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This tells the difference between education and propaganda. Judging the difference is called "critical thinking." It doesn't take a rocket scientist.Because it may seem strange for me to be discussing Patriotism with a capital "P" I want to make myself perfectly clear. I think the United States of America is a great place to live, not withstanding certain criticism I make of it at times. As I debarked nearly sixty years ago from a year abroad I had "that feeling." I store an expired passport to remind me sometimes.
However, as I was born without knowledge and haven't improved too much since, I wish to discuss the most important gift a person can enjoy--Education. Education, not schooling. Only those with a curious development can avoid memorizing facts. Schooling depends on those seekers of what?--status, worldly goods, approval? Education is a lifelong process of learning about oneself in context of his/her surroundings and conditions.
I'm certain the reader can deduce that I believe No Child Left Behind is a political trick by our government to make us into Supreme Patriots. Those are the people who wear flag pins in their lapels, chant dirges over "our Constitution," and sometimes tell us that one should buy to prop up the economy. For those too young to recall, I point out the Edsel Era. It concerned the year when a new slogan hit the airwaves: You Auto to Buy Now. To bring this up to 21st Century standards, recall GW Bush's admonishment after 9/11--0% down for new wheels.
But this is about critical thinking. It should mention history. Take for example what war does to Uncle Sam's pocket book. If he has to buy expensive vehicles--by land, sea or air--it's for sure he has a way of helping out citizens at home who want a free pass on what turns out eventually to be a clunker. Critical thinking should be more like what it takes to be a citizen among citizens.
I see myself as a Janie Come Lately. If I had been born in Revolutionary Times I would have been a blank. But so were most white persons unless they had property. Black persons ranked worse, since they counted at 60% but could never vote. So, fast forward. Black people got their freedom in the mid 1800s, but they still couldn't vote. They finally got the franchise a century later.
It was a good long time before white women could vote. Finally young people were allowed privileges mid-20th Century to vote when they turn 18 , since it equals the age for going off to some misbegotten war. Pick your war--Viet Nam, Iraq or Afghanistan. etc. Fair enough, I guess. No one cares any longer what color or gender the recruit is. And they go "voluntarily" instead of being selected from a lottery.
Back to critical thinking. Why would a person sign up to get shot at? Beats me. But I think it would be easier to understand if Media's drumbeat didn't remind us that they go in Harm's Way to protect us from the bad guys. When they come home, there are other talking/writing pundits to tell us about "our brave warriors." Seems like a bad choice to me, but maybe lottery is still in effect in other ways.
Others may disagree, and I accept that. But for my part, I don't get the connection between trying to be a good citizen and expecting Americans to buy into destructive war. Others may doubt my ability to think critically. Have at it! It's a free country, isn't it?
