Citizenship and memory (National Review)

[craigepo]

A pretty interesting piece on citizenship.

"But our freedom not to care comes at a price, precisely because we live in a polity in which the people are sovereign. It is we the people who must elect the representatives to govern on our behalf, defend our nation in times of crisis, and shoulder our responsibilities in times of peace — at the very least, by upholding the law, voting in elections, paying our taxes, and serving on juries. How well will we judge, how wisely will we choose, how firmly will we stand if we don’t know who we are as Americans and why the blessings we share are worth defending and perpetuating, or if we lack the affection for our country that can move us to act in public-spirited ways."

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/268339/citizenship-and-memory-amy-kass?page=1

[rdret1]

The drift away from traditional education with the three R's, history, civics and social studies to more liberal arts style curriculums has been going on for many years. To our detriment unfortunately. Recently, in our area, the school district has gone to what they call "academies". These are schools which are geared more toward vocational learning vs. traditional education. The three high schools in the area have three different areas of study. The idea is that not all students want to go to college and so are given an opportunity to focus on vocational training in order to better prepare them for jobs after high school. It is relatively new so the jury is still out on the efficiency of the plan.

"A nation that forgets its past, is doomed to repeat it."