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.