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children the knowledge and skills that they passed on to his grandchildren -- those knowledge and skills that cause a person to rise economically and socially by enabling a person to be wise, to have good values and to make good decisions.
In terms of years spent in school and degrees earned we may be "more educated," but those years and degrees do not equal the years and degrees spent in school 70 years ago. That is because many of the years we spend in school and many of the degrees we get are actually vocational training that was previously learned on the job or in a family trade or business. The number of people with real education, knowledge of the world, of languages, of literature, of music, of art, of history, of human culture, i.e., a liberal arts education has not increased by much measured in proportion to the increase in the population of our country.
And it is the wide dissemination of this knowledge of culture, of liberal arts, that enables people to become truly prosperous -- not necessarily to have more money as individuals, but to become more prosperous in the true sense and to rise economically as a result. That is why countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland, etc., although having fewer natural resources than we do in some respects, but in which those who acquire advanced degrees have what we call a "well-rounded" education are in fact more prosperous than we are. They have created a lifestyle that makes more sense for the individual and the group than ours does. They are better able to see the big picture and to understand the kind of societal organization that they need in order for their personal interests as well as those of others to be met. It is a matter of values. A truly good education that widens the student's perspective on the world and on life creates real wealth because it enables people to adopt sensible values and exercise good judgment not only about their personal lives but about the direction that society should take.
My point is that Nixon nixed liberal arts education. He was just the beginning. Reagan and the sequence of Republican presidents, of course, are completing the destruction or our education system. Most Americans now believe that subjects like music, art, literature and history are entertainment, not necessary to the education of ordinary children. It is not the lack of money that has impoverished our country. Our country has become poor because of a lack of values and of cultural direction. Because Americans do not understand arts, literature and culture, they have become consumers of whatever junk is pushed on them.
A few days before Valentine's Day, I saw a grocery store display of this year's Valentines. I could not believe how ugly they were. Every single one depicted cartoon-like characters from TV shows. Many of the characters were action figures. The drawings were crude. The colors were garish. At that moment, I realized just how much children today lack any sense of aesthetics. It isn't just a matter of taste. Tastes can vary. But these cards were just cheap productions. The cards I had as a child were created to be saved and cherished. The cards I saw in the store this Valentine's Day were intended to be sold and bought and thrown away. I would never have bought such ugly cards for my children, and they would not have wanted them. That's the difference that real education, real values make. So, Americans are poor because they are not educated to appreciate the real beauty of life. They are only educated to consume. And today many Americans are in debt for all kinds of consumer goods they don't need -- stuff sold to them on TV -- stuff they buy because they don't know any better.
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