Forget about all those reports that say American schoolchildren know less than their foreign counterparts—you don’t need a report to see that people in this country are losing brain power by the second. This is probably going to be an Everybody Should Be More Like Me entry, so if you read on, at least you were warned.
First of all-- television. It would be hypocritical of me to say that we shouldn’t watch tv, because I personally love the dang thing, but really, over the past few years, 8 out of 10 new shows is a reality show. How creative is that? Fear Factor? Come on! For the few moments I’ve ever spent watching that, I could feel myself becoming dumber. Trading Spouses? You have GOT to be kidding. Do we really need to watch more people make fools of themselves trying to find love on a glorified game show? Meanwhile, Arrested Development, one of the funniest shows ever written, is apparently over the heads of many Americans. The scripts are tight and full of double and even triple entendre, and nobody watches. Why? Is Fear Factor Blind Date Edition on at the same time? Arrested Development runs away with an Emmy and can’t stay on the air, but Fox’s new, post-Arrested lineup includes both Skating and Dancing with minor celebrities.
Then there is public school, or rather, the people who pay taxes to support them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of a public education system. I would like to use one, but because I love my child, I can’t send her to a Chicago Public School. If we lived somewhere where the children actually learned, and didn’t have to wear bulletproof vests, I’d send her to a public school without a problem. What kills me, is that in cities that support public schools, there are people complaining that they shouldn’t have to pay taxes toward schools because they don’t have children using them. SO YOU WANT TO CREATE MORE STUPID THUGS????? Do you want these uneducated people to grow up to live on welfare and have the house next door to you converted to Section 8 housing? Does this somehow SAVE you money?
Hmmm. Well, we’ve backed ourselves into a bit of a corner with the whole Iraq deal. Gas prices are up to stay (a situation the rest of the world has been enjoying for a decade.) So, wait, by Jove, we’ve got it! Don’t worry about being more fuel-effiecient, let’s just drill in Alaska, in one of the last pristine places on earth! The best part is, it’s already ours!
I s’pose this close to New Year’s, I should still be feeling more optimistic, huh?
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Amen... As a public school teacher, I can attest to students getting dumber. Why? Because by law, we can no longer have consequences. We have to spoon feed them everything so they can pass the all important test at the end, and somehow, they have learned that if they do not think or work, eventually we will spoon it to them, so they can spit it back out and perform. Geesh. I have high school students that need the calculator for 2x3. And everything has to have instant reward/gratification...otherwise, forget it. But I rant on. I need to be grading papers.. for which I get paid a very paltry sum.. but that is another rant. I loved every year I stayed home with my kids, and wish I was home with them still. But 11 years was a glorious gift. Now it is time to help bring home the bacon.. if I could only find time to fry it! Enjoy! (Theflock)
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