From:	Snake Eyes snake.eyes@********.att.net
Subject:	Geography & Priorities (was: the value of education)
Date:	Mon, 12 Jul 1999 16:47:07 -0700

Although the tendency to ignore affairs occurring outside one's own county
(or Country) is hardly a phenomenon unique to the USA, the sheer ignorance
of my fellow countrymen never ceases to amaze me.

I grew up in Alaska, and whenever I ventured down to the "Lower 48," I
would occasionally endure the standard questions about passports, the
weather, no sunlight, igloos, kayaks, harpooning whales, snowmobiles,
dogsleds, and clubbing baby harbor seals for lunch. That last one was a
constant source of entertainment -- useful for baiting junior eco-weenies
who didn't know any better.

However, what amazed me most was that, no matter where in the USA I went,
every single teenager I ran into was conversant in the fact that (until
1990) it was legal in Alaska to possess a quarter-pound of marijuana for
"personal consumption" (that's 113.5 grams for you metric folks). I guess
it only pays to learn and remember stuff that may actually come in handy
some day.

In SR terms: do you think that education and attitudes regarding "foreign"
lands & cultures have become more global in perspective or more insular?

~Snake Eyes