances that they could safely prosper. That Preamble, that Bill Of Rights, Lincoln got it, he got the Declaration and he understood the devastation of warfare.
What chance is there that these "patriots" received but ignored that Civics training?
We did, Linda. History and Civics is as “dead” as was Latin, of which my one year of excellent is still treasured. Couldn’t have started Polish at 82 without it
Thank you, Anne Marie. It’s true. Still learning at 89, doing Pilates, and trying to educate my doctors (ageism is an American disease, affecting the medical profession as much as anyone else). It’s a real adventure to think of oneself as a two year-old all over again. Not having the “freedom to fall” is the problem. Need to review that education (modern dance in undergraduate school), though who would dare try to teach me?
I memorized it in school as well, and I grew up in Georgia. Back in those days, our teachers recognized who won the war. As a footnote I would suggest reading Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant about James Longstreet, who warned Robert E. Lee against Pickett's Charge, which enabled the Union win at Gettysburg.
As a writer, I am dazzled and moved by this jewel of a speech and the pure idealism of it. But since we're talking about requiring a US history test for elected leaders, I have to point out that at the time of this speech and up until his assassination, Lincoln was still far behind a great many abolitionists in his thinking about the national abomination of slavery, enslavers and enslavement. Even before he was elected president his practical solution was deportation of the enslaved. He proposed settlement in various countries - Liberia, Haiti, Panama. In 1863 he mused about moving the “whole colored race of the slave states into Texas.”
Four days before his death, speaking to Gen. Benjamin Butler: “I can hardly believe that the South and North can live in peace, unless we can get rid of the negroes … I believe that it would be better to export them all to some fertile country…”
Elaine, Lincoln's very gradual evolution on the question of slavery (using his own speeches, writing, and his support or opposition to proposed legislation of the time) is very well documented by many historians. Besides Eric Foner's The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, I highly recommend Stony the Road, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and David Blight's book on Frederick Douglass and also Race and Reunion, and his must-see lecture series on the Civil War, available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXXp1bHd6gI&list=PL5DD220D6A1282057
CivilWarTalk, an online forum about, of course, the Civil War, had a conversation in February, 2017 about this quotation. The quotation appears to have been from Benjamin Butler's autobiography, written long after the end of the war. Even then, Butler appears to have claimed (as you can tell I am referring to comments in the discussion. I have not read the autobiography), that the discussion was about the armed US Colored Troops. That claim, it seems to me, weakens the credibility of Butler's recollection rather than strengthening it.
The Butler quote is only one of many, many quotes of Lincoln's, and policy proposals, affirming his strong support for re-colonization. Take that one quote out if you want to, but Lincoln advocated for it over and over and over again. I'm bringing this up because the unreconciled problems of enslavement still exist and I think we should always be looking at the complexity of our leaders.
Ahh yes...“The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” These insightful words were spoken by Marc Antony. Please don't quote me as inferring someone was "evil". Only that, things we humans utter in some conversation can easily be taken out of context or misconstrued only to be recorded and recited for whatever purpose. Thank you for those links :)
I just finished Jon Meacham s “ And Then There Was Light” Lincoln and the American Struggle, he discusses Lincoln’s evolution about slavery and blacks, Lincoln walked slowly but never backwards!
If it were not for the humanity of leaders like Lincoln, we might still be back in caves. All of us are creatures of the times in which we live and unless we start revolutions (think of the blood shed), we have to make change within the framework we are born into.
I'm not disputing Lincoln's greatness, Virginia, but plenty of other people of the time were ahead of his thinking. I don't buy the "of their time" excuse. There have always been sociopaths, and there have always been people who understood from the depths of their souls that slavery is a grotesque evil.
Thank you, Virginia, for this reminder. I had the same experience in sixth grade. I still remember how petrified I was, but I was grateful to gain some insight into Lincoln because of that experience. He had remained one of my heroes in American history.
I’ve been wondering, now that we see the results of having so many misinformed or uninformed federal officials, if it wouldn’t be prudent to require folks running for federal office to take a test, allowing the public to see if the folks who are running adequately understand the Constitution as well as basic governmental norms that keep the government operational. And maybe it would allow the American citizenry be better informed about who is truly “fit for office”.
I can honestly say that if anyone walks through one of the fields of Civil War action, or a National Cemetery where the fallen have been laid to rest, and it doesn’t move them, they are not American.
