A Glimpse at what we lost when we abandoned classical education

Mark Twain is attributed with the saying "Those who don't read have no advantage over those who can't."
We are now a couple generations away from our forefathers who abandoned classical education. We are now the generation that does not even know what it has lost. Wes Callihan gives a glimpse at the kind of richness we have lost in this excerpt from the Old Western Culture curriculum on the great books of Western civilization. If you don't study the classics, you have no advantage over those who can't. Roman Roads Media provides tools to help you accomplish this task! Get started today!
romanroadsmedia...

[@RavenclawFtW3295]

I've begun to get into the classics. In looking back it's as if I've been cheated.

[@jesuschristislord77733]

We all were.

[@NodakBro]

r/ClassicalEducation

[@Dave.Mustaine.Is.Genius]

@@jesuschristislord77733 please become Muslim, everyone. The truth is it, not Christendom. Prophet Jesus peace be upon him is a lovely prophet of Allah. And Prophwt Muhammed peace be upon him is the last prophet of Him. After people ruined the original Holy Bible, God sent a last book: The Holy Quran.

[@jesuschristislord77733]

@@Dave.Mustaine.Is.Genius I've got news for you. I'm Bosnian. I was a practicing muslim. I was a Buddhist, a Hare Krishna and "mystic". On the brink of death in the hospital, I felt the oppression of hell and the mocking if demon spirits because I believed the lie. Immediately I prayed to Christ Jesus and accepted him as my Lord and Savior who shed his sacred blood on Calvary for the salvation of fallen humanity. I prayed to Jesus and he saved me from the brink of death and hell. Nobody and no thing can rob me of my faith in the Lamb of God and The Heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit indwells within me and guides my life. Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne And to the Lamb, forever and ever! Revelation 5:13

[@Dave.Mustaine.Is.Genius]

@@jesuschristislord77733 well, sir, great thing ye are alive however, how do ye ever know that the one who saved ye was Jesus peace be upon him? Maybe ye prayed to the wrong God, and the real God saved ye.... It is a well possibility, rationally.... There is nothing like the real God cannot help ye when somebody prays to the wrong God or Gods. Maybe it is another test fer ye, whether or not ye can see the truth WHEREAS ye are saved by another being, other than God .... And another fact, how comes a human be a God? God by definition is abstract, canmot have weaknesses and needs. But look at Jesus peace be upon him: He pbuh did need to eat, to drink, to go to toilet, He pbuh did feel pain and weak when He was wounded or striked etc.... Jesus pbuh cannot be a God.

[@Cortex403]

One key aspect of classical education is its universality. You could be French, Italian, English, German... and you would have all read the same books, have the same cultural reference and a similar mental framework. Latin helps a lot in that regard.

[@accademiaoscura7870]

I went to college in the 1990’s and was a humanities major so we had to read all the classics. Classical education is still taught in much of Europe, and has only been abandoned largely in America and other English speaking countries.

[@user-lz6dm5lk9y]

I was born in the United States, and whilst there are some good things about being born here, I wish I had not been. I would much rather have been born in England or Germany.

[@sanehrhardt6765]

For everyone finding an aspect of this video to complain about - it is written in the title. A "glimpse"

[@jesuschristislord77733]

Welcome to Cringe-Yuga where complaining is the new dharma.

[@Stovetopcookie]

I’m 37 now. I wish I had someone like you as a high school English teacher. I would’ve gotten so much more enjoyment and meaning out of the books that they had us read. Sadly I must admit at the time I had zero interest in reading fiction. And it didn’t help that it appeared as though the teachers in my school clearly hated their jobs and went out of their way to make it as painful and boring as possible. So while I as a student did not have the best attitude towards English class I feel the administration should have met halfway or at least make it look like they try to Glad to have found your channel as I regain lost years of education not out of any necessity but of personal interest.

[@ribohe94]

"Some people might think that that's a sacrifice worth making... I DON'T"

[@user-lz6dm5lk9y]

I could not agree more. Missing out on the classics is not a sacrifice worth making. What is happening to our world anymore?? It makes me feel so sad.

[@VictorLepanto]

The Chinese called the Roman Empire "The other China." China has retained her cultural coherence by the use of Mandarin, in modern China the old local dialects are dying out & everyone is educated in Mandarin. Latin used to be like the Mandarin of the West. It was a common reference point for each nation & their own local language. In the excessive zeal for nationalism in 18th & 19th cent. the nationalist champions made the local dialect the center of national pride & wished to disconnect their people from the rest of Europe. Thus the knowledge of Latin was suppressed to favor "modern languages." Latin was perfectly modern up to that point. Latin is central to Western Civilization. It will continue to fall apart until we begin the process of restoring it.

[@NeverAloneForever]

I hear you, sir. Indeed, the term Western Civilization traces it's origins with the identification of European Christendom as the Latin West (in reference to the West Roman Empire).

