Posted on 06/05/2014 8:18:56 AM PDT by Kaslin
Given the numerous studies revealing how American education lags behind instruction in other countries in disciplines once thought to be essential, it should come as no surprise that on the 70th anniversary of D-Day, a lot of people are clueless about central elements of the Allied invasion of the European continent on June 6, 1944.
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has released the results of a survey, which finds only slightly more than half (54 percent) of those who took a multiple choice quiz knew that Dwight D. Eisenhower was the supreme commander of Allied forces on D-Day. Fewer than half knew Franklin Roosevelt was president and 15 percent identified the location of the landing as Pearl Harbor, not beaches named Normandy and Omaha. One in 10 college students were among those giving the wrong answer.
Colleges and universities clearly are not teaching what they once did. That is also apparent in the ACTA survey, which found that 70 percent of recent college graduates knew D-Day occurred during World War II, compared to 98 percent of college graduates 65 and older.
Dr. Michael Poliakoff, ACTA's vice president of policy, says: "We are allowing students to graduate college with the historical knowledge of a twelfth grader. Not a single liberal arts college, except the military academies and only five of the top 50 public universities require even one survey of American history.
Poliakoff continues: "We aren't adequately preparing the next generation for the challenges of career and community with this apathetic approach to our national heritage. These college graduates are unlikely to understand the cost of maintaining our nation's freedom."
While much of this should disgust, especially those parents who are paying more and getting less of an education for their kids, none of it should surprise. Today's young people seem to know and care more about sex, pop stars and the latest cellphones, than wisdom and knowledge from our past and the character of those who fought to preserve our freedoms.
In his classic book, "The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students," the late college professor Allan Bloom indicted modern university life: "The university now offers no distinctive visage to the young person. He finds a democracy of the disciplines -- which are there either because they are autochthonous or because they wandered in recently to perform some job that was demanded of the university. This democracy is really an anarchy, because there are no recognized rules for citizenship and no legitimate titles to rule. In short there is no vision, nor is there a set of competing visions, of what an educated human being is. The question has disappeared, for to pose it would be a threat to peace." (p337)
It seems increasing numbers among us don't know what we don't know, and worse, don't care that we don't know it.
The late Steve Allen created the "man on the street" interview for "The Tonight Show." He would ask people general knowledge questions. Their replies were often funny. Jesse Watters of Fox News does the same on Bill O'Reilly's show. While the intent of this feature is to laugh at the ignorance of others, the bits reflect a dumbing-down of the American mind to the point where wisdom and knowledge are no longer regarded as necessary. Emotional satisfaction and feeling good now seem to be the new standards by which all things are now measured.
Someone should ask a question of the aging veterans who are likely visiting Normandy for the last time this weekend. If they could have foreseen what America would become and how little their descendants know, or care, about their sacrifice, would they have done what they did?
They probably would because of their character. I'm not sure the same could be said of too many of their progeny.
The Germans bombed Pearl Harbor...Why not?
Is that the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor?
Thanks! I’ll check it out and I’m not worried about the length - Shirer’s book is about 1800 pages!
Shirer’s Berlin Diary is good as well.
Yep. Imagine, day after day for months on end scanning empty seas, straining your eyes for some hint of an allied ship then finally seeing thousands of them appear out of the early morning mist...
But they know who Harvey Milk is and that’s all that matters.
I have a long mustache...
I read that not long ago. I also read that he had admired Hitler in the early years, but changed his diary before it was published to reflect what he thought about Hitler. Good read though, he exposed the French not fighting and the Hitler lovers in Britain and USA.
“I bet that the % who have the basic facts about WWI or the Korean War or the Civil War is miniscule.”
American’s lack of historical knowledge is an embarrassment - even amongst those WITH the basic facts about WWI, WWII, Civil War, etc. I for one get tired of the endless references to Hitler, Hitler, Hitler for every event that happens in the world - as if all history starts with the man. Just once, I’d love to hear the WWII buffs sing a different song and relate some event to King Leopold II or Ceasar - ANYTHING other than Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler.....
“——————other than Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler.....”
—
I’m from the Korean War generation and is is often ignored,even though approx. 35,000 died.
Conversations often go from WWII to Vietnam as if Korea never happened.
.
BTW, not sure if the Google Earth pin is the “463” hull, or the “817”...
Have not found anything about any salvage on the ship that was off the beach that day...
Interesting subject though...
“I’m from the Korean War generation...”
The forgotten war. My uncle, GOD rest his soul, served with honor in Korea. The man never spoke about his experiences.
Did anyone watch the recent three-day look at the "World Wars" on the History Channel? The concentration was on some of the pivotal characters and their development: Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Mussolini, Stalin and Patton. At one point in the series however, they really seemed to emphasize how the "American Depression" in the 1930's negatively impacted Germany and the rest of the world. Almost...almost suggesting that Hitler's rise was OUR fault!
Did anyone else catch that?
I am not quite sure how to respond to your comment. It seems to me that while WWI seems to have been triggered by many different players, WWII was driven primarily by the decisions and vision of one man. Sure there were numerous other factors and actors, but without Hitler would WWII have happened? I know these are counterfactuals but it is hard for me to see how any big picture discussion of WWII could not focus on Hitler.
They should all be made to watch the movie “City Of Life And Death” about the destruction and rape of Nanking by the Japanese army in 1937. There was a reason the western powers put sanctions of the Japanese in the late thirties. Before and during WWII, the Japanese killed many millions of Chinese and other Asian civilians. That part of the war is often ignored by leftist historians.
I think many Germans knew the war was lost after Stalingrad.
I watched part of it. They made some mistakes, but at least when they got to Stalin, they didn’t paint him as some sort friendly ally. They called him what he was...a cruel dictator who was as bad or worse than Hitler. Which sort of surprised me given the leftist bent of many modern filmmakers and historians.
One of the more interesting things about Nanking is the man who saved thousands of Chinese lives was a Nazi. Sometimes things just don’t fit.
The guy even wrote to Hitler trying to get him to use his influence to curb Japanese atrocities. He obviously did not know Hitler very well.
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