Posted on 10/10/2004 5:44:36 PM PDT by jrushing
(snip..)
He and his wife asked the students about other "minor" world figures and got blank stares.
Castro: They had not heard of him.
Churchill: One mentioned the Kentucky Derby.
Stalin: Nothing was said.
Mussolini and Hirohito: Ditto.
Franklin Roosevelt: One mentioned Mount Rushmore. Sorry, wrong Roosevelt. That would be Teddy, the Rough Rider.
Hitler: Two knew who he was. Another said, "Didn't he kill a lot of people or something?"
Khrushchev: One said, "Sure, I know -- he's a wrestler."
Needless to say, the point was well made. The man didn't dare ask about Lincoln or Robert E. Lee.
Earlier this year, London's Sunday Telegraph newspaper had a similar story, called "D-Day -- As Kids Remember It (Prepare Yourself)."
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
All the more reason EVERYONE should buy our forthcoming book (out in December): "A Patriot's History of the United States" (Penguin): http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1595230017/qid=1092168718/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/103-3975049-9746237?v=glance&s=books
History is learning from other people's mistakes...
Students?. I'd wager 25% of the teachers wouldn't know who all these historical figures were.
When I was in high school, US history was my favorite subject...still is one of my favs and particularly the Civil War ..but I had an exceptional history teacher...she loved it also.. .I will buy this book....thanks for the blurb on it....
Thanks. It's very good, and I don't just say that 'cause I wrote it. Going through the galley proofs last week, I found myself laughing and crying over various passages.
A nation of Beavises and Buttheads....ignorant and proud of it.
OH MY I just realized after reading this post you did say "our" book.....hahahaha...OK Im gonna get it for sure.. you'll have to send me an addy after I do so I can mail it to you and get autographs.....that would tickle me since Im not well enuff to go to book stores :))
Yes, & it's really sad that they haven't learned so they're doomed to repeat it.
That does seem to be true, but they can spout out every Sports Stat for the past 30 years!
A little more history, a little more geometry and a little less you-know-whaterie would be nice.
MichNews.com: High School Same-Sex Marriage Curriculum Anything But Balanced
http://michnews.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/30/3276
http://www.drthrockmorton.com/samesexcur.pdf
Critical Review of the Same-Sex marriage curriculum for high school.
Ask a youth when the Civil War and WWII took place and you will be lucky to get an answer within 50 years of the actual dates.
What I find interesting is how many people who grow up and realized what they missed. That's why Civil War, WWII, and general 20th century history books continue to sell well into the adult market.
This also keeps The History Channel afloat.
Many of the ignorant are at least not stupid, and know they are lacking something.
Rush Limbaugh talked about this during X42's reign.
But they sure do have GREAT "self-esteem" - and THAT'S what's REALLY important, right?
(/sarc)
"A nation of Beavises and Buttheads....ignorant and proud of it."
That just about sums it up, I graduated High School in a poor county in a poor state and I learned more about history than any group of twenty young people I know put together, including in many cases college graduates. Out of all those age thirty and under with whom I am acquainted I can name one who has a knowledge of history, that was his college major and he has a genius level IQ. And lest I be misunderstood, I was not a great student and I don't consider myself really knowledgeable concerning history. The worst part is that they have not learned the primary and most important lesson which is that a knowledge of history is absolutely necessary to have any understanding whatsoever of what is going on in the world. People with no knowledge of history should never have been allowed to vote.
Through political correctness and too much multiculturalism, our young people are loosing their history thus, their identity...teachers do not stress love of America for fear of hurting the feelings of a child whose parents don't want to assimilate, but want to live free in this wonderful country. Demand your child's school teach American history - with respect!
I'll bet either group could name the cast of any ten TV sitcoms or the members of any of the top ten "bands" in the western world.
This ignorance of world history is why we have so many democrats.
You can see the same thing when Jay Leno or Sean Hannity do their "person in the street" interviews.
It's why we should have some form of competence test for voting.
As a grandpa I teach my little ones in a lot of ways and we have too. The cultural marxists of the teachers union will not condone what I do. Don't get me wrong there are some good people teaching and they do this at least with their own children. We have to teach because if we don't we will have our little ones growing into the brown shirts of Hitler's Germany. God Bless America and all who have defended her past, present, and the future to come.
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