The American high school graduate is two years behind his English, French or German counterpart; in Alabama, God knows how far behind.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the educational shortcomings of American high school graduates compared to their peers in Europe, particularly emphasizing disparities in Alabama.
Gore Vidal's quote addresses the significant gap in educational achievement between American high school graduates and those in countries like England, France, and Germany. It suggests that American students, particularly in states like Alabama, are not receiving the same quality or quantity of education, thereby lacking critical skills and knowledge that are essential in today's global society. This commentary on the education system raises awareness about regional disparities and the need for improvement in the American education curriculum.
In practice
In a speech about educational reform, I mentioned, 'As Gore Vidal said, the American high school graduate is two years behind his peers in Europe.'
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
Although simulators are great for building step-by-step knowledge of a procedure, the worst thing that can happen in a sim is that you get a bad grade on your performance.
I knew chemistry would be worse, because I'd seen a big card of the ninety-odd elements hung up in the chemistry lab, and all the perfectly good words like gold and silver and cobalt and aluminum were shortened to ugly abbreviations with different decimal numbers after them.
And suddenly, I realized the system that I was in did not know what intelligence was, didn't know how to identify smart and not smart. They called me the best, when I knew I wasn't, and they called him the worst, when he was the best. I mean, there could be no more antipodal environment. So I began to question: What is intelligence? Who says? Who says you're smart? Who says you're not smart? And what do they mean by that?
So, I was in a segregated, all black, public elementary school until fourth grade, until my father died. And that's when my mother transferred me to a private, predominantly white school and I saw both sides of the world at a very young age.
A college degree is the key to realizing the American dream, well worth the financial sacrifice because it is supposed to open the door to a world of opportunity.
Education can, and should be, dangerous.
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