Modern Civics

After watching a dialogue between jar and dogmafood concerning the reasons behind jars critique of his own country, I thought perhaps it time to start a topic on Civics. It seems that modern politics is handicapped by an ignorant public who don't understand the issues and/or the history leading up to the thoughts and beliefs which form modern day politics.I know that I am not well schooled in the reasoning behind the right wing and the left wing, nor do I even know why these divergent political philosophies even developed. Much of what I know or learn these days is from the internet, and I feel that citizens should play a more active role in policymaking.Do any of you have any suggestions as to how we could reintroduce this discipline to an apathetic public?Is there anything else that you feel should be part of a mandatory education in preparation for becoming a U.S. Citizen?

I think that the average citizen has a responsibility to understand why the government has arrived at some of the foreign policy decisions (the last three wars, for instance) that it has made. It almost seemed like the average American was simply told that the US was protecting so and so against such and such. We were never given an option to vote in favor or opposition to any of these wars.I for one would have liked to have a brush up course on why it was our job to protect "freedom" anywhere else in the world when it cost me money, future retirement, and the lives of my countrymen.Edited by Phat, : spell-o-ramaEdited by Phat, : Title spelling also

Uneducated people shouldn't vote. They are easily swayed by campaign ads and news infotainment propaganda. Perhaps mandatory civics could at least warn people of this strategy, so that anyone who votes at least knows darn well the issue and the propaganda and money behind or against it.

And Ive nothing against that, provided that i dont have to pay to help raise their many kids!

First of all, we are not a free democracy. We are a republic, and we are not built to support every darn human on the planet. Altruistic though it may sound, it is simply feasibly impossible. In order to change the system, the voters must be educated. Using the teeming masses to change society will only lead to more wars in order to eliminate them.

What on earth for? I think that we all should be able to decide by computer...since most of us now have one.

Granted I WAS whining about the appalling lack of societal responsibily and ability to govern ourselves rather than hiring people to do it for us and paying them to argue with each other all year.We need to teach the the basics about how a civilisation should function. And yet the wealthy people can lobby for their causes! If we give the poor and uneducated the power to vote for their interests exclusively, the middle class again shrinks...more of us become poor...and the game is lost. As everyone might expect, I am again whining about the deck that is increasingly stacked against my success.

quote:

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A report released on Wednesday by the Pew Research Center found that about two-thirds of Americans now perceive a strong conflict between the rich and poor in this country. That was up 19 percentage points from 2009.

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Civics is needed so that we can understand our social contract with each other. Times are becoming too divisive, and class warfare is on the rise. mitt Romney calls it the politics of envy, but its not about envy. Its about basic fairness. The way I see it, the poor need to be educated enough to see the Big Picture. They need to unite with the shrinking middle class rather than try and drag us down to their level.