Most everything that’s taught as the US “defending itself” against a foreign aggressor.
Yes, there are some specific instances the US legitimately needed to defend itself. However, this narrative that the US, especially as its promoted under the guise of “respecting our troops”, is mostly false.
Most wars the US fought were imperial and fought for the ambitions of American oligarchs.
I’d actually argue the narrative that’s central to US propaganda, that “soldiers fight for our freedom” is extremely harmful to said soldiers themselves. Their service and sometimes lives are wasted on the rich, not for freedom. People should really stop joining the military until that changes.
The United States was founded on principles of liberty and equality for all.
While I was taught that in elementary school, I was also taught about the 3/5ths compromise as early as middle school. By the time high school rolled around I was being taught about reconstruction and the corrupt bargain of 1877. I guess I’m lucky I got a good education in the north because I am aware that’s not necessarily the standard nationally.
I was also taught these things in the south, living in North Florida. As part of a 1 semester Florida history class in middle school, we also went into each of the spanish conquistadors and how they murdered their way across the continent.
Working hard will get you rewarded. When really you get dunked on with more work.
Many countries, like America, had actual economic mobility. There was a time where working hard could improve your economic status.
My family lost everything. Twice. Once to over-leveraging before a mortgage collapse in 83, and secondly to a house fire. We lived in an absolute fleabag of a moldy motel, a stereotype like you’d see on-screen, for about 10 months. The mold was so bad we had tiny mushrooms.
We got back, both times, to a stable home life in a mortgage and a fresh start. Dad paid off his home before retirement, by working his absolute ass off.
That’s just not feasible now, just one generation later.
Anyway, there was a time when hard work did get you something; so treat that as a historical thing and not a falsehood.
economic mobility
Ahh, so that’s how the economy fell off a cliff. It all makes sense now…
treat that as a historical thing and not a falsehood.
but it is a falsehood as it’s not longer correct. I agree there was a time it was true, but that time has passed and we should not be teaching it.
worse than that, if you do too good of a job you will be deemed too useful to promote, so not only will you be rewarded with more work but with career stagnation
I think it’s true, but I’m very few places. In the Marines, I was able to turn hard work into promotions, and now I’m regular life, I turn hard work into extra money, but only because I work for myself. So basically it only works in socialism or if you’re at the top of the ladder.
Checks and balances in the US government. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Constitutional rights being unassailable.
All these are lies. I think it can be fixed, but it won’t be easy.
I think it can be fixed
I mean, good luck. The Principle-Agent Problem is a classic of sociology, particularly with respect to business. If you can solve it, there’s a Nobel in Economics waiting for you.
Democracy is an attempt at aligning in the interests of the plurality principles with their government agencies. But there’s obviously a whole lot of flaws with democracy generally speaking, even before you get into the particulars of the American system.
I do think that the Lockean Social Contract, as the foundation for any governmental system, is a more interesting and more well-thought-out concept to explore than the mythology surrounding the American three-branch system. Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent does an excellent job of breaking down how a public body can be turned against its own interests. Zinn’s People’s History gives a ton of insight into the underbelly of the American political beast and how people respond to industrial and state oppression. State and Revolution does an excellent job of describing the role of the state in society and how it can best be dismantled.
But the endless debate around whether US Government works as described or intended really loses the forest of social economy for the ideological tent post trees. Fetishization of the US system only contributes to its rot and our own downfall.
That homework isn’t discriminatory. Not all kids have lives that allow them to do it. If you can’t cover all the bases in whole ass 8 hours I’m there a day that’s on you, not me. This is only true k - 12, college level courses are voluntary so having some homework could be considered ok.
Or clubs for that matter, which are what primarily determines your college and scholarship opportunities in my state.
Both of these are on purpose. Its a filter to keep “a certain kind” (poors) out
You do have a valid argument. There are lots of children that don’t have an environment that allows them to do homework or study.
I don’t think this means we should get rid of homework. Homework is essentially practicing what was learned in the classroom. Learning is a constant process, it doesn’t automatically happen after being exposed to a topic during the course of an 8 hour day. Learning anything requires practice. (The neurons that fire together wire together.)
If little Billy did the homework and got a bunch of stuff wrong, that helps the teacher identify and diagnose the skill issue, (in theory.) If little Billy didn’t do his homework at all, the teacher has no idea Billy could be struggling to learn the material until after he has been tested. It’s a tool to help students practice, and a tool to help teachers assess and diagnose. It shouldn’t be used as part of the rubric that determines what a child’s grade for the material is at the end of the term.
No, discrimination is discrimination, school is as many hours as a full time job, if an education system can’t teach kids what they need to know in that amount of time it’s failing. Discrimination is wrong.
Pictures of the civil rights movement are in black and white even though color photography existed for decades. They’re only in black and white to make kids think it was longer ago than it was.
Thanks to everyone pointing out that teaching racism was more expensive if it was in color. Thanks for missing the point.
