Posted on 04/09/2002 6:17:22 AM PDT by areafiftyone
As a royals watcher, I have been fascinated with the way the British have reacted to the death of their Queen Mum. In that choreographed-to-the-minute procession last week when a horse-drawn carriage brought her coffin from St. James's Palace to Westminster Hall were centuries of pomp and circumstance, connecting the present to the past.
After all, Westminster Hall originally opened in 1099. The life of the Queen Mother herself, 101 when she died of "extreme old age," as the coroner put it, spanned the entire 20th century. As a sign of these times, the funeral today is being broadcast over the Internet.
"It was a pleasure to sit next to her at lunch," her great-grandson Prince William said. "She always had some great war stories, and to hear them from her, it really brought it all to life."
In this country, we are too busy — and too lazy — to be bothered much with current events, let alone history. You can see the appalling lack of knowledge on display in one of Jay Leno's regular routines, the Jaywalk. He goes out, or his producers go out, with cameras rolling and ask passersby to answer relatively uncomplicated questions. I used to laugh at the segment, but now it's just painful — a display for all the world to see just how dumb we are in what is supposed to be the greatest nation on Earth.
Last week, Leno's crew went to the University of New Mexico, where one student said the French Revolution was fought in England. Another knew that former Vice President Dan Quayle couldn't spell "potato," but couldn't spell the word either. Someone thought Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman in space, while someone else thought she was the first woman to swim the English Channel.
Parents of these proud numbskulls must be mortified, especially those who are paying college tuition. The average cost of a year at a public four-year college is about $9,000. Tuition alone averages about $17,000 at private four-year colleges.
Child-rearing should include not just the basics. Parents need to make awareness of current events part of the family's routine — as well as a sense of history. That means the parents have to do some homework, but that can be accomplished as easily as sharing a newspaper or newsmagazine or watching public-affairs programs on television as a family.
It's hard to put your best foot forward on the world stage when televisions across the world are broadcasting this sort of exchange between Leno and another University of New Mexico student: Leno: Why did the Berlin Wall fall down? Student: It was old. Leno: What did the wall separate? Student: It separated China. Leno: Which city? Student: Berlin. Leno: And Berlin is where? Student: Uh, China.
Ignorance may be bliss, but it's no longer funny.
Please understand the people Leno talks to are New Yorkers. I used to live in upstate (Rochester) and found the locals, as a group, to be totally ignorant of anything outside of their own little worlds.
For example, my neighbor, a college educated lady of about 30, was convinced that New York had mountains higher than those in Arizona. She firmly believed that Arizona was a land of scalping, rampaging indians and sand dunes!
Hers was not an isolated view and I was amazed at how ignorant of the world the people were.
Sorry New Yawkas, but that's what I saw.
Yeah, and people where I grew up on Lawn Guyland believed that all southerners were ignorant racist yokels. Yet these same Long Islanders would collectively freak out if a black person moved on their block and thought all Latin Americans were "Spanish" and ate Tacos.
Yes, we replaced true royalty for the faux royalty of showbiz celebrity. Some trade.
Leno is based in Burbank, California. He does most of his interviews with people in the Los Angeles area, not NYC. NYC is where Letterman is based.
Actually, we do have royalty:
Government employees. Senators & Congressmen.
They enjoy perks and privileges our founding fathers never dreamed of.
Well said!
As someone who has an ancestor who fought in the Revolution, I find the American Anglophiles' monarchy cult quite abhorrent.
Now that the Queen Mum is dead, does that mean Michael can finally kill Fredo?
Mark W.
Nah, basically just the three royal lines. The House of Bush (ascending), The House of Kennedy (waning), The House of Rockefeller (necrotic).
No, we are too busy distorting our history, perverting our heros and founding fathers and basically undermining our historical foundations.
My bad. Hmmm. Shows how much I know about Leno/Letterman. I always thought la-la-landers were a tad more worldly than that. He must search out droolers then!
Appears I would qualify for the next session!
-Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations.
- Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture."
-Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of the teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
There were 2 major exams throughout a kid's school life: in both you were judged on how well you performed in the entire state. A typical question from the English paper (6 hours closed book): "Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona is nothing more than a rehash of Plautus' Manachme Twins - Discuss." Those doing WWII history, had to know German in order to read Mein Kampf in the original ... etc, etc ...
When I wen to university (classics) the prerequiste BEFORE the first class started was to have translated all of Virgil's Aeneid ...
And to this day, I still know how to derive the sin-cosine of 30 degrees, 60 degree angles from first principles...
What's the difference? American kids are just as smart as Australian just not as well educated and the reason is the PC crap in American schools and lack of discipline trains the kids not to achieve, since "we are all winners". Also, there is no shame attached to ignorance. In Australia, there is.
Says the person who grew up in Australia. Let me axe you: we so ignorant, how's come we do so good?
Hint: it isn't in the tools you give the average kid, it's the opportunities you give your best and brightest.
Probably ten years ago, I was at a bar in a beach resort town, and heard a young woman speaking in a charming accent which I recognized as Australian. Striking up a conversation with her, I asked where she was from. She said, "Australia." I said, "Yes, but wherein?" Very doubtfully, she said "Melbourne". I said, "Sure - I know where that is." Her jaw dropped in disbelief and she said, "You're the first American I've talked to who has even heard of it." I was mortified.
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