American college and university students, supposed to be the best and the brightest, are unable to pass simple tests on core American knowledge. A study of freshman and seniors at 50 colleges and universites

Freshmen and seniors at 50 of the nation’s colleges and universities were asked 60 multiple choice questions about America’s history and government, its relationship to the rest of the world and the market economy in a survey done by the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy on behalf of the conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).

. . .Among the findings in the report are:

• Less than half of the college seniors surveyed recognized the phrase “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” as originating from the Declaration of Independence;
• Roughly 80 percent of college seniors were unaware that the federal government’s largest payout is for social security; and
• Even with their country at war in Iraq, fewer than half of the seniors (45.2 percent) could identify the Baath Party as the main source of Saddam Hussein’s political support. In fact, 12.2 percent believed that Hussein found his most reliable supporters in the Communist Party, and almost 5.7 percent said Israel.

. . .Lesser-known colleges such as Rhodes College, Calvin College and Grove City College ranked at the top of ISI’s list, but at many of the nation’s most prestigious universities, including Brown University, Yale University and Georgetown University, seniors know less than freshmen about America’s history, government, foreign affairs and economy.

“This phenomenon is ‘negative learning,’” said Bunting. “We were stunned to find that a majority of the 16 schools where negative learning occurred are considered to be among the most prestigious colleges in the United States.”

It shouldn’t come as any surprise to learn that these big, liberal institutions are not teaching about America. Unfortunately, the left’s anti-American principles have so penetrated these institutions that many are actually exhibiting “negative” learning. Given the rhetoric of modern liberalism, it’s not hard to see why.

The history of America disgusts them. They don’t see a rare congregation of political genuises that led to this glorious bastion of freedom. They see an oppressive, imperialistic conglomerate of evil, capitalist exploiters. They carry this historic guilt with them wherever they go, blaming all the world ills on the American system. Many of these people are college professors, where they spread their filth to future generations.

But something must be done about this tragic ignorance of America’s most basic systems. Otherwise, the lefts American deprecation will continue to fester until the public is no longer capable of acitvely sustaining our fragile balance of freedom and prosperity.

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