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I so agree! I was shocked at the things I learned after leaving school! sam
posted by
sam444
on August 13, 2008 at 8:48 AM
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True
Although I'm not an American I've had a prescribed article on "American Citizens Religion" were the history, public holidays and festivities are compared with religious behavior of similar kind as an example of how states functions in much the same way as religion used to do when the religious elite had much more say in the running of countries. There is no escaping this kind of shaping of the citizens mindset towards upholding the current government in any country in the world. One of the first things that happen when countries experience a drastic change in government (like we had in South Africa in 1995) is the issuing of new history handbooks in state run schools, the demolishing of statues and other prominent art and the changing of names of towns, cities, roads, institutions etc that were symbols of the previous elite and changes in the public holidays and state supported festivities. Not that any of this makes grassroots level living any better (to the contrary it costs everybody millions (except the large contractors used to implement these changes, usually friends of the new government officials) to change addresses, maps, etc). So although this always entails a scewering of facts it seems unavoidable in any country in the world today. We all know that most politicians are not interested in truth or the real improvement of other peoples lives but in power over the population.
posted by
AardigeAfrikaner
on August 12, 2008 at 12:55 AM
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