We here in northern NY are surrounded by important Revolutionary War battlefields. Unfortunately our congressional representative is Elise Stefanik and she holds no reverence for the meaning behind those battles to free us from authoritarian monarchy and religious tyranny.
Brenda, I do hope you and the New York voters know that she stands for Trumputin. In my book, that makes her a traitor. She’s not in office fur the people of this country, or her district she was elected to represent. That makes her a traitor, in my opinion. She needs to go!
I think of, by and for the people ought to be the practical criteria for evaluating the spirit and consequences of any aspect of US governance; law, policy, elected and appointed officials. The whole dang thing needs a triage against that standard.
A lot of the current Rs are not patriots or American in the way the Lincoln defined nor do they really care about those who fight the military battles despite all the flag waving, anthem, and pledge.
How right you are, Michele! Their “leader”, whom they all worship the ground he 💩s on, even made a point when speaking about Senator John McCain, about how he wasn’t a Patriot, a Hero, because he had been captured. He was a war prisoner, therefore he was nothing. His talking about that man, and the fallen soldiers, made me sick.
It doesn’t matter if you are Democrat, Republican, Independent, or whatever. These men and women fought, and died, to preserve the freedoms we so much have taken the granted, until right now. Especially since these freedoms, our Democracy, our Constitution, is exactly what Trumputin is going to take from all of us if he returns to the Oval Office!!!
His treatment of military personnel and his comments should tell everyone who are actually patriots that they are backing the wrong horse. My ex-classmate from my home town as been pretty silent about politics. She did recognize a veteran in her family, probably her current husband on Veteran's Day. Somehow people don't see the disconnect.
We memorized this speech in grammar school. It still moves me by its simple elegance. America has been blessed by some of her leaders. Lincoln is one who moved US forward by reminding us who we are (to be).
In Indianapolis, at PS 84, in 1956, we had to memorize and recite the Gettysburg Address in our Social Studies class, and we also had to learn the Preamble to the Constitution so we could grow up as good citizens. We discussed the phenomenon of a Negro woman, Anathena Lee, being denied access to I believe the U of Alabama. We had to write a critique of either Stevenson or Eisenhower stating why one should, or should not, be elected. Bless Mrs. Ewing, our dedicated teacher. This curriculum shaped my life in many ways. Is this still done, or do we not teach what Ron deSantis doesn't want us to hear?
I too had to recite from memory those two historical gems. I memorized a fair amount of useless stuff in elementary school, such at the total banana crop tonnage of some central American nation, but I have thought about those two passages throughout my life. Lincoln's Birthday was a national holiday then and we prepared for it by hearing quotations and lore from Lincoln's life and times. I believe it significantly affected my sense of social justice.
JL and Frank, I too had to memorize the Gettysburg address and later, when I found that my Boy Scout group had never heard of it, I made them memorize it.
But, what I did NOT memorize were the dates and text of the Jim Crow laws put in place in the United States AFTER Lincoln's speech. Laws that produced legalized and legitimized inequality and terrorized black people for a century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jim_Crow_law_examples_by_state#:~:text=The%20term%20%22Jim%20Crow%20Law,but%20equal%22%20doctrine%2C%20Massachusetts.
Lincoln's war was only partly successful and the echo we see today, in the Republican Party, is yet another sign that the Civil War did "free" the slaves but Jim Crow/Americans then brutalized those black Americans which resulted in a huge diaspora to the north where black folks were crowded into slums because the Northern white was not exactly enthusiastic about black folks either.
America The Beautiful. Yes indeed.
Now, let me get back to my job as American Military Contractor shipping weapons to Israel to exterminate Palestinians.
Ok, not really. But, I hope you see my point. Rousing though Dr. Richardson's writing is, we cannot lose sight of who we really are. Or we will not change.
another look at America in the NY Times today:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/19/opinion/rich-billionaires-philanthropy-covid.html?unlocked_article_code=1._0w.7Mbr.JXhxnBEgxwaY&smid=url-share
Seems that 'we' meaning young adults of today along with 'you and I' could benefit 'muchly' from a post primary session of education. Not a collegiate course, but a more critical understanding of what has made this country worth keeping. Instead we are burdened with an overload of dung the likes of the Geo Santo's/Lindsey Grahams/Rudy G/Sidney P/J.Jordan/netanyah-who's/fo-news/Bo-burps/MTG/theTrumpsyndicate/theRNC..adinfinitum! And, that "crap".., unlike camel dung, it won't burn, just smolders obscuring everything.
