Re: Civics (was Re: RE XP or 2000)

[Harry Binswanger hb@xxxxxxxx]

> I think civics classes died after Watergate and the Vietnam War, when many
> people realized that a lot of what they had been
> taught in civics classes about how the system worked was lies.
It wasn't lies by the civics teacher--they described how the system was
supposed to work, and did work (with exceptions). In a different, more
intellectual, climate, finding abuses in the system would result in a
public outcry for *more* civics classes.
Rather, I think in the 60s and after, there was a general watering down of
the content of all subjects. You know "Lord of the Flies" instead of "Great
Expectations."
Actually, it's been going on for longer than that. When my teacher, John H.
Randall, Jr., went to Columbia, near the turn of the century, you had to
demonstrate a reading knowledge of Greek and Latin to *be admitted.* By
1967 or so, in order to use Greek as one of your two required languages to
get a *Ph.D. in philosophy,* you had to get special permission. And by
circa 1970, you could use COBOL as one of your two languages for the Ph.D.
in philosophy. (Sadly, it was too early to give credit for XPL.)



Harry Binswanger
hb@xxxxxxxx