When we fail history

Mention voter ID and you are immediately jumped on by the left and labeled racist as if there is a widespread plot to deny voting to target groups of Americans. It seems to me the very need to defend a group because it is assumed they have no ability to present some form of ID is rather insulting to them, but no matter that is not my point.

My point is so what? In the last mid-term election only 36.1% of eligible voters bothered to vote. Denying people the right to vote for lack of ID hardly seems to be our biggest problem and yet amazingly it gets the press.

But even that is not our real problem.  In the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress only 12 percent of high school seniors scored proficient or better in American history. That is very sad.

If you don’t understand our history and how government works, you can’t possibly understand democracy. We can’t function without this knowledge and perspective which seems pretty evident today.

How can uninformed people debate or assess other opinions and policies? How can uninformed people claim the right to vote? Hey, I’m not talking expert level, just basic understanding.

How can you be for or against changes or new policies if you do not understand the basics of what you are trying to assess? Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare, inequality, taxes and entitlement programs come to mind as grossly misunderstood, but passionately argued about.

It’s not all that hard; just touch that Google microphone and say for example, “history of Social Security.” If you can’t put that much effort into a topic you want to discuss, well perhaps you shouldn’t.