Culture Corner: Ignorance Is Not Bliss: A Critique of Education in the US

I am an American. Born and raised, I spent my first twenty-three years in pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. Wanting to see the world, I started traveling, and for the last twenty years I have not lived in the US, save the odd year here or there. Australia, Poland, Czech Republic, China, these and a couple other countries have been homes—not tourist destinations, homes. Less than twenty-three years, yes, but I have spent enough time in these other places to get a good feel for how people live elsewhere. Naturally, my upbringing has been put in a different perspective.

And it is with sadness and condescension I look at the US as of 2021. Family, friends, and places of value to me are caught in whirlwind of information and disinformation. How to tell the difference? That, my friends, is where a person's education becomes extremely important. Ignorance at the political level is not bliss (unless, of course, you are a dictator).

My observation of the American education system, primary to university, is that it is adequate preparing a person for a particular slot in life. Extraneous things pared away, a person, starting in their early teens, can essentially pursue a direct path to gainful employment. High schools and some middle schools typically allow students to start guiding their careers at an early age. Students must complete a handful of requisite classes, but are allowed to select those which are of interest to when completing their schedules. Universities and vocational schools almost entirely specialize, allowing a person to focus on their slot—mechanic, engineer, teacher, plumber, or otherwise. While certainly the past few decades of blue-collar work shifting overseas in the US has had a major effect on society, this formula is still mostly in effect, and is still largely effective. It constantly churns out square pegs for square holes, circular for circular holes, and so on.

It also churns out a huge chunk of ignorant people. After all, wouldn't a peg with multiple shapes be a better fit to the variety of holes life throws at people? Americans can be experts and trusted professionals in their fields, but a large portion have little to no knowledge in the broader areas of culture (American, world, and otherwise), humanities, language, etc. Americans notoriously have little clue about basic geography. Most speak only one language, And there is a large portion for whom burgers represent the extent of their gourmet palette. For those outside of major metropolitan areas, there is minimal exposure to ethnicity beyond their bubble, and minimal interest to gain said exposure. The American education system simply doesn't motivate people to enrich their lives with these fundamental aspects of existence.

What's worse is the aspect of American culture wherein being stupid is cool. I spent significant time as a young man working in factories and construction crews. I observed innumerable social interactions wherein not knowing something was the desired default. Imagine a group of manual laborers standing around, discussing some recent news they may have consumed, for example a major hurricane. One or two may know a couple, relatively factual things, but the rest know less. The worst part is that most don't want to know more. Instead, they take the easy road—they want to socially assimilate through ignorance. “Man, that stuff is way beyond me. I don't know nothing about that.” “Me too.” Beer, sports, women, and cars tend to produce lengthier conversations. Contrast this with my current existence in Poland: knowledge is expected. Most blue-collar guys criticize their friends who don't know this or that. “What, how can you not know the current COVID rate in Poland is? Stay up to date, man!” This isn't to say I'm surrounded by geniuses; there are still infinite details to fuss over. But there is a different level of expectation, a higher one. A broad, global intelligence is socially valued.

And don't even get me started on newspaper tabloids. I recall as a youngster (80s) standing in line with my mother at the supermarket and seeing the media for sale—Good Housekeeping, Newsweek, Time, People, etc. And there were also always one or two wacko tabloids. I'm sure they have a professional term (no oxymoron there), but I don't know what else to call print material with headlines such as “Elvis Seen in Oklahoma” or “Alien Trapped in NYC Apartment”.

I used to think the wacko tabloids were a joke, like the Archie comics stacked nearby. And I also wondered who bought such material. Now that I'm forty-four and see things like Q-Anon and other such conspiracy movements gain traction, I have a link. It's all part of the same vacuum of knowledge that has existed in American culture for some time.

This leads to the question: who bears one of the two strongest degrees of responsibility for filling the vacuum of ignorance? The education system. (Parenting is the other, but it too in some ways is informed by the education system.)

To be clear, conspiracy theories and the dispersion of hearsay and gossip are a part of humanity; they are not exclusive to the US. Every country and place I've lived has a certain portion of people who... think outside the box. But there seems a larger quantity in the US. They gain mass media attention. They spread like disease. And they influence elections—elections which have real impact on society's quality and direction.

Dear USA,

At the moment, you are awash in social conflict and wild expectations. Tensions high, opinions shouted to the hills, and guns ablaze—it is the Wild West from certain angles. And it's clear that much of this could be eliminated were critical thinking skills enhanced and the bar for culture raised a little higher.

Let's start by investing less in the military and more in education. Teachers were once a highly respected element of American culture. They are now underpaid and unsung, yet ever-more-critical . With the number of broken homes and poverty on the rise, the school room is the only stable place for many children. Increasing teacher salaries to the same levels as doctors, for example, is one way of helping return the respect for the position. And let's be honest, they deserve it based on the effort.

With increased investment in education, we can also look to expand schools' curricula. Rather than CRT, nationalism, identity politics, or jingoism, why not a broader education as to how other people, cultures and places in the world live life. America is, after all, a mix of those many colors. But perhaps most importantly, why not expanded classes in communication, listening, critical thinking, and presentation—soft skills that go a long way toward building empathy, resilience, adaptability, mindfulness, and overall awareness of the individual and their place in society. The aim is, when presented with situations, people would be better able to question and piece together the facts.

America I love you, and I hate you. You have such beauty and wonder, in people and places. You're also doing a damn good job of tearing down that beauty from inside. As you see, ignorance is not bliss. A large chunk of society—products of the system—are threatening to uproot the tree through sheer lack of understanding and willing ignorance, so stuck inside their little bubble are they. And one of the largest root causes is education. Rather than raising a society whose individuals' knowledge areas are focused on specific jobs or tasks, expand their minds, let them know what else is out there. Give them a chance to understand themselves and their relationships to people better—allow them to think critically.

This will not solve all problems, but it will certainly help bridge the gap between Americans who push the needle closer to the “cosmopolitan” side of the gauge, and those who don't.

Thank you,

Jesse