Edit: There are color photos of the civil rights movements, but my middle school textbooks chose to only use the black and white ones of people getting shot with fire hoses and beaten with billy clubs. Every other page of this hard bound textbook had color pictures in it, so saying it would cost more is a straw man argument. Strange coincidence. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/20/fact-check-most-civil-rights-era-images-werent-made-color/3210472001/
They are in black ad white because that was what was frequently used for newspapers and stuff. Color film was often not as clear and the color tech they used was very hard to use with dark skin. So action shots of a march or speech ae just esier to do in black and white at the time.
Schools definitely like to pretend that its over and thats probably why they dont show any color pictures, as there were almost definitely color portraits of MLK and stuff, but the tech was actually a surprisingly limited factor as well.
Lies of omission count? I was in my 40s before I ever heard of the Tulsa Massacre.
Same! And I grew up in the Midwest/south. I first heard of it from the show The Watchmen and really thought it was part of the fictional narrative until I got curious and looked it up. Terrible, and also terrible that it stayed so hidden.
I grew up in California and they didn’t teach it.
“Communism is when the government does stuff.”
I remember my first description of communism from a teacher in 5th grade.
“The government can force you to work in any field they decide. If they need dentists, they might just force you go to dentists school for 4 years. If after that, they decide they need plumbers, they will send you to plumber school and you will be a plumber. You don’t get to choose. If you don’t like it, they will send you to Siberia, which is a bad place.”
In the future we will spend days pining for Siberia to escape the heat waves.
Yeah they don’t teach this in social studies and any school in America.
They actually teach what socialism is and what communism is. That’s where I learned it.
And why I know the difference between the two and what the definitions are both of these things.
In German schools, horseshoe theory is pretty much taught as a fact.
Listening to authority with no critical thinking will make your life easier.
They don’t even teach that in the army, dude.
Isn’t that the exact type of viewpoint the army wants in their soldiers? What are you talking about?
What they teach: humans only have five senses (touch, smell, etc) What is true: humans have ~20-30 senses (including time, balance, and many more)
5 senses
4 states of matter
fossil fuel (oil is made from dead dinosaurs)
the American Dream
China is evil
Communism is bad
We were taught 5 states (solid/liquid/gas/plasma/condensate (BEC and superconductors)), which has always felt like a decent enough explanation for 3rd graders. If you barely understand how to read a phase change diagram, you don’t really need the confusing duality of being told “hey so this is totally wrong if you’re a chemist, but fundementally true if you’re an engineer” when you’re still iffy on concepts like “vacuum boiling is not witchcraft”.
I’m clearly a bit older (prior to plasma categorized) and was taught 4.
Huh, that’s really interesting. I’d have expected it was prior to condensate being introduced, not plasma, since plasma can be easily demonstrated in the classroom but condensates have really only been easily demonstrable for at most two decades. Very curious - do you remember if you had a standardized curriculum, and if so which one it was?
I also found it weird, I was taught 3 in school, but Plasma was already being considered a different state, just wasn’t taught in schools. Condensate had only just been experimentally created and I didn’t even knew about them until this thread.
Yeah, I graduated high school in 2005, and it was three phases of matter, but there’s also plasma, but we aren’t going to talk about it.
Honestly I think it was just three now that you mention it and the other reply. Have no clue the curriculum, it was in the 70s.
That Europeans discovered the ‘new world’, and that it was inhabited by ‘savages’ aka people with forgettable cultures, skills, and lifestyles.
that we have 5 senses
In Germany, a lot of the times it’s taught that we barely did colonialism. Like, “colonialism was bad but it was mostly other countries”. Meanwhile, in reality, German colonialism saw the first mayor genocide of the 21st century.
Those poor mayors.
Oh god, sometimes I feel like my English is pretty good and then stuff like this happens… :D
I’ll add to that: And that germany improved the lives of people in the colonies because they build railway and Electricity
Also: the classic “people didnt know the nazis would do such things.” “Austria was the first victim of the nazis” both ofc wrong. Austria participated actively in all crimes germany did and the centiment that germany and austria should unite was wide spread in both. And OF COURSE THE PEOPLE KNEW WHAT THE NAZIS WERE PLANNING TO DO!
The group leader in dachau also told us “the gas chambers here were luckily never used” Another good one is about reunification that it was all peacful and happy and sunshine, unlike its actually gutting out the entire industry and economy of east germany.
I read it as the first mayo genocide and was ready to cheer
You want to get rid of all mayonnaise?
On the 5th of May.
Columbus discovered America.
At least this is what I was taught when I was in elementary school back in the '90s.
I have no idea if it’s changed thus far.
It’s especially funny since dude never even touched USA, but USA is racist/genocidal enough to worship dude anyway.
I was taught Captain Cook discovered Australia, he wasn’t even the first European
Everyone knows it was Cap‘n Crunch
He wasn’t a captain either
Pretty much every history class not so subtly points you to the conclusion that the US had racism, it was bad, but we defeated it so people complaining now are just spoiled.
…when I was a kid. That shit is probably way worse now.
That’s more a Yankee standard education. The semi-former Confederate states are more along the lines of it was good, but good got defeated, so we have to keep up the good fight.
