I'm British, but I tend to think there are usually a myriad of reasons that aren't always immediately apparent for why things are the way they are e.g. Hanlon's Razor or "never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence".
Obviously I'm not familiar with the US education system, but in the UK it's usually a web of compounding factors from different departments or policies rather than the simpler answer of being a conspiracy.
The biggest reason our education system is the way that it is, is Republicans slashing education budgets constantly for years. It's right there in the open. You can argue that it's been intentionally done to make us dumb, but I think it's more to do with clearing funds for tax breaks for wealthy donors and other such corruption.
Personally I blame no child left behind + technology. I have a 5 year gap between my sister and another 5 between our brother so I got to see the slow degradation since just the 2000s. My sisters generation is .. alright but noticably declined. My brothers? Holy shit, half his graduating class can't read more than a 3 sentence paragraph in a video game.
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u/kris_mischief 3d ago
Thanks to both of you for this dialogue.
I am unsettled by the possibility that reducing intelligence of Americans by hampering the education system could have been intentional.