1775 – Education Was Horked

“Education, like so much else, was a casualty of troubled times.  There was no time for extensive study… Literacy dwindled, and with it the quality of civil servants.  Faced with unrelenting pressures… and social chaos,fields such as philosophy and literature were largely ignored as luxuries of a more peaceful time.  As the value of education declined, the culture began to wither and die.  Each generation was less educated than the one before and less able to appreciate the intrinsic value of learning, and before long the decline had gained its own momentum.”

This excerpt comes from the brilliantly written Lost To The West by Lars Brownworth.  It is about the rise of the Byzantine Empire and its role in saving Western culture.  This particular section comes from a description of life in 775, during the time of the rule of Constantine V.

As I was reading the paragraph, I could not help but notice the parallels between the state of education in Byzantium circa 775 and the US today.  How many of our civil servants are truly wise, capable of understanding the law and applying it, understanding history’s role in shaping where we are today, and able to govern effectively?  Furthermore, study after study shows that our population is getting less intelligent with every generation.  What value does our education system put on philosophy, language, literature, the arts, and preserving the American culture?

I am looking for people willing and interested to take a long hard look at how we can change the steady decline of education in the US.  I am not talking about solving it with technology and startups.  I am talking about being willing to take the bold, dramatic steps required to reverse what is currently happening, partnering with experts and getting to work.

If you want to know more about what I think, you can read the first six entries of my Education Is Horked series.

Thanks for reading.