Like others, I’m old enough to have had a good grounding in classes in civics (req in 8th grade), American history (middle and high school), government (required in 10th grade), economics (high school, college, graduate degree), political science (college). I’m not sure kids learning today could have the benefit we had.
Starting in the 1910's and especially the 1920's, American education changed significantly, with history, civics and economics becoming a new subject - social studies - that grew until it became a consistent part of primary school education throughout the country.
The result has been generations of students, my own children included, who had huge gaps in their knowledge of American history, in particular, only partially remedied by studies for college A/P exams during the latter years of high school.
So tell me, what happened in the United States from the 1780's and the beginning of the Civil War (four score and seven years)? You don't know, do you?
Who took over for Lincoln as President after he was assassinated and what was his role in destroying Lincoln's plans for reconstruction? Don't know that either, do you?
How did Jim Crow get started? Who were the Wobblies and what effect did they and the nascent American labor movement have in bringing about major positive changes in American life?
I could go on, but hopefully my point has been made, that you're a product of a stripped-down primary and middle school curriculum and if you know the answers to any of the questions above and the many more I could ask that might well draw a blank, it's because after your school years you became curious about what you didn't know or understand and read about it on your own.
If our educational curricula are not revised to be inclusive of what has been purposefully left out, or if we allow Ron DeSantis and his followers to further strip down what we teach our kids, then we'll truly have a Know-Nothing country susceptible to fascist dictatorship. (I won't ask if you know who the Know-Nothings were because I'm pretty sure that was taken out of your education as well.)
Is Civics or Government even taught in our schools anymore? :(
I have observed a self-defeating trend for some in society to recognize large problems to be solved and to take refuge in believing that it is too late for them to learn, but "the young" will save us. Except that when "the young" get to the age of self-care, they are obliged to adapt, to a large degree, to the status quo. Idealists can even be ground into cynics. Meanwhile we are a society as a whole, yet, for all the talk of "lifelong learning" we mostly think in terms of teaching to the young. Part of what makes us human is that, barring dementia, we can learn to the day we die. And as a society, we need to learn at every age. We need to build encouragement of curiosity and critical thinking throughout society, and I believe that there are many, many ways that this can be done.
A big barrier, of course is those with entrenched investments in controlling others to satisfy their self-serving agendas, an the lies they tell so that we don't notice and object. It seems to me that phenomenon is our specie's greatest and most stubborn problem; but even the awareness that it is there is step toward reducing it. And let's as a matter of cultural custom call out and distrust proven liars. It seems to me we have become more lax within my lifetime. Remember the "coverup" which was Nixon's undoing? Remember the "scandal" of the "$64.000 Question" quiz show? Remember even the Governments remedies to the "Savings and Loan" scandal vs the subprime disaster The Great Recession).
"And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place," -Sen. Dick Durbin
Yep. All you said.
Camel dung so much more useful.
Any sort of natural dung is fertilizer, the building blocks of life to come. Demagogues spew out toxic waste. The "GOP" has become a "Superfund Site".
It is, indeed, America the Beautiful Mike. My continuing question to all the people who like to complain about this Country is this: Where is the perfect Country?
This line from an old poem (The Desiderata) comes to mind when I think of this Country. "Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism."
There are good people in Washington and in our Country doing great things.
Also.
Did you read President Biden's statement in the Washington Post this weekend? He addresses, very clearly, the need for a humanitarian approach in the Israeli/Palestine conflict. It is important we not radicalize this ancient and extremely complex Middle East reality.
I have not lost sight of who we are. I deeply love this Country and will continue to support it's arc towards Democracy; however imperfect.
"But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;"
Barbara. Thank you for your caution about my, possibly, missing those aspects of America that are good and true.
I am sure I do miss many aspects of both the upside and downside of America BUT, I have written here before about leaving a rural East Texas farm existence, where money just did not exist, and converting myself, through the free public University System in Texas, to an engineer and then working for some poorly managed companies up here in the Northeast while I saved and invested my money to change my own life.
I am a living example of the "good" that America offers anyone who can work 16 hour days for years on end to move "their place" in life.
Not only that, I have written about how the people of East Texas helped each other, supported each other, and were, back then, generally kind or at least live and let live.
