Something went funky about twelve years ago. It seems like we entered an era where the American people were confronted with the need to educate themselves about something new every few years. In 1998, we all had to learn about the history and use of impeachment, including its use by the British government in colonial times. Then, in 2000, we had to learn all about the intricacies of the Electoral College and our state-by-state voting laws. In 2001, we had to learn all about Islam. In 2002, we all got to know a lot (much of it wrong) about Iraq. In 2005, we learned all about the New Orleans levee system and the diversion of the Mississippi River. Since 2008, we’ve been forced to study the intricacies of the financial system. And, now, in 2010, we’re learning about deep water drilling and our government’s regulation of the energy industry. It’s like we entered an era of crisis, where our own ignorance began coming back to bite us, and bite us again, and again, and again. What’s the next thing that will crop up? What are we ignoring that we ought to be studying?
I am going to take a guess. I think it’s something agricultural. Lord, I hope it’s not the Korean Peninsula.