[@Dave.Mustaine.Is.Genius]

NOo, not really. Latin is gravely important; yes, but; it is the continuation of Ancient Greece, and so are the Romans. They are the continuation of the Ancient Greek civilization. And please become Muslim, everyone. The truth is it, not Christendom. Prophet Jesus peace be upon him is a lovely prophet of Allah.

[@phillipjordan1010]

​@@Dave.Mustaine.Is.Genius I'm with you my friend. I'm not a Muslim but I have studied and learn much from the Islamic philosophers like Ibn Arabi, Ibn Rushd,etc. I have always been strongly opposed to Christianity. Their philosophy is just dull and does not resonate with my soul. I consider myself a Luciferian. Which means I'm always seeking the light of wisdom. I've never found any wisdom in Christianity

[@jme493acw]

I recently came across a similar example while reading Robert McClosky's book, Homer Price, with my children. The main character, Homer, has uncles named Ulysses and Telemachus, obvious references to the Odyssey. There is a story in the book about a man who comes to town with a musical mouse trap to catch all the mice. Fearing that he has bad intentions and will try to lure the children out of the town, the children put cotton in their ears so they won't hear the music. This again is a reference to the scene in the Odyssey when they are sailing past the sirens. While it is not necessary to have read the Odyssey to understand this story, it does make it more enjoyable when you can make connections to other literature you have read. Having studied the Ancient Greeks with my daughter, we were able to talk about the parallels, which just added a bit extra to our enjoyment of the book.

[@Dave.Mustaine.Is.Genius]

And yet, there is still one more thing that ye most probably missed: that musical mouse trap vignette is most most probably a reference to John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men, because in that novella too; a man plays a musical instrument to make mice follow him. :))

[@gorgo4910]

Pied Piper?

[@JoePalau]

Wes - You make me happy; you make me sad. Happy to travel with you thru the Western Canon on YT. Sad to realize Western Canon that is the sinew of our way of life is gone, gone, gone. No longer a after-image in the public's eye. Even the sense of loss is all but vanished.

[@garyk.nedrow8302]

This is a very superficial argument for a classical education. The object of studying Latin and Greek texts was not and is not to get the jokes in contemporary comic books. The civilizations of Greece and Rome form the basis of Western Civilization, along with the influence of Christianity. Our customs, legal system, and traditions grow out of the integration of those cultures. Their histories provide insight into similar modern social and political dilemmas. Their literature helps us to understand how they viewed themselves and the world and established standards for literary art that still apply today. Knowing the first line of the Gallic Wars is hardly a mark of an educated man. Anyone can memorize a quote. But knowing why Caesar crossed the Rubicon and the historical forces that led to the fall of the Republic are lessons applicable to us in the 21st century. What happened at Thermopylae still matters today. Cicero still speaks to us. The classics are works educated people know, at least in translation, if not in the original. To understand the world as it is, it is necessary to understand the world as it was. And beyond all of that, it is simply great fun.

[@mishasruros7633]

Yea he talks about that too, the point he is making is that classical works provide a shared literary framework for a society. Witch allows people to communicate on a higher level. He was simply illustrating this through the joke thing.

[@chasehensarling5161]

Mr. Nedrow

[@chasehensarling5161]

Can I have a briefly discuss with you the framework for becoming familiar with this sort of education? I am learning more of what I understand to teach a younger scholar that is less familiar than myself.

[@romanroads]

We've had several comments to the effect of "wait...that is THE argument for classical education?" This was actually more of an insightful side comment than making THE case for classical education. It hints at the things we once held in common BECAUSE of classical education being the common education. So what we hold in common today aren't the trivialities of Latin puns (an outflow from classically educated minds), but the latest TikTok tune or movie reference. That was the trade, and that's kind of the point here.

[@liamphillips7315]

The decline of common consensus culture into shallow juvenalia ensures a self-perpetuating supply of uninformed, simple-minded slaves to make the big machines go. Eliminating classical education and implementing Common Core and the like are all purely intentional and part of the underlying plan to undermine and destabilize Western Civilization. No flimsy argument re: budget cuts would ever make the case as much as the fact that the entire educational system has been infiltrated and castrated by those who consider every part of a classical education to be racist, divisive, suppressive, and colonial... It's not simply that no one in power wants the sheep to look up - they don't even want the sheep to know there's such thing as a sky.

[@qwertyu8832]

He's right, it's NOT a sacrifice worth making. You need to understand the ideas that the society you live in are founded on. Culture and civilization rely on passing down wisdom, not just googling stuff.

[@sorenpx]

Funny I find this today, because only a few days ago I finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo. In the book, Dumas probably makes 30 references or more to Greek mythology and theater and undoubtedly virtually all of those references are lost on the modern reader. Thankfully my copy had annotations.

[@kurtfrancis4621]

Does anyone else feel as if we're living in the time of Hari Seldon of "Foundation" book fame. For those who haven't read Asimov's famous Foundation Trilogy series...you must. The time of each of us collectively retaining and promoting the ideals of Western Civilization are at hand as the decay of society is upon us. Classical education is a MUST for those who wish to have learned minds.

