The Dumbing of America

Todays editorial in The Washington Post, my internet homepage, featured an article by American author, thinker and philosopher Susan Jacoby. Her piece, entitled The Dumbing of America takes a painful look at the fall of intellectualism among average American's in the last fifty years.

Now, call me an elitist but I've always had the same sentiments as the author. The majority of Americans, suffice to say, are dumb. Whether its their own laziness that is the root cause of their lack of basic world knowledge or if its a question of cultural identity is unknown. Often I've wondered how some of my peers at Florida State were admitted to the university (or any tier of higher education for that manner) and going back farther to high school how many of the students were planning on attending top tier universities. Still to this day I'm surprised when I hear people's lack of basic geography, history or even what the most important issues are in the world. There are always on the internet those videos of people who can't name the President of the United States (now, how much of that I believe is up for debate but the song remains the same).

Thankfully though, we are not alone. I always had this preconception that Europeans with their border-free zones must be far superior in ways of a intellectual pursuits. That has also turned out to be not be true. I've met several Europeans who've surprised me with their lack of general knowledge of the World and Europe. ("Wait, you mean to tell me that they drive on the left side of the road in Australia?" From a British soldier I met in Berlin).

I must agree with Jacoby, western culture as a whole has seen a great decline in basic intellectual pursuits. Americans must go back to teaching our school children the basics of education and not focusing on raising standardized testing scores. In most cases, standardized testing only measures how well you can take a test. Teaching geography, history and sciences is a skill that will stay with our youth the rest of their lives. Foreign language training in American is a joke that we shouldn't be laughing at. If the United States wants to continue its role as a world leader, its time we step up to the plate intellectually. Students today should be fluent in at least one second language, have knowledge of the World and the basic history that it entails, should have one favorite classical author and not dismiss intellectualism as something that only geeks enjoy. Our ignorance as a country hasn't been working for us lately. Faced with a failing economy and potential recession, unsolvable problems in the Middle East and a declining dollar, the United States doesn't look as though it will maintain its role as a Global Leader much longer.

Its time for Americans to step out of their comfort bubble and get back to the basics of intellectualism and once again be top contenders on a global scale.

Wow

Well, thats it.

Germany has disappointed me. I'm watching on TV the opening of a German "Hooters" bar.

Thats pretty much the end of it all.

Next stop: Unknown

I last wrote you from Germany's capital city, Berlin. From there Marcus and I used "mitfahrgelegenheit" or organized hitchhiking from Berlin to Dresden. Albeit somewhat strange, it was a successful experience which left me with both of my kidneys. The drivers, Gregor & Hannah were a bit strange although nice. We got to Dresden for 10 euros in under two hours. Something I'd never be able to do with the train.

I love Dresden. The city, atmosphere, the size and the abundance of my friends doesn't help me at all. I'm trying to remain positive about my time here in Aachen but it doesn't help when I have such amazing experiences in Dresden. Last Monday I went to Leipzig and that was great, just a day trip and that was exactly what I needed. I like Dresden more though, although I saw the important things one sees in Leipzig.

Tuesday I flew from Dresden to Cologne-Bonn and then took the "hour long-train" from Cologne to Aachen. Twenty minutes into my trip from the main train station, the train comes to a screeching halt. You could even smell the brakes. I wasn't sure what had happened but we stayed in that position for almost two hours. I got to Aachen three hours later at 1:30 in the morning. Not nice. Turns out, somebody had jumped in front of our train. This, apparently, happens about once a week towards winter and summers end. It bothers me that people would throw themselves in front of a train like that. That goes against our instincts, doesn't it? It was needless to say, disturbing. There were police outside the train and I couldn't figure out what had happened until later because the words the driver used weren't ones associated with suicide. He said "we've had a slight accident." When I asked my German friends what that meant, they informed me it was a nice way of saying suicide. The bad weather causes depression rates to skyrocket here about this time of year and it doesn't help that Valentines Day this week. I'm not taking the train until March.

I only had to work three days last week and my schedule for this week is very light, surprisingly light with only one class on Friday. The weather has been amazing the past five days. Absolutely stellar actually, blue skies, no clouds, mild temperatures, if only it could be like this every day. In less than a month I'll be having guests!

I went to Cologne this weekend with a friend of mine and enjoyed the city. I'm looking forward to going again next month with Matt and Kalin. I did some pre-research on the city for our trip then. Should be fun. This weekend, I'll be having a visitor, a friend of my Dad's from the Air Force. I haven't seen Craig since I was about 15 or so. Maybe younger. Yesterday I cleaned like a madman my apartment which includes cleaning my windows, sweeping and scrubbing my floors and getting out all of the dust. Its absolutely unbelievable how much dust is in my apartment. Never in my life have I seen so much dust or hair accumulate in one place. I got my hair cut on Friday so I'm helping that'll help with the dust for a while.

Well, off to work for me.

Berlin! Berlin! Wir fahren nach Belrin!

This past Thursday the Bundesland that I live in, Nord-Rhein Westphalia started the Carnival celebrations. Craziness ensued. The majority of my classes were cancelled Thursday and Friday and those that took place had only a few students in attendance. I am not a person for crowds and parades do nothing for me. Therefore, I became a refugee and fled the city. I spent Friday night, Saturday and so far half of Sunday in Germany's capital, Berlin.

My last time in Berlin was in 2005 when I spent a week here after my Beyond Borders exchange time in Dresden. I fell in love with the city then and it continues to captivate a type of charm that only a city like Berlin can deliver. The city is different from most German cities. Divided for the better part of 40 years, Berlin is an ecclectic mix of new and old, punk and preppy. The history alone in Belrin is enough to make a World War II / Cold War / European History buff like myself drool all over the place for days. Not to mention many fantastic scenes from fantastic movies take place in Berin. Yesterday I went the DDR Museum as well as the Stasi Museum. It was interesting to explore the place where many lives were crushed by the totalitarianistic government of East Germany.

I am with my friend Marcus now and we are going to explore Berlin a little bit more before hitch-hiking our way to Dresden. Okay, so its the modern day version of that, where you book online with someone who is going to the same city as you, help pay with petrol and thats that. Should be a good experience for the American.

I love East Germany.

I am thinking about applying for jobs that require me to write. Maybe one of my favorite magazines, Monocole are hiring. That would be fantastic.