As a teacher, I am always hunting for material to read and help me understand the world as we know it. I am pretty educated in political science and international relations and my BA in in both. I am also a student of history, employed for much of my life at a newspaper owned by the New York Times, who absorbed headlines like candy.
Every year when I walk in to my new classroom, regardless of the subject, be it world history or United States history, I am amazed the the ignorance of students and what is going on in the world. Because I grew up in a family that had discussions about daily events, had parents who might not agree with my thought process or even shake their heads when I spouted off some illogical theory to them, they allowed me to grow in to my curiosity. They never demanded I think like them. They gave me the tools to grow. I am grateful to them.
That is not the case for many people today. They did not grow up in that kind of household. They were pushed to take classes they had no interest in and they sure were not allowed to discuss them.
The journey to write this book began, according to the author, on a summer's day fishing with a friend whose nephew decided to join them on the boat.
"I asked him where he went to school. "Stanford", he told me. He was a computer science major, soon to begin his senior year. I went on to ask him a number of specific questions about what else he was studying beyond coding. Anything in economics? History? Politics? His answers revealed he had taken the minimum number of courses outside his major and those he did take had little to do with the basics. What was clear was that this intelligent young man would soon graduate from one of the best universities in the country with little to no understanding of his own country or the world. And he would do so at a moment when the fate of his country and the world were inextricably linked and more was influx than at any time since World War II and the years just after."
This says a lot. The author goes on to list statistics about requirements of colleges and to a lesser degree, high school.
As someone who has questioned what on earth these people are thinking and making the decisions they are making, this book explains more that I thought possible. To blame many of our issues on social media and what is being read is really not the first issue.
If you like information and want to see what the author feels in one of the most neglected areas for our students to grow in to thinking adults or are an adult, who did not get an education in these subjects but would like to broaden your perspective, read this book. Have your high school or college students read this book. You might lose some of the confusion you are experiencing today.
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