America has a lot of positive aspects. Yes. But, IF we focus on that, then, we don't move the ball on those things that are ugly.
As for President Biden, he has enabled Israel's horrible response to Hamas by giving the green light to awful destruction. Sure, now Biden is back pedaling. But, NetanYahoo will do whatever he wants.
As for Hamas, we cannot expect to empower Israel to steal land for 100 years from the Palestinians, kill them at will without due process on their own land, and generally treat them worse than cur dogs without a response.
What would you do if someone put you in an open air prison, took your land, stole you kids future, and insured you were a prisoner in your own land?
anyway, thank you for you caution.
Jennifer Rubin and many other are writing concerning this complex situation dating back decades. There is not only the current conflict but the Middle East peace, and Russian support of Hamas and Russia's effort to incite an explosion of conflict in this region. President Biden and Secretary Blinken have been advocating all along for the Palestinians. And. Frankly Mike your last sentence is a bit out of line in a discussion like we are having. I am not going to going to take it personally, but our opportunity here is to not inflame an already supremely volatile situation.
Here is what President Biden wrote:
"Both Putin and Hamas are fighting to wipe a neighboring democracy off the map. And both Putin and Hamas hope to collapse broader regional stability and integration and take advantage of the ensuing disorder. America cannot, and will not, let that happen. For our own national security interests — and for the good of the entire world.
To start, Gaza must never again be used as a platform for terrorism. There must be no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, no reoccupation, no siege or blockade, and no reduction in territory. And after this war is over, the voices of Palestinian people and their aspirations must be at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza.
As we strive for peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution."
Finally, Biden writes about violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, violence that poses a threat to the post-war solutions. Biden writes,
I have been emphatic with Israel’s leaders that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those committing the violence must be held accountable. The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank.
Quote from the Washington Post and comment by Hubbell.
Shanti
Mike S.
Excellent comment and exactly what I was thinking. We have been blessed by exception leaders but though they have influenced many....hatred and prejudices are used by those who seek power and control. These are demented power-hungry individuals. Unfortunately, the church has been captivated by these lower thoughts and beliefs regarding their fellow men and women.
Also, placing ourselves infront of information screens does not assist in our thought-life. More prejudices are introduced. So many are alone or become a part of a like minded group who believe lies as if they are the ones who really know what is going on in the world. The aftermath of COVID is still a problem for many. Recovery within the areas of education and healthcare continues.
Truth has become a precious commodity....and where to find it.
Emily. Yes. Truth has taken a beating of late. But. Truth has always been hard to find.
"Lincoln's War"? I could have sworn that history books record the beginning of the Civil War on April 12, 1861, when *Confederate* forces fired on Fort Sumter.
Mike S, I agree mostly with you but others have shipped weapons to Hamas to slaughter Israelis.
At one point many doctors believed that compounds of mercury were healthful, but no, the element is a highly toxic heavy metal. Charting our course with bad or ignored information is just plain heading for trouble.
Thank you!
J L Graham, how could it not affect one’s sense of social justice? And more telling is why would it not be part of any student’s curriculum?
In floriduh, the teachers have fled, replaced by veterans (as babysitters i suppose). College professors replaced by religious nuts. Yup, in 2023.
😢😡
People equipped with less education from which to base discernment, are defenseless against the lieing seductions of the demagogues. Low-information voters are exactly the herd demagogues hope for. This is no doubt why ex-College-History-Teacher Newt Gingrich toured the newsy Channels early this Millennium to advance the proposal that it is an irresponsible waste of family fortune to squander it on post-Highschool tuition. And more recently, Schmucker Carlson picked up this banner. They hope to deny voters the self-defense engendered through education.
Thank you for the report. Will retired Floridians pay attention and vote for DeSantis’s opponent?
Florida is heavily gerrymandered to benefit the Republican party in a state with close to equal party registrations the Republicans hold 71% of all legislators in the entire legislative body. Dems are the minority party in the legislature. Not likely there will be a change with Republicans holding a super majority and just last year redrawing the legislative districts to benefit them both in Florida and Washington for the next ten years. DeSantis cannot run for governor again as he is term limited. But the good news is that Florida is a state that mandates civic education throughout elementary and secondary public schools.
Do you know the quality of the civic education?
