The lack of philosophical education has destroyed critical thinking. Lack of critical thinking causes us to choose leaders who are 'pretty,' not leaders who are wise.
If one does not know history, one is doomed to repeat it. Everyone know this axiom, but know actually does anything about it.
Witness the small minded ideas of people who use the public school system to enforce their point of view. Text books that minimized slave trade, ones that don't mention the excesses of union, one that emphasize the contributions of one group or another.
This evening on NBC Nightly News they interviewed the head of Intel who said that our lack of investment in education will be our downfall (I'm paraphrasing). He was speaking specifically of math and science, but I would argue that philosophy and literature are the subjects that give reason to the former.
How many of our students leave high school or even college understanding the centuries long exploration of human rights, political systems, economics, and our relationship to the universe? How many understand the Copernican Revolution, let alone the Kantian Revolution?
In short, the best way to keep America at the top of world, strong and wealthy, we must educate our children in every subject, not just the ones that will earn them a great starting salary. In the end, the salary is just the start, life comes sometime after that.
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