Where does the word “idiot” come from?  It goes back to the inventors of democracy, the Greeks, who coined the term to describe people who didn’t (or couldn’t) participate in public life.  Athenian “idiots” lived under laws and rules written by others, whether or not they were in the interest of the idiot in question.  Note, though, that idiots didn’t participate in public life.  They were quite happy, and the public was quite happy, for them to continue to live and work quietly under the rules they didn’t write.

Thomas Jefferson understood the importance of education to democracy- “Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories. And to render them safe, their minds must be improved to a certain degree.”  This idea of an educated citizenry was one of the pillars of our country, both for the ideals of freedom and for our free market economy.  The idea that we could (or should) better our lives through education, that learning had real impact on our daily lives, was implicit.  At one time people valued an informed vote, and felt some responsibility to learn about a subject before offering their opinion.  But no longer.  Now, education is held in suspicion.  Stupidity is seen as a virtue, intellectualism as a hindrance.  “We need a leader, not a reader” said Herman Cain as he proclaimed information unnecessary for making decisions.  The Congressional Committee on Science and Technology is filled with congressmen who deny evolution, global warming, and other science basics.  Sarah Palin is considering a run for Senate.

But why?  Why are the intellectual achievements glorified by our ancestors denigrated today?  Maybe one reason more people are “idiots” is that very few of us are stupid.  When you see people around you getting educated but not benefitting, then there’s little reason to pursue formal education yourself.  In our current world college means heavy debt with few opportunities for jobs that can repay it.  Why push for an education that won’t be useful?  And if you aren’t going to push for a real education, there’s little reason to dabble with learning enough to cast an informed vote.

Maybe another reason our education system is failing is that our people are being educated for the wrong goals.  In our research for this article, source after source mentioned the goal of educating people to “take their place in our economy”, but none mentioned the goal of making intelligent decisions about public life… In America, education is not for a nation of kings, but a nation of idiots.

We don’t believe it’s an accident that this is happening.  Idiots are easily led, both politically and economically.  They can be told that something is in their best interests, and if they have no critical thinking skills and an indoctrinated inclination to trust authority, they’ll take the authority’s word for it.  Global warming?  Not happening, because Ted Cruz says it isn’t.  Don’t trust the legions of people who spent their lives proving it is true.  Don’t think about what happens to your cost of living when food can’t be produced in America’s drought-ridden ex-breadbasket, or what happens when stronger storms and floods threaten your life or property.  It just isn’t happening.  Now shut up and buy something.

Perhaps the worst thing about the dumbing down of America is that it doesn’t depend on a conspiracy of evil people to happen.  As the Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing.”  To correct him a little, if evil men like where the situation is going they don’t have to help it along, they just have to wait.  We used to put a huge value on education, not just for individuals but for the whole society.  That’s where the idea of public education came from.  We realized that living in a nation of idiots was a bad thing, even if the idiots weren’t our own kids.  No longer; now if you can privately educate your child that’s enough.  To hell with the inner city schools, or the rural schools, or the reservation schools, or anything else.  Or you can homeschool your kid, indoctrinate him with your own ridiculous ideas, and never risk that he’ll critically examine them.  You’ll be happier, but your kid’s horizons will be smaller.  And either way, private school or home school, the people who depend on idiots will be satisfied.

So let’s get Furious.  If you’re one of the few remaining people that isn’t content to be an idiot, here are some links that will feed your brain.  And, if you’re so inclined, pass them on to someone you know who’s also hungry for knowledge…

Why The Education System Has Failed to Succeed–  Sarah Christina on Hub Pages

The Failure of American Schools–  Joel Klein in the Atlantic

What Passes for Education In America Is Often Just Indoctrination–  Elliot Sperber on Alternet

The Other Economic Crisis: The Failure of Education and Its Consequences–  Michael Albada in the Stanford Progressive

The Real Reason America’s Schools Stink–  Charles Kenny on Bloomberg Businessweek

Sarah Palin and the Dumbing-Down of America–  Bonnie Marcus on Forbes

Dumbing Down of America Exposed in Florida Schools–  Douglas Gibbs in Canada Free Press

Fighting Back Against the Dumbing Down of America–  Nikhil Goyal in Psychology Today

Public Knowledge of Current Affairs Little Changed by News and Information Revolutions–  Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

Holding Schools ‘Harmless,’ State Lowers Bar on FCAT Writing Scores–  Kenric Ward in Sunshine State News

The Nations Report Card–  National Assessment of Educational Progress

Report: Half of U.S. schools fail federal standards–  USA Today

Failure Rate of Schools Overstated, Study Says–  Sam Dillon in the New York Times

Stacks of statistics and reports from the Nationa Center for Education Statistics–  Institute of Education Sciences

SAT scores decline because of No Child Left Behind, critic says–  Lee Shearer on OnlineAthens

The News IQ Quiz- Do you know more about the news than the average American?

From Classroom to Voting Booth: The Effect of High School Civic Education on Turnout–  Jennifer Bachner, Harvard.edu

Boy Kicked Out Of Reading Competition Because He Reads Too Much Miranda Burbank, Liberals Unite

Flunking Civics: Why America’s Kids Know So Little–  Mark Hansen in ABA Journal

How the Supreme Court ruined your child’s civics education–  Jimmy Zuma on Smart v. Stupid

The United States Is Awash in Public Stupidity, and Critical Thought Is Under Assault–  Henry Giroux on AlterNet

How U.S. graduation rates compare with the rest of the world–  John Cookson on CNN

U.S. Students Still Lag Globally in Math and Science, Tests Show–  Motoko Rich in the New York Times

Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling–  John Taylor Gatto

Report: Half of U.S. schools fail federal standards–  USA Today

Global grade: How do U.S. students compare?–  Marian Wilde on GreatSchools

U.S. Education Spending and Performance vs. The World [INFOGRAPHIC]–  USC Rossier Online staff

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press has many in-depth reports on education

• Public’s Knowledge of Science and Technology
• What the Public Knows – In Pictures, Maps, Graphs and Symbols
• What the Public Knows about the Political Parties
• What the Public Knows – In Words and Pictures
• Well Known: Clinton and Gadhafi; Little Known: Who Controls Congress
• Public Knows Basic Facts about Politics, Economics, But Struggles with Specifics
• Test Your News IQ