I really can't seem to find the amount of time I'd like to get on here and rant and rave, share the interesting web sites I stumble across, or just blather witlessly. But I did feel it important to share this column I just read. It's from Susan Jacoby in the Washington Post. The title: The Dumbing Of America. Her point, one that I've felt and shared in discussions with friends, is that our younger generations aren't keeping up in the smarts department with their counterparts around the globe. Some statistics that she cites...
According to a 2006 survey by National Geographic-Roper, nearly half of Americans between ages 18 and 24 do not think it necessary to know the location of other countries in which important news is being made. More than a third consider it "not at all important" to know a foreign language, and only 14 percent consider it "very important."If someone doesn't see the importance of knowing where in the world important events are taking place, they probably don't understand the importance of the things happening in the first place. Sounds like they would make pretty uninformed voters come election time. Sad...
She even quotes a survey conducted last year that shows more than 40% of Americans under the age of 44 hadn't read a single book of any kind during the previous 12 months.
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