american.swan
04-23-2008, 02:13 AM
This is taken from "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by Loewen ....Please read carefully and reflectively and possibly apply to Iraq. You might try this with your friends later to see their responses.
In January 1971 the Gallup Poll asked: "A proposal has been made in Congress to require the US Government to bring home all US troops before the end of the year. Would you like to have your congressman vote for or against this proposal?
Estimate the results, by education, by filling out this table:
college education (____ %for withdrawal) +( ____%against withdrawal)= 100%
high school (________%for withdrawal) +(_____%against withdrawal)= 100%
grade school (______%for withdrawal) +(_____________%against withdrawal)= 100%
total (73% for withdrawal)+ (27% against withdrawal)= 100%
By an overwhelming margin - almost 10 to 1 - audiences believe that college - edcuated persons were more dovist. Below shows a typical response.
college education ( 90 %for withdrawal) + ( 10% against withdrawal)= 100%
high school ( 75 % for withdrawal) +(25% against withdrawal)= 100%
grade school ( 60 % for withdrawal) +( 40% against withdrawal)= 100%
total (73% for withdrawal)+ (27% against withdrawal)= 100%
I then ask audiences to assume that their tables are correct - that the results of the survey correspond to what they guessed - and to state at least two reasonable hypotheses to explain these results. Most results look something like this....
**Educated people are more informed and critical, hence more able to sift through misimformation and conclude that the Vietnam War was not in our best interest.
**Educated people are more tolerant. There were elements of racism and ethnocentrism in our conduct of the war.
**Less - educated people, being of lower occupational status, were more likely to be employed in a war-related industry or in the armed forces themselves, hence had self- interest in being pro-war.
There is nothing surprising here. Most people feel that schooling is a good think and enables us to sift facts, weigh evidence, and think rationally.
However the truth is quite different.
Actual results...
college education ( 60 %for withdrawal) + ( 40% against withdrawal)= 100%
high school ( 75 % for withdrawal) +(25% against withdrawal)= 100%
grade school ( 80 % for withdrawal) +( 20% against withdrawal)= 100%
total (73% for withdrawal)+ (27% against withdrawal)= 100%
These results even surprise some professional social scientists. Twice as high a proportion of college-educated adults, 40%, were against withdrawal, compared to only 20% of adults with grade school educations. And this poll is no isolated phenomenon. Similar results were registered again and again
my personal note:[ If you want to know more and the reason why educated people in 1971 supported the Vietnam war at twice the rate of the "less" educated, I suggest you get the book. It's hard for me to explain. It comes down to...]
...."In this sense, educated successful people have a vested interest in believing that the society that helped them be educated and successful is fair. As a result, those in the upper third of our educational and income structure are more likely to show allegiance to society, while those in the lower third are more likely to be critical of it."
secondly....The more schooling, the more socialization [education as socialization tells people what to think and how to act and requires them to conform] and the more likely the individual will conclude that America is good.
In August 2004, for example, two-thirds of all Americans who graduated from college favored keeping troops in Iraq "long enough to bring stability", while 61% with less than a high school degree favored "a quick pullout".
See Part two in the next post....
In January 1971 the Gallup Poll asked: "A proposal has been made in Congress to require the US Government to bring home all US troops before the end of the year. Would you like to have your congressman vote for or against this proposal?
Estimate the results, by education, by filling out this table:
college education (____ %for withdrawal) +( ____%against withdrawal)= 100%
high school (________%for withdrawal) +(_____%against withdrawal)= 100%
grade school (______%for withdrawal) +(_____________%against withdrawal)= 100%
total (73% for withdrawal)+ (27% against withdrawal)= 100%
By an overwhelming margin - almost 10 to 1 - audiences believe that college - edcuated persons were more dovist. Below shows a typical response.
college education ( 90 %for withdrawal) + ( 10% against withdrawal)= 100%
high school ( 75 % for withdrawal) +(25% against withdrawal)= 100%
grade school ( 60 % for withdrawal) +( 40% against withdrawal)= 100%
total (73% for withdrawal)+ (27% against withdrawal)= 100%
I then ask audiences to assume that their tables are correct - that the results of the survey correspond to what they guessed - and to state at least two reasonable hypotheses to explain these results. Most results look something like this....
**Educated people are more informed and critical, hence more able to sift through misimformation and conclude that the Vietnam War was not in our best interest.
**Educated people are more tolerant. There were elements of racism and ethnocentrism in our conduct of the war.
**Less - educated people, being of lower occupational status, were more likely to be employed in a war-related industry or in the armed forces themselves, hence had self- interest in being pro-war.
There is nothing surprising here. Most people feel that schooling is a good think and enables us to sift facts, weigh evidence, and think rationally.
However the truth is quite different.
Actual results...
college education ( 60 %for withdrawal) + ( 40% against withdrawal)= 100%
high school ( 75 % for withdrawal) +(25% against withdrawal)= 100%
grade school ( 80 % for withdrawal) +( 20% against withdrawal)= 100%
total (73% for withdrawal)+ (27% against withdrawal)= 100%
These results even surprise some professional social scientists. Twice as high a proportion of college-educated adults, 40%, were against withdrawal, compared to only 20% of adults with grade school educations. And this poll is no isolated phenomenon. Similar results were registered again and again
my personal note:[ If you want to know more and the reason why educated people in 1971 supported the Vietnam war at twice the rate of the "less" educated, I suggest you get the book. It's hard for me to explain. It comes down to...]
...."In this sense, educated successful people have a vested interest in believing that the society that helped them be educated and successful is fair. As a result, those in the upper third of our educational and income structure are more likely to show allegiance to society, while those in the lower third are more likely to be critical of it."
secondly....The more schooling, the more socialization [education as socialization tells people what to think and how to act and requires them to conform] and the more likely the individual will conclude that America is good.
In August 2004, for example, two-thirds of all Americans who graduated from college favored keeping troops in Iraq "long enough to bring stability", while 61% with less than a high school degree favored "a quick pullout".
See Part two in the next post....