So sad. Can't imagine living without my books. I think parents are as much to blame as teachers. Did manage to pass the habit to one my sons.

Can't seem to remember the author's name, though I recall he was Japanese, and here I probably also paraphrase somewhat:

"The man who has not read books has lived but one life. The man who has read books has lived many lives."

Those 3.5 GPA kids all came from the supposedly "good suburban schools".

I'd say "I rest my case," but I'll never rest until the doped white suburban mice are disabused of their absurd devotion to their awful public schools.

If elementary and high schools continue to assign readings from extrememly substandard writers like Toni Morrison and Amy Tan then you are going to get answers like those given in this story.

I chose to be a teacher and therefore had to major in education. But when it came time to get a Masters I knew to stear clear of education and get my degree in a legitimate field of study. I can't tell you how often I'm amazed at the low level of professionalism in education. Maybe it's in all areas of work but sometimes I'm embarrassed to be associated with teaching due to the actions of some.

Ad now that we've taken shots at the kids, teachers and educational "experts", let's not forget the parents. Every parent may want his child to be educated but, boy, do a lot of them ever have strange notions of what an educated child is.

Bartman: Ditto. I taught elementary school for a couple of years after retiring from the practice of law, and was taking graduate education courses as part of my alternate route certification program.

I was astounded at the academic level of the course work and of most of my fellow students. Their I.Q.'s were more properly measured by lapidary science than by psychology.

The effect of this is place the teachers on the side of the academically worst-off, ala John Rawls. My teachers of old were men and women who exalted learning, discipline and organization. No more. Good enough for govenrment work is good enough for most schoolteachers.

I once had a discussion with a history prof at the local university who complained that over the last several years the academic requirements for a bachelors in education had steadily required more and more credit hours to be earned in the education department leading to a commensurate decline in hours taken in other academic pursuits.

The result he thought were a cadre of young teachers who had a great deal of proficiency in teaching techniques, but who didn't have a clue what they were talking about in their chosen fields. Neither he nor I saw any way this led to better education in the public schools.

Well, I don't know how I fit in. I got adequate grades in school, and relunctantly don't consider myself very smart. While I'm often out of the loop in the discussions had here, I do find myself in possession of a lot of information these potholed peoples don't have. It's probably from watching too much TV, and not from reading, though I do do that. :)

So, it's this particular generation that's fallen?

I think reading is the key to a good education. I mean having been taught to actually enjoy reading. I think it goes back to what Lou Got's said, My teachers of old were men and women who exalted learning, discipline and organization.

I have no idea what it's like to NOT enjoy reading. My early teachers back in the 50's made it an adventure.

Today is common for me to be actively read as many as 5 books at a time. A bit of this one today and that one tomorrow, all around the cycle until one is completed and another takes it's place. It's been invaluable in my engineering career where strict interpretations are critical. Good stuff.

Isn't this an example of the American anti-intellectualism that oj has lauded here so many times? Why is it such a bad thing that Americans are ignorant?

Morko:

If you knew the nature of the discussions about decor that go on in the Judd household on a given day, you would have a more sophisticated appreciaton of Orrin's anti-intellectualism, which demands walls of books and non-stop reading.

Morko equating anti-intellectualism with ignorance no doubt demonstrates his pride more than his own ignorance; but it is sad, nonetheless.

Kind of like asking the opinion of an unemployed leftist sitting in a coffee shop. Informed - yes. Selfish - yes. Wise - no.

Peter:

Orrin himself is an intellectual, even if a self-hating one.

Randall:

Yes, I think that not reading books is closely connected with anti-intellectualism, and, yes, in my experience people who do not read books at all tend to be ignorant (about such topics as history, science, politics, geography, etc.). But my question was: do you think ignorant citizens are bad for America?

Morko:

You need to read this.

Right you are Peter. I didn't read "The Intellectuals" until about 20 years ago and it was quite an eye opener even though I thought I had a pretty good handle on how we got where we are.

As for reading, it was the only way we could learn anything and for a lot of us, it was fascinating entertainment.

Now kids get information and entertainment from a computer screen, learn how to do math and problem solving from computer programs.

Perhaps reading pages of paper bound in a book will evolve into another format that will serve future generations as well as old fashioned books served us.