Article #4 >>>>> >Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota< Volume X, Number Ten, April 2024

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.