Why I Do This

I was asked recently why is it that I'm not a school teacher.  "People should really know this information," is another statement I get.  Funny.  These are the same people who have told me that they find history boring, yet when I speak about it, they listen.  Why is that?  It took me a while to figure it out, and the only answer I have is that the information I know is what makes history interesting.  To answer the question of why I'm not a school teacher, it's simple.  The material people are wanting me to teach, isn't the material I would be allowed to teach.  Think about it.
Do you honestly think that a senior level World History course would allow me to teach about the Imperial Japanese Army and what they did to the Chinese?  Or have me teach the students about how the "Confederate Flag" isn't a racist symbol?  The answer is no.  The public school system in this country is a joke, especially in the history section.  Before my last post, how many of you knew about the Second Sino-Japanese War?  Be honest.  You may have known about the Japanese fighting the Chinese, but how far below the surface did you go?  Did any of what I told you make you want to learn more?  Or at least want to try to disprove me?  If you answered yes to either question, then I did my job.  As a school teacher, I wouldn't be allowed to spark any interest for students to want to learn more.  I would be required to teach the same material that has been taught numerous times before. 
As in my first post I mentioned how the schools don't stray away from the basic material, or at least go into deeper meaning.  What they don't want is for some newbie teacher to come in and stir the pot.  I would be let go from the school, (basically kicked out) for wanting to shake up the curriculum and get it to where it interests more mature minds.  I'm talking about high school in this sense.  There's no way I would ever want to teach about the Japanese and Chinese to 4th graders, but I do believe that high school seniors can learn about it.  If we can learn about Anne Frank and the Holocaust in Europe in 8th grade, then maybe we are mature enough to learn about the other holocaust.  Tell me, why is it that we were mature enough to learn about victims being put into ovens, but we weren't mature enough to know about the Japanese playing their sword game?  If you can seriously tell me the difference here, I'll keep my mouth shut.  Sounds like being burned alive is a lot more graphic, than being decapitated, yet the Japanese sword game sounds taboo.  
The school system in this country has failed us.  They failed us in the sense that instead of showing us how to take initiative in our own education, they've created drones, meaning people who only repeat back what they have heard.  Is it possible that people don't take initiative in their own education because they were never shown that digging deeper, leads to better understanding?  Why is it that people feel that what they know, is adequate?  Why don't they want to know more?  I feel that this might be a political agenda at work. 
One way the Catholic Church stayed in power for so long was that they made it illegal for anyone outside of the church to be literate.  Why is that important?  Well, an educated person is more of a threat to a government than a non-educated person.  How is that possible?  Think about it.  An educated person is one who is willing to research, investigate, and speak out against the establishment, and do so thoroughly and effectively.  This means that when a government starts to go out of its bounds, there's somebody there to rein them in.  However, when the next generation comes in, and they don't have the education necessary to pull on the reins, the government can do what they want, and nobody will oppose them. 
I'm going to assume that if you are regular reader here, that you don't fall into this category.  You have actively searched for another answer.  A different view, or way of thinking.  You don't have to agree with my views, however, if you choose to oppose them, ensure that you are knowledgeable of your own view.  Too many times I find that everyone has an opinion, yet few are able to justify it. 
I'm not saying that what I'm teaching you is material that'll allow you to go out in the world and successfully change everybody's opinions.  However, I'm trying to spark that little thing in your brain that makes you actively go out and search for more information on whatever it is that you are interested in. 

Though I am not running out of material to post, I would like to hear from my readers.  Please leave a comment telling me what you would like to learn about next.  I think my next post will be about Pearl Harbor, and how Roosevelt and Churchill knew about the attack beforehand, but decided to keep it secret to allow the US to enter the war, but could be one of your topics instead.