Ignorance On A Map

Our ignorance through arrogance is nothing new; just ask the average citizen how many states are in the union and the most likely response will be “fifty-one”. This is shameful for a country that is addicted to oil and pop-culture.

Most Americans know the whereabouts of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, but only one-fifth of them can locate the country in which the state of California is located. This surprisingly poses no real issue to the nation and its leaders. I know people, mostly peers in my age group that could care less about geography and their surroundings.

This issue could never be graver, in this era of globalization where we have gone from a country that grew its own crops, built its own cars, and kept jobs within its borders to a worldwide competition. In blue collar states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, workers are faced with the prospect of either learning a new trade or accepting a job lower in standards and has their families inching from working middle class to poverty.

CNN Anchor Lou Dobbs, a staunch opponent of amnesty for illegal immigration and outsourcing often wonders aloud why our country has steadily been losing jobs.

The answer is simple, because there is a world out there — a world that our ‘top-notch’ education system has effectively shun from our awareness...an education system that insists we leave no child behind. It is very hard to compete when the presence of the enemy is unknown.

It should be angering to Americans that they rank dead last behind every industrial nation on this subject matter. The future economic success and survivability of America will depend on how well the generation of the present and future knows our neighbors, and adjusts to their ever-changing tactics to compete with us.