The freedom to own other people? What was Lincoln thinking?
I think it would have taken a war to get the Southern slave owners to give up their slaves. Wait…
You got me. 20% about slavery, and 80% about the freedom to own other people.
No.
80% about preventing the southern states from leaving the union.
I think not. Even if the USA stops producing brilliant minds (which I doubt) they can always import from elsewhere (as they have done many times).
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But if it contributes to an overall decline in the economy compared to some of the other places on the list (like Singapore) what is the incentive to emigrate? People with brains came from elsewhere in the past because the US offered the best chance at an improved station in life. I don’t believe that is the case anymore (at least compared to other places like certain European countries, the already mentioned Singapore, and others).
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I expect to see more accidents and collapsing infrastructure in the future.
Which probably benefited the South more than the North in the long run. An economy based on agriculture and slave labor, which benefited the few, was probably headed toward its own civil war.
I can say from personal experience that young people today know less and care less about knowing (no sense of curiosity), are not as bright or sharp mentally and intellectually (the number of kids who are considered special ed is saddening), and are incredibly boring and dull when compared to other generations. They like to sleep, play video games, watch tik tok, sleep, post on social media, sleep.
I’ve known many teachers who think 16 is the new 10. I believe kids are just dumber than in the past. But one reason is that they have had their hands held all through their childhood. You can’t just tell a student do X and expect them to be able to figure it out. I know a chemistry teacher who will tell students they need to use math to solve whatever problem they are working on. The students ask how. This is math they already know and when told that they respond, “but this is chemistry.” They can’t apply what they know to a different situation. There’s a total lack of self sufficiency.
This is a generalization of course but it is pervasive and growing as a problem.
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No way, not with all the resources kids have today.
That’s part of the problem. People under 25 grew up in a world where they don’t have to know or understand anything because information is literally in the palm of their hand.
Access to information =/= knowledge
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???
In some ways, possibly(I doubt the South would have remained a third-world-type country for much longer anyway, but it’s possible). But forced union hurt all of the States in the long run.
Edit: Just look at any discussion about states leaving the union today. There is no mention of possible benefits and downsides; there’s just: “Bro, the U.S. would just nuke that state.” And that’s that. And that’s seen as reasonable. Even better: many of the same people saying that support Brexit and Ukraine.
Being able to google something and then regurgitate it for the micro second you remember it doesn’t mean you understand it.
Think about it this way, how many students don’t understand a subject, but cram for a test the day before so that they can pass? A lot, right? Can those same students explain any of the concepts after 6 months? Most cannot. It’s the same principle. They had access to information (study guide/textbook), but they don’t actually understand it.
*Not to mention there’s an obvious issue here. If you don’t know enough you can’t discern if the information you googled is even accurate.
Yeah, it also means that person really doesn’t care.
Are you saying there’s something wrong with the school system?
Sure, but I don’t see how that relates to what I said?
If by something you mean basically everything then yes.
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Personally, I think America nowadays lacks a culture of education. It’s more geared towards social media and music, nothing wrong with that though.
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Have you thought about how bad a lack of brain power can be, even deadly in some cases?
I think you can figure this out easily.
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America isn’t one homogenous culture though … there are many segments of the country with different histories, cultures etc.
I live in Massachusetts and can tell you there is a strong culture of educating here … and i don’t live close to Boston.
I’ve also lived extensively in the South and there wasn’t the same emphasis (from what i saw) on education…
My point is it depends on where you look; I’d wager your perception of “America” suffers from selection bias
If true i have a hard believing you don’t think there’s something wrong with that …
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I think there is something wrong with that, I just don’t think something needs to be done about. It’s what majority of people value (if true) and it’s their choice, like how I have the choice to not subscribe to choices as such.
Culture wars are so chaotic to me, it’s like not knowing right from wrong, or rather it being undefined.
Fundamentally yes because almost all schools teach “to pass the test” or do well on state exams (which drives funding). The teachers aren’t really allowed to teach for understanding. Ironically, the schools doing well on state exams get more funding and those that do worse get less. It’s the opposite of how it should be
(There is a great analogy here to WWII aircraft. When the a/c came back riddled with bullet holes some said they should put more armor over where the holes were. Finally a smart guy said they should put more armor where the holes weren’t because those were the aircraft not coming back).
Teaching for the test has done a huge disservice to countless students by now.
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It’s no coincidence that MA public schools are among the best in the nation and if MA schools were compared, independently of the rest of the nation, with the rest of the world, they would rank among top nations in the world regarding education.