Gary and I watched The Scarlet Pimpernel the other night. Every time we see it (or any other book or movie that touches on the French Revolution) I am shocked anew by the cold-bloodedness.
Never once in all my years of schooling did I study world history. The only time we learned about the French Revolution was in connection with the American Revolution. We learned about the guillotine and the "excesses" of the Reign of Terror, but overall we learned that the French Revolution was a good thing: step #2 in the experiment of democracy.
Why did I not learn in school about the class warfare and the blood-thirsty hatred? Maybe it was too scary and horrid for kids to read about?
If the teachers and the textbooks treated the French Revolution as though it were okay, and as if the Reign of Terror were the just deserts for the rich folks' excesses,
is it any wonder to see the class warfare in America today,
the willingness for "heads to roll" with regard to lawsuits and investigations,
the anger that plays out in pleasure at seeing bad things happen to rich people?
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Proves my point. Schools don't educate.
ReplyDeleteThey indoctrinate.