You are free to go to the State of Florida website and click on the DOE (Department of Education website). There you will find the curricula, standards and benchmarks for each of the courses. You can then evaluate the quality of the education to your standards. Remember, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. The same holds true for those sitting in the chairs within a classroom. That is the parents responsibility to make sure they communicate their expectations for their child's learning to their child and oversee the child's achievement of those expectations.
Whewwwww - "yup". You know it.
I too had such an experience in a suburb of Milwaukee in the late 50s. None of my grandchildren has been tasked to do either recitation. Thank you for your wrods.
They are poorer for it. Sad what students today are missing. I hate to think what “home-schooled” kids learn. In my experience, a well-educated home schooler is a novel exception.
But Jeri, home schooling insures my child stays safely ensconced in whatever I teach them to "believe" and never has to worry about coming across anyone who thinks or believes anything different.
C'mon. What could be better than producing an adult, who, at age 18, has no idea what "diversity of thought" is and will shut his or her mind as tight as a jail cell in Attica upon encountering such a thought?
Wait, that's why my kids went to Public School. To learn algebra and learn now to navigate the real world. Like I did (sort of). Plus, my son learned to fistfight his way out of insults. Always a great skill to have!
I was a teacher; I come from a long line of teachers. I was disheartened when my brother offered to send his grandchildren to private school, so they would not be indoctrinated. My mother would have been so disappointed! Indoctrination goes on in private schools and lots of home schooling situations. Public school teachers don't have time to "indoctrinate" anyone. They have to get students ready for end of year tests.
I attended a base school for Air Force kids. My mother taught there, and my brother and I went to school where she taught. I went to school with kids of all different races and backgrounds. I am so much better for having done so.
Brother’s grandchildren will surely be indoctrinated, it’s exactly what private schools are for these days.
I suspect Air Force Base School gave a balanced education. I was in the AF from 1963-67, the Cold War era and was surprised to see the English version of Pravda being sold in the BX.
Wonder what his definition of ‘indoctrinated’ is. Well-educated?
Exactly why I think home schooling cheats kids - in most cases
Watch “Shiny Happy People” about the Duggars.
Mike S, My second comment to you is a total agreement. This is a digression from HCR's blog but I believe that the cause of the high suicide rates of teenagers and their acknowledged widespread unhappiness is that their pampered, protected, and digital obsession does not prepare them for the real world.
Ha.. "In my experience"... you and I (I'm 80) will not be around to really "experience" the effect of a homeschooled population along with the damage being inflicted by the 'moron & grifter alliance (MAGA).
The advantage of old age, but hate to miss the wonders of science. The human frailties, not so much. Nazis making a comeback is more than this old Ike admirer can deal with. The young of today have not been immersed in the horror of that time and the millions of murdered Jews.
Or the French Revolution and the March of history from the Crusades to the Age of Enlightenment and our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. “Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it.”
Words of George Santayana at the exit to Dachau (1973). I wonder if the small desk is still there.
And as many non jews, remember that
How will the Ukrainians learn to use these sophisticated weapons that our soldiers take months to learn? Answer: Faster than you think. Two languages (at least) at first grade and two alphabets.
That’s beautiful! Made me tear just after watching a long eulogy (MSNBC) for Rosalyn Carter. We need a Secretary of Education who wants to educate EVERYONE, not prepare “students” to be serfs for big business. Thanks to the hard work of the Kochs, the Heritage Foundation and the Republican Party in conjunction with Big Business and Big Pharma, we no longer have the public schools of the 19th and 20th (until post-WWII) centuries. Our universities have discontinued the core curriculum that made them universities. Liberal arts colleges are disappearing, even though I read occasionally that liberal arts students are valued by employers because they can “think.”
This was in response to the first comment that seems to have disappeared. It was beautiful.
Great comment Frank. And, for remembering "Mrs Ewing". I can only wonder what children today of your age back then will remember of what some teacher of theirs imparted to them in the recent 'ten years' of public school? I am not only wondering what the kids are being told (err learnt!) by these 'teachers' of today. Not to demean "teachers of today", but worrying more about the credibility of the institutions they have emanated from.
Worry about the school boards and the state boards of education. At least in Texas…
Not the institutions who trained them—reactionary governors, school boards, Moms for Liberty.
Interesting, back in the mid 50s, I attended PS 84 but I lived in the Bronx, NYC.
I wonder how many PS 84s there are?
