NationStates Jolt Archive

I think that most of the political problems in America today arise from how little most Americans really know about what's going on in government. They're extremely prone to manipulation and propaganda, and tend to just pick one side based on who made the best emotional appeal to them on one issue.

Here's my idea: Make argument and debate a core class in high school ciriculums.

That way, all children will explore the concept of argument and will be trained to realize when they're being manipulated. This class could also include propositional logic, and bring attention to various logical falacies politicians bring to their advantage.

Maybe if everybody learns how to debate, politicians will actually have to make a convincing case for their policies to get elected, instead of just using thinly veiled sophistry and base emotional appeals.

You people need an American version of Private Eye, the crappy old Onion just wont cut it.

I agree 100%. I'd go one step further, and say that in addition to required civics courses, allow students at the age of 16 to take part in the voting process as part of their curriculum (if it's an election year, whether it be municipal, state/provincial level or federal.)

I agree 100%. I'd go one step further, and say that in addition to required civics courses, allow students at the age of 16 to take part in the voting process as part of their curriculum (if it's an election year, whether it be municipal, state/provincial level or federal.)
That's a really interesting idea!(really, no sarcasm) I know when we elected Bush for the first time I would have given my left leg to vote. But allas...I was 16 or 17 at the time so...
I think debate is a great idea. I took 4 years of drama and debate and it pisses me off when poletitions use conotative words just to manipulate the public. It is sickening.
(Please ignore spelling problems. I'm horrible at that.)

(Please ignore spelling problems. I'm horrible at that.)

Maybe English shoould be a core class too. Kidding

I completely agree. I've had to explain to classmates that Bush is a Republican and Gore is a Democrat during one memorable (especially in Florida) election. An informed public will choose the best.

That's a really interesting idea!(really, no sarcasm) I know when we elected Bush for the first time I would have given my left leg to vote. But allas...I was 16 or 17 at the time so...
I think debate is a great idea. I took 4 years of drama and debate and it pisses me off when poletitions use conotative words just to manipulate the public. It is sickening.
(Please ignore spelling problems. I'm horrible at that.)

Precisely. Part of the problem with younger people not voting (IMHO), is that they just never have. So, by the time elections roll around, they don't really care to. Once people 'plant roots', and feel that they have more at stake, they are more likely to vote.

Getting students to vote at an early age, gets them more involved in the process, and civics courses should help to inform the debate to some degree.

Great Idea!

A combination course of Civics, Debate, and what I call B.S. detection; recognising when some one is scamming you for your money, vote, immortal soul, etc.

I found two of the textbooks for this course in a college library. They are called "Damned lies and Statistics," and "More Damned lies and Statistics."

The author demonstrates how even the simplist figures can be manipulated into absurdly confusing or downright misleading statistics. He is not merely some partisan, pointing out the flaws in their opponent's reasoning, but serving up their own phony numbers. He hammers Left and Right alike, as well as the media who are primarily concerned with blowing bad news out of proportion for ratings.