A lot of these ideas are from the books above. James W. Loewen and Peter Kuznick have brought forth valuable ideas that society should be aware of. 

One of the biggest problems when it comes to public opinion in politics today is that we are not all playing with the same set of facts. Some of this comes from a psychological term called confirmation bias. With confirmation bias, most individuals seek out information that confirms their beliefs and dismisses any evidence that goes against their preconceived ideas. Some of this also comes from a lack of knowledge when it comes to history and other social science subjects.

People are constantly tuning in to the same news stations and sometimes talk radio shows and some of these networks pump out a lot of propaganda. Individuals that have little background knowledge in social science subjects are far more likely to become outraged and buy into the propaganda. Objective and accurate information is the anecdote to the poison of propaganda that plagues our nation.

Some scholars also argue that the social sciences are not valued as much as they should be in our schools. This is potentially not by accident, but by careful orchestration of individuals who know that objective history does not help them with their political goals. The No Child Left Behind Act was passed in 2001 under George W. Bush. This act does not require multiple-choice or any other types of tests in history. This has led to many School Districts focusing more on the subjects that have standardized tests. Principals are often willing to hire coaches to teach history who do not have history degrees. According to Sociologist James W. Loewen, “only 40% of history teachers have a BA or MA in history or a field with history in it, like sociology and political science.” 

As the picture above indicates a lot of history textbooks are whitewashed to fit a specific narrative. Many textbooks that are used across the country are approved in states such as Texas. A lot of the teachers who lack deep background knowledge in the subject do not correct misleading ideas from textbooks. These teachers may be more reluctant to engage in class discussions concerning inaccuracies in the textbook because these discussions would potentially expose gaps in the teacher’s knowledge. Some teachers fear the idea of students asking questions that they do not know the answer to. As a result a lot of classes do not discuss ideas controversial aspects of U.S. History. The books also avoid topics such as inheritance, class-conflict theory, corporate socialism, union-busting or U.S. war crimes. 

“He is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse his sins.” – Frederick Douglass

Let’s look at an example in History. During the Vietnam War, American Soldiers committed atrocities against people in Vietnam, some of whom were innocent. There’s a picture of a national police chief in South Vietnam shooting a member of the Vietcong in the head. This photograph helped convince many Americans that their side was not morally superior in the Vietnam War. This is rarely taught in schools. It is not contained in most textbooks. 

These ideas being taught in schools in the early 2000s would not have put the U.S. in a good light or made more young men willing to enlist for the Iraq war. In a like manner most students are never taught about the Ludlow Massacre in which miners on strike at a Rockefeller owned mine were murdered in cold-blood by company guards. Most students will never be taught that In 1952 corporate income taxes accounted for 32 percent of all federal revenue. By 2015, that number had been reduced by ⅔ to just 10.6%. Many students are never taught in high school that there has been a massive transfer of wealth away from the middle class since the 1970s. People either learn this in college or through their own research. 

Understanding history, political science, sociology and other social science subjects is essential to having political views that are grounded in reality. Of course, the majority of individuals will have a career unrelated to the study of these subjects, but knowledge in these areas should be promoted because it is linked to our democracy. If we want to thrive in a Democratic Republic, these subjects are essential. Although watching sports and netflix can be entertaining, as a society we are better off if people are reading social science books. We are better off if people are reading a lot of books and being exposed to a lot of ideas. We have many well-educated individuals who fall for ridiculous propaganda. Some of these individuals are even medical doctors, dentists, and MBAs. Emphasizing social science subjects as a society could change this. Perhaps there are individuals with hundreds of millions and billions of dollars who would rather not have the majority of citizens educated on the fact that it has usually been the working class who fight and die in the wars that make weapon manufacturers so much money. It is not the children of the ultra-wealthy that fight in most of these wars. Maybe they would rather the public not know that Dick Cheney’s Halliburton made off like bandits after the Iraq war. As Eric Blair (AKA George Orwell) wrote,  “who controls the present, controls the past.”