When Americans want to learn from history, they only choose American

[Kanary]

history. Vietnam is not a good comparison. There are better British examples of Middle East intervention."

Niall Ferguson, on C-Span 2 right now.

Kanary

[OHswingvoter]

1. that is because most americans barely

even know their own history and know even less of other countries history.

[DebJ]

2. yep. because we no longer teach the history of ideas/ideals,

instead kids are force fed names and dates by teachers who themselves have no concept of history and no interest. Sad.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

7. The teachers are only being told what to teach.

If the real history or other histories were taught, some kids parents would be loudly complaining to their respective school board.
It's even beginning to occur in some universities: UNC-CH had a few reading assignments for freshmen: "The Quran-the Early Revalations" and "Nickel and Dimed" and the conservative groups called for blood and filed lawsuits.
Also, kids are now being taught to take the TEST instead of learning of critically think for themselves.

[On the Road]

3. Yup. If Americans Knew the History of

US involvement in the Phillipines, Cuba, Latin America, or the background of the Mexican War or the War of 1812, they would be much more skeptical about foreign intervention of any kind. And sadly, it's not "patriotic" to teach this history in the schools.

Almost everything has some kind of precedent in American history or is happening somewhere else in the world today.

[Cleita]

4. A whole history of the Middle East from biblical time to the

present would give everyone a good basic knowledge about it. If the Busheviks had studied it, we would not be there today, oil or no oil. Also, if one studies British history about how it became an Empire and what it did in the colonies in India, Africa, Ceylon and everywhere else it conquered, including us, I think we would not be so provincial and ethnocentric in our beliefs.

[Kanary]

5. What's really funny -- or is it demented -- is that the history

of other countries is MUCH longer than ours, yet the citizens of those countries not only learn their OWN history, they also learn the history of other parts of the world.

There's that thread about why Canada went left and the US went right.... I don't know much about Canada, but maybe their Canadians are much better educated about history, and that's been one of the effects.

It's stuff like this that makes me feel so danged .......hopeless.......

Kanary

[Cleita]

6. It's true we learn very little about Canada or Mexico

and they are right next door to us. I admit I don't even know much about Canadian politics although I have visited Canada and have had Canadian friends over the years. The only reason I know something about South America is because I went to school there when I lived there so I got a lot of history then, but I never learned anything about that continent here in the USA.