The curriculum was similar for us back then...I think that there is still a national requirement for civics training but it's the 21st, digitized century now, children have access to and are distracted by devices, the internet and social media. Now, 50% of our elected lawmakers have gone off the rails. Some (GOP members) are feckless and batsh*t crazy but they are not patriotic.
I don't remember that the civics education had a great deal of impact on me at the time but I had to take that Oath to defend the Constitution when I joined the USMC at age 18 and it was quite a while before I realized that oaths are important.
All these people who claim to be patriotic, conservative and morally superior. They wave their flags, hold up their bibles and curse the libs but want nothing more than to dismantle our government. they want no restrictions on their "Freedoms".
The Social Contract is another word for our Constitution. The Framers did their best to provide us with something that would provide citizens with some security and assurances that they could safely prosper. That Preamble, that Bill Of Rights, Lincoln got it, he got the Declaration and he understood the devastation of warfare.
What chance is there that these "patriots" received but ignored that Civics training?
Our polarizations define the stark contrasts.
That's a rhetorical question, right Frank?
President Lincoln said there
was "unfinished work" back then at Gettysburg: there is unfinished work now, in 2024 & in the years ahead.
I'm in.
Me, too, Bryan.
Right on Bryan‼️
We did too. Now, over sixty years later, I can still recite most of it. I think we studied more history and civics ten.
I'm absolutely positive that you did!
We did, Linda. History and Civics is as “dead” as was Latin, of which my one year of excellent is still treasured. Couldn’t have started Polish at 82 without it
Brava! Learning is living!
Thank you, Anne Marie. It’s true. Still learning at 89, doing Pilates, and trying to educate my doctors (ageism is an American disease, affecting the medical profession as much as anyone else). It’s a real adventure to think of oneself as a two year-old all over again. Not having the “freedom to fall” is the problem. Need to review that education (modern dance in undergraduate school), though who would dare try to teach me?
I memorized it in school as well, and I grew up in Georgia. Back in those days, our teachers recognized who won the war. As a footnote I would suggest reading Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant about James Longstreet, who warned Robert E. Lee against Pickett's Charge, which enabled the Union win at Gettysburg.
As a writer, I am dazzled and moved by this jewel of a speech and the pure idealism of it. But since we're talking about requiring a US history test for elected leaders, I have to point out that at the time of this speech and up until his assassination, Lincoln was still far behind a great many abolitionists in his thinking about the national abomination of slavery, enslavers and enslavement. Even before he was elected president his practical solution was deportation of the enslaved. He proposed settlement in various countries - Liberia, Haiti, Panama. In 1863 he mused about moving the “whole colored race of the slave states into Texas.”
Four days before his death, speaking to Gen. Benjamin Butler: “I can hardly believe that the South and North can live in peace, unless we can get rid of the negroes … I believe that it would be better to export them all to some fertile country…”
I had not heard those remarks from him, Alexandra. Where did they come from? A reference, please...and thanks.
Eric Foner: The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/second-annual-mes
sage-9
https://www.history.com/news/abraham-lincoln-black-resettlement-haiti
https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2010/12/01/lincoln-to-slaves-go-somewhere-else/
https://psmag.com/news/remember-that-time-abraham-lincoln-tried-to-get-the-slaves-to-leave-america-55802
I never knew any of this. Is this info in any book? Thanks.
Elaine, Lincoln's very gradual evolution on the question of slavery (using his own speeches, writing, and his support or opposition to proposed legislation of the time) is very well documented by many historians. Besides Eric Foner's The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, I highly recommend Stony the Road, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and David Blight's book on Frederick Douglass and also Race and Reunion, and his must-see lecture series on the Civil War, available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXXp1bHd6gI&list=PL5DD220D6A1282057
Thank you very much.
Good grief! I was totally unaware of Lincoln’s idea to ship slaves out of America to the Caribbean. Thank you for the education.
CivilWarTalk, an online forum about, of course, the Civil War, had a conversation in February, 2017 about this quotation. The quotation appears to have been from Benjamin Butler's autobiography, written long after the end of the war. Even then, Butler appears to have claimed (as you can tell I am referring to comments in the discussion. I have not read the autobiography), that the discussion was about the armed US Colored Troops. That claim, it seems to me, weakens the credibility of Butler's recollection rather than strengthening it.
