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dda · 28 Jul 2006, 23:22

Many of you probably thought this was a thread about my journey toward Alzheimers, however, while just as boring, it is not todays topic.

Sometimes I forget how uneducated about the world many people are. Hanging out with the cool kids at GD causes me to lose track of the fact that many young people have no concept of history, even fairly recent history.

After lunch I was talking with a young man and I was going to make a remark about the genocide of Armenians by the Turks at the begining of the last century.

I thought I would lead into this by putting it in perspective as not the numerical rival of Hitler or Stalin but quite horrible none-the-less.

When I made that remark, I was astounded when he replied, "Stalin? I've heard that name before, who was he?"

I then began to explain that he had been the leader of the USSR. He responded that he thought that was Marx.

I explained that, no Marx was a German theorist upon which communist theory was based.

He asked if Marx came from East Germany. I stuttered and spent another several minutes explaining that the country of East Germany did not exist until after WWII. That the country of Germany didn't exist as a unified state until 1871 or so.

Lennin and the whole bolshevik-menshevik thing were a complete mystery.

The more I talk to people, the smarter the folks on GD seem.

28 Jul 2006, 23:22	#1
dda USS Oklahoma Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,500	Sometimes I forget.... Many of you probably thought this was a thread about my journey toward Alzheimers, however, while just as boring, it is not todays topic. Sometimes I forget how uneducated about the world many people are. Hanging out with the cool kids at GD causes me to lose track of the fact that many young people have no concept of history, even fairly recent history. After lunch I was talking with a young man and I was going to make a remark about the genocide of Armenians by the Turks at the begining of the last century. I thought I would lead into this by putting it in perspective as not the numerical rival of Hitler or Stalin but quite horrible none-the-less. When I made that remark, I was astounded when he replied, "Stalin? I've heard that name before, who was he?" I then began to explain that he had been the leader of the USSR. He responded that he thought that was Marx. I explained that, no Marx was a German theorist upon which communist theory was based. He asked if Marx came from East Germany. I stuttered and spent another several minutes explaining that the country of East Germany did not exist until after WWII. That the country of Germany didn't exist as a unified state until 1871 or so. Lennin and the whole bolshevik-menshevik thing were a complete mystery. The more I talk to people, the smarter the folks on GD seem. __________________ Ignorance is curable, stupidity is not.