We are a land of 'idiots' (part 1 of 3 blogs)

I am really just re-posting some of my myspace blogs here so I'm not so empty!

we are a land of ’idiots’ (part 1 of 3 blogs) Current mood: determined

So the ancient greeks used the word 'idiot' to refer to people who didn't take an active interest and role in politics. And now, we as a nation seem to be a bunch of idiots. I'm one too, I'll admit. I vote, but I'm not as up-to-date as I should be in politics and issues and all of that.We have this apathy it seems, we don't bother ourselves with these things, and we let those who are active in politics do all the work and we just let them, and then we wonder why our government is such a mess. And we complain, oh by golly do we complain, yet we never do anything actual productive to make any changes. Our nation is going to suffer for our apathy one day. Maybe then, we'll care enough to get involved. And I'm not preaching this because of the presidential election either, although that's a good time to do so. I have to learn all of this stuff in school, on a daily basis my teachers and textbooks and classmates all bombard me with stories of how policies (no child left behind) and our education system are failing us and if things don't change, we are in big trouble. And I think, if we can see these things, if teachers working in our schools can see it, if college professors who are teaching the next generation of teachers can see it, if the people that write our textbooks can see it, why can't our policymakers see it and do something about it?
One day in Social studies we were all griping and complaining about no child left behind (NCLB) and how awful it is and how much damage it is doing and our professor says "And how many of you have written to your legislature (sp?) about this?" and the room went silent. None of us. And he says "How do you think laws and policies get changed?" and it gave me something to think about and I have decided to write my legislature about it not only as a future educator, but as a mother. Because my children's education is at stake here. And my future job could be at stake.
If you are not familiar with NCLB, you should be. I will give you some insight into it. But I will place it into a new blog so that it breaks up your reading and you won't give up reading because it is so long.