As the Beast and I ate dinner tonight, he had on a program that he likes to watch. It is one where the moderator asks students on different college campuses some simple historical questions. The one yesterday was regarding the Alamo. Since he was at various Texas campuses, you would assume that they would be very aware of the history of that site. Texans are, for the most part, very proud of that place and what took place there as part of the fight for independence.
The host/moderator asked this question of a Junior at one campus....*Who died at the Alamo?*. A Junior gave this answer: Jim Bowie, Davy Crocket and John Wayne. My mouth dropped open when I heard that. What's even worse is that not a single one of the kids knew that they were fighting the Mexican government for Texas independence. They had no idea and some insisted that the Alamo had been moved but had no idea where it was originally or why it had been moved when asked (this was asked only because it was a *fact* that the student had dropped as if they really understood the history of that famous site.
I've watched parts of this program several times over the past few months and I am stunned at the true ignorance of many students on campuses all over the country. Most of the ones interviewed are not aware of even present day political problems or the true reasons that many protests are being waged. It's staggering to think these kids are supposed to be the upcoming leaders of both business and politics in our country.
You can say that they are only showing the dumb answers but the program is shown live most days. It's just ONE campus at a time because they do that but it's always a different set of questions and a different campus each time. It's actually scary to think that, as old as I am, I can answer the questions (most of the time). I'm not as aware of current, specific questions about many political figures as I probably should be but I obviously know more about history than many of these kids do.
It makes you wonder just what it IS that they are learning in college these days. Even worse, how did they get into college in the first place if their basic education is so lacking? The foundation for a well-rounded education seems to be lacking entirely. There were even kids at one college campus who couldn't recite the Pledge. I know they don't say it every day like they did when I was a kid in school but...really?
Years ago, when I had a blog at another site, they started banning books that were not *politically correct* and that scared me. It reminded me of what Germany did when Hitler first took over leadership. They were *re-writing* history to suit their agenda. We can see that happening today as more and more things are considered *politically incorrect*. It's just a denial of how things USE to be, not how they are today. We have grown as a nation and stopped many things that were once practiced as a normal way of doing things. But to try to say they NEVER happened is crazy. It's like trying to deny that the Holocaust never happened.
My dad had a friend who was the photographer for the Army during WW2 and he took pictures of the various camps that were liberated. He had a file at his home filled with pictures he had taken at so many of these camps located in Europe. I use to babysit for his kids and got to see many of the pictures of the bodies of the people that were killed or that had died of starvation. My dad got upset that I had seen them but I was a curious kid and, although it was shocking, it was REAL history. It was tragic and I remember crying about the cruelty and the horror of what people could do to others but I would never try to deny it ever happened because it upset me. It was a lesson that was learned and also helped fuel the resolve that it would never again be allowed or tolerated. It was both horrible and fascinating at the same time. Just because it WAS so unbelievable.
The day was cooler today, of course, but not as nasty as was predicted. At least, not around us. It WAS really windy at times. But, overall, not a bad day. It only got up to 64 degrees as our high and it's just 38 degrees outside right now at 1am. It's only going to be in the upper 50's or lower 60's as our high tomorrow and will probably rain in the afternoon. That is still weird weather as far as I am concerned. Each night will be colder and each day, too. Other areas are getting snow! So weird that we get such different weather in the same country, at the same time, isn't it?
Well, it's back to bed for me. Love you all. Pray for our educational system and getting back to basics. Even learning cursive. *Sigh* Love you all. ***Hugs***
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