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09-01-2012, 11:25 PM,
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Rob Wick
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RE: Why we must keep the Lincoln history alive
Bill,
I will try to write something intelligent on this tomorrow. My mind has been too "Tarbellized" for one day. 
Best
Rob
Abraham Lincoln is the only man, dead or alive, with whom I could have spent five years without one hour of boredom.--Ida M. Tarbell
I want the respect of intelligent men, but I will choose for myself the intelligent.
--Carl Sandburg
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09-02-2012, 09:01 AM,
(This post was last modified: 09-02-2012, 09:05 AM by BettyO.)
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BettyO
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RE: Why we must keep the Lincoln history alive
That is one scary thing, Bill! Unfortunately, I think education wise, America places maybe a bit TOO much appreciation on science and math. Although these fields are totally relevant and of course are a MUST in today's society if we are to keep at the head of the field, I also feel that history and English are of just as much vital importance. If we do not know what has occurred in the past - how are we to prevent it from happening again? As the old adage goes, we must study the past to know where we're going in the future! English is of extreme importance in that in order to express ourselves in an intelligent and concise manner, we must have excellent speaking and writing skills. So many businesses, unfortunately seem to put nothing but emphasis on science and math. I have worked for men, who are engineers for a long period. Yes, they can design and they can build - but their speaking and writing skills are at a definite loss. I once worked for a man who had a PhD in Engineering, but I had to rewrite everything he wrote because his English grammar was basically on a third grade level - he spelled phonetically and his verbal skills were atrocious!
Yes, History and Engish are both vitally important -- I only wish those powers that be would realize that as well. History and English need to be taught as being of importance. It's a sad state of affairs when these subjects are dropped by the wayside and not utilized in the correct manner. That people today would NOT know who Lincoln was or even that a Civil War was fought on our own soil is inexcusable and says a great deal (or not enough) about our present educational system! Something is "broken" and definitely needs to be fixed!
"The Past is a foreign country...they do things differently there" - L. P. Hartley
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09-02-2012, 10:40 AM,
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Jim Garrett
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RE: Why we must keep the Lincoln history alive
Total agreement with Betty. I think the fundamentals of all need to be taught. I think that History and English are vital. Few of todays students can construct a sentence, let alone convey thoughts and emotion much above a basic level. The art of language is becoming a dinosaur, being replaced by bytes. English, Literature, and History, teaches, among other things......thought process and reasoning. I learned sine, cosine, tangent, etc. Now they are keys on a calculator. I hope William Faulkner, Winston Churchill or Abraham Lincoln are not subject to the same fate.......maybe they already are!
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09-02-2012, 11:03 AM,
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Rob Wick
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RE: Why we must keep the Lincoln history alive
Well, after a few hours sleep, I'm once again ready for action (as long as I get a cup of coffee too).
I listened to the Carl Sandburg radio biography last night and something that Dave Garroway said at the end made me think. He mentioned that long after that broadcast, people would remember Sandburg. I daresay, if you went up to 100 people on the street of any city in America and ask who Carl Sandburg was, you MIGHT get three or four who do. Our society is generally resistant to historical knowledge, which seems ironic given that history books sell so well. As someone who has loved history from the earliest age, I find it incomprehensible that people don't share the same love of it at that same level of detail that I do, but I guess just about everyone can say that about a particular field.
Where it really becomes a problem, though, is in our current life. Without a firm grasp of historical knowledge, people are capable of being logrolled by others who count on their lack of historical knowledge. Whether one is a liberal or a conservative makes no difference here. If you have a firm grasp of the past, you can tell someone "hold on just one minute, you're not telling the whole story." But when more people watch American Idol rather than presidential debates, we pretty well get the government we deserve.
I remember talking with a niece who is far sharper than her poor uncle will ever be (and who will actually make more money too). She told me that her high school history teacher skipped over BOTH the American Revolution and the Civil War because he said "you already know all that stuff." So I asked her "who was John Wilkes Booth?" She looked at me like I had asked her to recite the Phoneician alphabet backwards. She had no idea. I told her, "you don't know the guy that your uncle was on national television talking about?" She shook her head no. 
Best
Rob
Abraham Lincoln is the only man, dead or alive, with whom I could have spent five years without one hour of boredom.--Ida M. Tarbell
I want the respect of intelligent men, but I will choose for myself the intelligent.
--Carl Sandburg
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09-02-2012, 01:09 PM,
(This post was last modified: 09-02-2012, 01:12 PM by BettyO.)
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BettyO
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RE: Why we must keep the Lincoln history alive
I'm the very same as you guys! I could NOT tell who was who nowadays as far as celebrities are concerned - and I do not care, either!
When someone with the greatness of Neil Armstrong dies and is little noticed - it hurts! It hurts the moral fiber of this country as well as each and every one of us. Where would we be in the space race today if Neil Armstrong had NOT been the first on the moon? Yet, we give more attention to souped up, over paid celebrities than to actual heroes? Sad!
I watch very little television aside from the news (and yes, the Republican Convention the other night - enjoyed every minute!) I detest "American Idol", "America's Got Talent" (Really?! Where?!?) any of that "reality" garbage - but will watch History Channel, PBS and any other history oriented show/special. Can't wait for the National Geo Channel docu-drama in February... and occasionally I DO watch Turner Classic Movies - Bill, I LOVE old Black and White movies!
The point in fact is that in order to stay relevant - we MUST keep history alive - a people who have no history have no future IMO....
"The Past is a foreign country...they do things differently there" - L. P. Hartley
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Why we must keep the Lincoln history alive
