Op-Ed: The dumbing down of America. By William Haupt III | Watchdog.org Nov 26, 2018. - Excerpts:
"The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself."
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
The term “dumbing down” was a secret code used by film writers in the 1930s to revise scripts to appeal to viewers of lower intelligence. And for the last few decades, this phrase reflects a painful reality; today's Americans are in serious intellectual trouble. They’re in danger of losing all cultural and political capital because of illogical rationalism, diminished civic education, false idealism and lowered expectations.
The manner in which political, civic and economic ignorance contributes to grave national problems is the most contagious, self-inflicted disease our republic faces today. It is the most destructive of all epidemics since its only inoculation is economic and civic education.
Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
– George Orwell
American intellectualism has suffered greatly in the past few decades as video and social media cultures have replaced print culture. This disjunction is limiting formal education and our continuing education. Self-destruction of the press brought about the declination of newspaper readership. But the proliferation of electronic media has diminished our priceless historical and classical education. According to a study by the National Endowment for the Arts, reading today has the least influence on our intellectual maturity...
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https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/op-ed-the-dumbing-down-of-america/article_61f64000-f181-11e8-a22e-6bd70b62cd6c.html
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