What is the American Revolution..?

Hey ats, I was in my AP english class and we had to write a few paragraphs on what event in American history impacts you the most today. Everyone else of course chose slavery and womens rights. I chose the American Revolution because without that none of our other freedoms would exist. After I read my mini essay a friend of mine asked "whats the American Revolution" Well I thought he was kidding until half the class also wanted to know. After explaining this I also discovered half of them didnt even know we are at war today. So my question is whats wrong with them? Are we to obsessed with the tv and video games and so on to know whats going on, or are we just dumb. I was just so astonished by this i had to share.

thanks in advance to all who star flag or reply-chaseninja

I know what you mean. A few months ago I asked a friend, "What is the first law of nature?" He didn't know, so I asked others. I think I asked about a twenty people and most of the replies were along the lines of urinating wherever you wanted.

The first person to get it right was a kid working the drive-through at McDonalds. Pretty sad, I need to find smarter friends, I guess. But yeah, your example was worse. What grade was this?

Well the good news is they don’t know about the lies of the American Revolution either and how it really was just a Masonic incorporation of the United States into the Holy Roman Empire. Ah, ignorance it is truly bliss.

Speaking of which the reality is our society has been trained to seek out the lowest possible common denominator.

If it’s mindless, if it’s cheap, if it’s shocking, if it’s loud, if it’s sexual, if it’s violent well…far too many people are all in for any or all of the above.

Between video games, mindless television, music that aspires towards anger and or despair, drugs and alcohol, most people walk around like they don’t even have a clue and in reality they don’t.

I envy them in a way.

By the way if you want to really understand the Revolutionary War read the one thing that really counts (most people never have and never will) and that’s the Treaty of Paris that concluded the war. Read it literally, research every title of every person involved, and if you can honestly say we won something, anything, even a lucky rabbit’s foot after reading it, I would be amazed!

reply to post by VictorVonDoom


lol im just in 9th grade. and a mcdonalds worker?? sad haha

The short answer to your question in my opinion is yes... now let me explain.

By far and away, this generation of yours is the single most ADD-gaming addicted-into-your-own-universe example of unchecked self-indulgence I've ever witnessed. Not your fault. It's heaped on you by what else, corporate America. As a result, a lot of your peers seem clueless as to some of the things I consider basic - it doesn't mean they're dumb, or that I'm smart, it just means they haven't been exposed to things such as history in the right doses, or at least the doses that I was. The reason? The forementioned self-indulgence. Anyone, growing up, faced with what I consider to be lenient parents with access to something as pervasive as the Internet, an XBox 360, a cell phone or any number of things that would so occupy the mind as to leave room for little else has a tendency to warp ones perspective to the point where I can see why people would legitimitely ask what the American Revolution was. The scary part is that a lot of parents allow this to happen...

I'm not that old honestly, but when I was growing up, parents seemed stricter - not in a bad way, but in a good way. I was made to do things like my homework, get decent grades, above all READ. We didn't have the Internet yet, thank God, our video game systems were limited to (at my earliest memories) the Atari 2600 and soon the NES - if I had access to God Of War III back then, I might be one of the ones of whom you speak. Point being, my parents made me study, interact, limit the mindless game playing and go outside - and if I failed in any of these regards too frequently I was punished for it. Seems that the problem lies in many different beds, but the overall gist is that kids these days feel that Modern Warfare is more important than school and some parents are okay with that.

I can tell you this though. If I was in my AP English class when I was a senior and came home asking what the American Revolution was, someone would've smacked me in the back of my face.

p.s. Proto, leave the kid alone - the question was whether or not the others in his class were dumb or overexposed to external stimuli, not whether or not he's seen past the biases in traditionally accepted history - I do recommend reading the treaty though, it's eye-opening

[edit on 29-3-2010 by Legion2112]

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


haha dont get me wrong i like normal teenage crap as much as the next kid, but i dont see whats wrong with knowing whats actually going on.

reply to post by Legion2112


maybe your right i like to consider myself an exception. my parents make me get my work done before i goof around ( dont get me wrong goof around as much as anyone else my grade infact my friends would make fun of me if they knew i get on this site haha)

Originally posted by chaseninja
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

 

haha dont get me wrong i like normal teenage crap as much as the next kid, but i dont see whats wrong with knowing whats actually going on.

Trust me you don't have a clue! (yet) Read the Treaty of Paris, you really aren't in the nation you think you are.

Youth should be enjoyed, but its also the best time for really learning and making your mark too.

First impressions really matter in life and the sooner you can make them in the world at large the better.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


I hear ya i have actually read bits of the paris treaty(whats shown in the history books) but next time i get a chance ill look it over

reply to post by chaseninja


Believe me, you sound like an exception... and it sounds like you've got good 'rents (least from an encouragment-to-learn perspective). Appreciate them for that, it's not as common as you might think.

Not that it's being asked for, but if I could give an unsolicited opinion - just remember that everything you read doesn't qualify as truth. Some things do, some things don't. Do your own research out-of-the-box, where you can, from a variety of sources, and draw your own conclusions. It'll serve you well in life.

reply to post by Legion2112


I try, thats one thing ats has taught me

"above top secret, educating the worlds youth" it could be their new slogan haha

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


After the treaty of Paris we immediately went into debt to the Netherlands, courtesy of John Adams.
We started the country with a "war debt" and sadly it is what will probably be our demise.
I can't believe kids don't know about the American Revolution or that we are at war today. If they're that dumb perhaps it is best they become cannon fodder for corporate profits. Sounds awful and I can't believe I just wrote that!
America in 20 years...................I shudder to think of what we will become.

As always Proto, you bring fresh and relevant information to the threads.

[edit on 29-3-2010 by Asktheanimals]

Originally posted by chaseninjahaha dont get me wrong i like normal teenage crap as much as the next kid, but i dont see whats wrong with knowing whats actually going on.

Nothing wrong with being educated and informed about the world. It's a good thing.

Still, kids not knowing what the American Revolution was by the 9th grade? Wow! I would have said "wow" even if it was just one of them, but half of them? That's really, really sad. That this happened in an AP English class is just plain criminal.

I remember in 4th grade being stunned when some of my friends couldn't find our home town on a map of the U.S. (Baltimore). Of course now I know people can't pick the U.S. out on a map of the world, which is even worse, probably.

reply to post by LifeInDeath


wow haha thats almost if not worse