Ignorance Gang???

"Is their refusal to think about any of this the product of actual thought, or is it just that they don't want to think about it?" 

Although Wallace was talking about the ethics of eating lobster, this question can be posed to Americans on a variety of issues. Sadly, a lot of us choose to remain in the dark about current events just to maintain a shroud of blissful ignorance over the world's harsh realities. In fact, this is such a widely-known phenomena, Harvard professor (and five-time Jeopardy winner) Tom Nichols branded it the American Cult of Ignorance.

An American writer Isaac Aminov commented that the United States is unique in it's false notion that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge". That couldn't be more true. These days, in an era when facts are "alternative" and news is "fake", the mic is being given to the ignorant way too often. But although there has been a rise in giving too much publicity to uneducated opinions, Americans are generally notorious for not being publicly aware. Here, we have the Cult of Ignorance, whereas in Asia it's a Cult of Intelligence.

Speaking on what I notice in Troy High, no doubt are the students here extraordinarily intelligent. The only condition is it's academic. Some of the smartest people I know still don't know general global affairs, like the Israel-Palestine conflict. In fact, many students here get uncomfortable when politics is discussed in the classroom. Recently, in my AP Government class, while discussing the Florida shooting and gun control, a student explicitly asked to "get back to the notes" since it's "AP gov, not AP debate". In my opinion, talking about modern issues is crucial, not only to foster change in our future, but also to allow ourselves to think about others than ourselves. Oftentimes, we only listen to noise that affects us, and if that trend continues, then our brand will change from Cult of Ignorance to Cult of Selfishness. 

At the end of the day, staying "woke" saves you from public embarrassment. Read the news so there's no chance that this could be you: