For Kossacks who are not yet acquainted with it, I'd like to introduce you to the
Big Ideas Project - a recent brainchild of the Progressive Change Institute. It's a new crowdsourcing site that solicits ideas from individual citizens and institutions alike about how to reclaim our government from the clutches of the Wall Street banks and corporations, and implement reforms in multiple sectors of our society in order to create a brighter future for all of us:
http://thinkbig.us
Already more than 30 members of Congress have committed to carefully review the 10 Biggest Ideas that generate the largest number of votes, with the possibility of introducing legislation to address those issues, sometime during the next session. More are sure to follow.
I've just submitted my own Big Idea, this one in the category of education. It reads as follows:
"Each high school student in America in their junior or senior of school should be taught a course in basic logic, and a course in media literacy. Because they lack fundamental critical thinking skills, many millions of Americans remain ignorant, naive and gullible, continually falling victim to the coarsest kinds of political demagoguery, lies, scams, and media manipulations. It has reached the tipping point of national crisis, and threatens the very foundation of our democracy."
Here's the link:
http://thinkbig.us/...
This is an idea I've had for a long time. I feel strongly that lack of critical thinking lies at the heart of many of our most basic challenges, as way too many Americans are unable to hold our public officials and public institutions accountable to the people, because they lack the ability to discern fact from fiction, and truth from deception. Unfortunately when they fail, we all suffer the consequences. Explicitly teaching these skills at the high school level is at least a start to developing a more intellectually sophisticated citizenry.
If you're inclined to agree, then may I ask you to go to the Big Ideas Project website by clicking on the provided link, then vote to support my big idea? The site will prompt you to enter your email address & ZIP code, but this is only to prevent voters from voting multiple times for the same idea (kind of a voter ID regulation - except that this one is actually legitimate). You will not be spammed.
If you feel strongly enough, then please feel free to forward my link to some of your own friends, acquaintances and fellow Kossacks. Every vote helps.
Thanks a lot!
Michael