Article #4
Degraded Condition of
Life in the USA and the World Will Continue Until We Revolutionize Public
Education
Humankind currently exists in
the degraded condition that should be expected for a species dwelling as infant
born in just 200,000 BCE in a universe 13.8 billion and on a planet 4.5 billion
years old.
>>>>> All but a few nations have GDP per capita
below $15,000 per annum, and there are many populaces living in grinding
poverty at less than $3,000 per capita GDP.
>>>>> The dominant forms of governance follow
historical trends in which ruling elites have such vacuous lives and so little
cultural mettle that they can think of little more creative to do than to seek
territorial expansion and personal material gain at the expense of abused
citizens.
>>>>> And those citizens have
such low information bases pertinent to history, government, and
economics; and such little sense of personal power; that they are
ever at the mercy of such low-life power-holders.
>>>>>
Further, the populace even in putatively advanced nations dwells in such
ignorance and cultural degradation that the beauty of life in quality
literature, musical genius, visual art, and Nature's splendor is missed as
people
>>>>> kill themselves with opioids;
>>>>> leave people hungry and
dirty on the streets;
>>>>>
murder each other on urban pavements out of desperation, in the context of
lives without meaning;
>>>>>
barricade themselves in gated communities in retreat from the urban horrors
that they have carelessly created;
>>>>> eat, live unhealthily, and die
young due to reckless living;
>>>>> abuse the bestowal of
Nature's bounty so badly that the life of the planet and therefore their own
resides at the brink;
>>>>> and dwell in such ignorance and
moral vacuity that they think that this is life as life must be.
But this is not life as life
must be, nor Life as Life can be when we muster the courage to revolutionize
K-12 education for knowledge-intensity and ethical content after deep
introspection and prescient consideration as to who we want to be and what we want
to recall as valuable and meaningful at that point at which we shall die.
An Opportunity to Recreate
Ourselves by Revolutionizing K-12 Education
Designing revolutionized
curriculum for knowledge intensity and high ethical content entails deciding
who we want to be.
We should decide that we want to
live our lives as culturally enriched, civically engaged, professionally
satisfied citizens.
Upon that decision, we will then
ensure via revolutionized curriculum design that every student, with the
exception of the cognitively impaired (for whom we should also have high
academic aspirations),
>>>>>
masters mathematics through calculus;
>>>>> acquires sophisticated
knowledge and analytical ability in biology, chemistry, and physics;
>>>>> accumulates vast
knowledge of history, government, economics, geography, and psychology with
ability to apply principles to prevailing events;
>>>>> reads widely in Western
classic, world, and ethnic-specific fiction, poetry, and nonfiction;
>>>>> gathers abundant
knowledge of world visual art and music, with opportunity to paint, sculpt, and
play a musical instrument;
>>>>> masters English grammar
and usage;
>>>>> acquires skill in
multiple technological and vocational arts;
>>>>> advances to a high level
of mastery with a world language.
and
>>>>> considers, discusses, and
analyzes exalted ethical standards from world religious and humanistic
traditions.
Graduates who go forth upon the
basis of curriculum revolutionized for knowledge intensity and ethical content
will live as civically engaged citizens with multiple intellectual interests,
artistic appreciation, manual skill, and professional success.
Such citizens will experience
life at a high cultural level, with an organic relationship to the natural
world, imbued with respect for all human beings and creatures, and manifesting
an inclination to promote the best conditions of life for all humankind.
And thus via the cultivation of
individuals of immense knowledge and high ethical standards in revolutionized
K-12 curriculum do we create a realized vision of who we want to be.