The Butler quote is only one of many, many quotes of Lincoln's, and policy proposals, affirming his strong support for re-colonization. Take that one quote out if you want to, but Lincoln advocated for it over and over and over again. I'm bringing this up because the unreconciled problems of enslavement still exist and I think we should always be looking at the complexity of our leaders.
Ahh yes...“The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” These insightful words were spoken by Marc Antony. Please don't quote me as inferring someone was "evil". Only that, things we humans utter in some conversation can easily be taken out of context or misconstrued only to be recorded and recited for whatever purpose. Thank you for those links :)
Thank you, MadRussian12A. The Marc Antony quote is the important one here. I heard it years ago and had forgotten it.
I just finished Jon Meacham s “ And Then There Was Light” Lincoln and the American Struggle, he discusses Lincoln’s evolution about slavery and blacks, Lincoln walked slowly but never backwards!
Yes! Excellent book.
Well put, and thanks for the rec, Tom and Sharon - that sounds great!
Wow! After this wholly bloody war to free Blacks from enslavement you would send them to Texas?? I can't think of which is worse....
I'm with you on that, Sophia.
If it were not for the humanity of leaders like Lincoln, we might still be back in caves. All of us are creatures of the times in which we live and unless we start revolutions (think of the blood shed), we have to make change within the framework we are born into.
I'm not disputing Lincoln's greatness, Virginia, but plenty of other people of the time were ahead of his thinking. I don't buy the "of their time" excuse. There have always been sociopaths, and there have always been people who understood from the depths of their souls that slavery is a grotesque evil.
My memory cells are weak, but I cannot remember a time when I did not know of Lincoln and his address at Gettysburg.
Had I been there, I would have been selling soda pop and turnovers off my covered wagon. Lots of mouths to feed.
Thank you, Virginia, for this reminder. I had the same experience in sixth grade. I still remember how petrified I was, but I was grateful to gain some insight into Lincoln because of that experience. He had remained one of my heroes in American history.
Reading this speech gives me tears. Every time.
I’ve been wondering, now that we see the results of having so many misinformed or uninformed federal officials, if it wouldn’t be prudent to require folks running for federal office to take a test, allowing the public to see if the folks who are running adequately understand the Constitution as well as basic governmental norms that keep the government operational. And maybe it would allow the American citizenry be better informed about who is truly “fit for office”.
I’d urge these people to walk these fields where people died and then they should take the test.
I can honestly say that if anyone walks through one of the fields of Civil War action, or a National Cemetery where the fallen have been laid to rest, and it doesn’t move them, they are not American.
We here in northern NY are surrounded by important Revolutionary War battlefields. Unfortunately our congressional representative is Elise Stefanik and she holds no reverence for the meaning behind those battles to free us from authoritarian monarchy and religious tyranny.
Stefanik is a disgrace.
She’s a hog.
She's a Republican.
Brenda, I do hope you and the New York voters know that she stands for Trumputin. In my book, that makes her a traitor. She’s not in office fur the people of this country, or her district she was elected to represent. That makes her a traitor, in my opinion. She needs to go!
I think of, by and for the people ought to be the practical criteria for evaluating the spirit and consequences of any aspect of US governance; law, policy, elected and appointed officials. The whole dang thing needs a triage against that standard.
I agree
Brenda, least we forget her shadow, Claudia Tenney.
Hope you work for her opponent. What a sycophant!
A lot of the current Rs are not patriots or American in the way the Lincoln defined nor do they really care about those who fight the military battles despite all the flag waving, anthem, and pledge.
How right you are, Michele! Their “leader”, whom they all worship the ground he 💩s on, even made a point when speaking about Senator John McCain, about how he wasn’t a Patriot, a Hero, because he had been captured. He was a war prisoner, therefore he was nothing. His talking about that man, and the fallen soldiers, made me sick.
It doesn’t matter if you are Democrat, Republican, Independent, or whatever. These men and women fought, and died, to preserve the freedoms we so much have taken the granted, until right now. Especially since these freedoms, our Democracy, our Constitution, is exactly what Trumputin is going to take from all of us if he returns to the Oval Office!!!
His treatment of military personnel and his comments should tell everyone who are actually patriots that they are backing the wrong horse. My ex-classmate from my home town as been pretty silent about politics. She did recognize a veteran in her family, probably her current husband on Veteran's Day. Somehow people don't see the disconnect.