For Education in the State of New York, Orwell Had It Soooooo Right

"Freedom is slavery."
"War is peace."
"Ignorance is strength."

Just a few of the many memorable quotes from 1984, Orwell's dystopian masterpiece, one that looks more and more like it could as well be re-titled, 2014. For example, change the word "books" in the following quote to "cable news channels" or "websites," and you have a perfect depiction of 2014: "The best books, he perceived, are those that tell you what you know already." Or this: "Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else." The last sounds like a Tea Party Republican motto, or perhaps that of the evolution-denying creationist crowd.

Anyway, to the point at hand: the New York State Board of Regents, in its infinite but Orwellian wisdom, has apparently decided that the State's high school students no longer need to pass both a Global History and an American Studies exam to receive a diploma -- only one will now suffice -- and they are pronouncing this change a raising of New York's academic standards. That's right, learning and demonstrating knowledge of "less" will soon officially be "more" in New York State. And this elevation process doesn't stop with merely eliminating half the formerly required knowledge base -- oh, no. Students who opt for the Global History exam will only be tested on events taking place in or after the year 1750. Who needs to understand our modern-day connections to the ancient Romans or Greeks; the Incan, Mayan, and Aztec civilizations; the Egyptians and Phoenicians; the Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties of China; the great tribal civilizations of central Africa, etc., etc., etc.?

Where but in the post-millennial world of "education reform" (the currently most sadly abused phrase in the American lexicon) could such nonsense be seriously presented as beneficial to the next generation of history-ignorant students. After all, there's always Wikipedia. So what more needs to be said? Res ipsa loquitur, the thing speaks for itself (nobody studies Latin any more, naturally).

Then again, perhaps we should allow one more speaker to weigh in. Mr. Orwell, another sampling from 1984, if you please:

"He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past."

Think about it. Or not.