Paul Krugman: Ignorance is Strength

[Scuba]

From the NY Times...

One way in which Americans have always been exceptional has been in our support for education. First we took the lead in universal primary education; then the “high school movement” made us the first nation to embrace widespread secondary education. And after World War II, public support, including the G.I. Bill and a huge expansion of public universities, helped large numbers of Americans to get college degrees.

But now one of our two major political parties has taken a hard right turn against education, or at least against education that working Americans can afford. Remarkably, this new hostility to education is shared by the social conservative and economic conservative wings of the Republican coalition, now embodied in the persons of Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney.

And this comes at a time when American education is already in deep trouble.

...

Another result is that cash-strapped educational institutions have been cutting back in areas that are expensive to teach — which also happen to be precisely the areas the economy needs. For example, public colleges in a number of states, including Florida and Texas, have eliminated entire departments in engineering and computer science.

[hifiguy]

1. Education is absolutely antithetical to theocracy and

plutocracy. The last thing the plutocrats and religulously insane want is a populace capable of asking informed questions.

[MNBrewer]

3. Exactly!

Why else would the education of slaves have been prohibited in the "old south"? Educated slaves are dangerous.

[Uncle Joe]

4. + Infinity with a cherry on top.

[FredStembottom]

5. I still put this under "on my darkest days"....

On my darkest days, I think the modern, radical-right Republican party wants to dismantle public education solely because it is inherently problematic when it comes to keeping children enthralled to a religious hierarchy.

But.... these current candidates really do seem to want to replace adherence to American democratic ideals with a religious super-structure.

If they succeed, I guess we can look forward to a civil war to settle which christian sect gets to make the new rules.

[RKP5637]

7. It will usher in a civil war. I just can't imagine all of America subscribing to a theocracy and

saying hey this is great!

[gratuitous]

2. Republicans don't prosper when voters get too educated

So, it follows quite naturally that they would oppose funding for education, or making money available for folks to go to college without taking on a crushing debt load. Which causes me to wonder, what makes our nation stronger, safer and more secure? One more superfluous nuclear bomb or fighter jet, or a well-educated population in a society that values not just practical education but education for its own sake?

[RKP5637]

6. China and India will supply the Walmarts of America and poverty housing, these Americans can

then be proud they are uneducated and ignorant as the rest of the world mocks America and soars past America in the 21st century. That, is the future we are headed toward on the current road. And these fools think they are going to lead the world, what a joke. I suppose lots of praying will make it all OK, yeah, right on that one.

[DCKit]

8. "Idiocracy": Documentary, or merely Prophetic? nt