[@blackcitroenlove]

Where I grew up, there were generations of adults who were mostly illiterate. "WE" did not all get this sort of education even during the time you cite. Appalachian people were kept uneducated by the mining companies to exploit them for their physical labour. My mother, who came from Ireland, taught me these things at home--I was made fun of by the local children for being so "Northern."

[@mishasruros7633]

This may be true, but we have the ability to provide this kind of education to children now, why not. I don't see you're point.

[@klosnj11]

If some did not have it, then none should have it?

[@freddytackos]

what I got from this video: before the internet, memes were written down in books

[@caelidhg6261]

It is a shame that the only argument you choose to emphasize is that we have lost the ability to understand jokes. No, we have lost the ability to think and reason and act. The ability to understand more jokes is just a perk.

[@romanroads]

It is often said that one truly understands a foreign language when one can joke and pun in that language. Ask any language teacher! True, what we lost is our ability to think and reason. But missing jokes shows that we have lost the cultural assumptions of the Old Western Culture. You might say it is the proof we no longer know the "language of the West." You don't learn how to think and reason and act by learning facts and trivia, but by knowing it so deep in your bones, it comes out in puns. The entrance exam to Harvard in the 1600s was a thorough knowledge of the classics *IN LATIN*. To be able to translate Virgil (and his puns) was the mechanism by which Harvard knew whether a student was educated enough to join their ranks. That being said, this is a snippet from a high school course, so there is more context that IS explained. But this kind of fun foray is what makes kids remember the truly important stuff. It's the Medieval art of the digression. Or as Wes Callihan likes to say, "The rabbit trail IS the point!". Thanks for commenting - appreciate the thought, and the opportunity to response, Sincerely, Daniel Foucachon

[@perperson199]

Wit is a signal feature of a free society

[@joeinreallife6293]

How strange. The thing you lament as having lost, is the very thing you embody in your pathetic comment. Someone needs a hug (and a laugh at a good joke).

[@zenondolnyckyj4325]

100%

[@jimslancio]

A little way into the movie Die Hard, the villain Hans Gruber looks at a model of a Nakatomi Corp. construction project and remarks "When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds left to conquer. ... The benefits of a classical education."

[@encefalord]

There is a renaissance movement going on in Brazil towards Classical Education headed by Olavo de Carvalho, Rafael Falcón, Rodrigo Gurgel etc.

[@inbetweenutube]

I didn’t understand the attempt at speaking Latin. The vowels were massacred.

[@jeremiahreilly9739]

Classicist here. Couldn't agree more. But…how do you respond to people who say "I don't care. I don't need this. It is not relevant to me or my culture."

[@markallred1953]

Thank you for this perceptive description of our loss. Though I speak Spanish fluently, I struggle to interpret the frequent instances of Latin in my readings. I often find that a word or phrase in Spanish expresses much better my thoughts than any word that I know in English, so I understand your point, and Latin syntax baffles me. I wish that I had studied Latin rather than German in my college education. I offer you a parting challenge: be aware of your insertion of um or duh as substitutes for thought.

[@BlackBitsBananas]

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?

[@zachgreen250]

The problem is also that those students won't be reading Cheaper By the Dozen or O'Henry either.

[@TTaylor]

This comment section is a gigantic face palm.

[@marcv2648]

Granted I'm here 6 years after this video was made, but I don't think this guy is actually appreciates of how far our country has gone. Unfortunately, the classical education is only of interest to antiquarians now. I know plenty of middle class adults pushing 40 who barely know what a New Yorker magazine was, much less who Julius Caesar was.

[@princesspastel8309]

I don’t get why some of the comments are so bitter.

[@jazzstandardman]

Much of the human race loathes itself...and Beauty.

[@PegasusFleets]

The Chinese had 'The Five Classics '. How does that compare with the Western Classics ?

[@foucachon]

We explore that at length in Redeeming the Six Arts: A Christian Approach to Chinese Classical Education. romanroadspress.com/store/six-arts/

[@Bill-uo6cm]

Tremendous!

[@Moribus_Artibus]

Where does Livy say that? The latest full book we have by him documents the Macedonian war against Perseus, which was a hundred years before Caesar's rise

[@meofamily4]

My jaw dropped when I heard the gentleman say that "everybody" knew (in England and the U.S.) the first question of the Protestant catechism -- as if "everybody" were Protestant, in either country. Maryland was founded by English Catholics; the Irish flooded into the U.S. in the 1840s. Perhaps the speaker also believes that all Germans are Protestant as well.

[@grodesby3422]

It would have been part of the culture, even understood by Catholics

[@holgerhn6244]

not to judge anything, just for consideration: `When I was fourteen or fifteen I was an odious little snob, but no worse than other boys of my own age and class. I suppose there is no place in the world where snobbery is quite so ever-present or where it is cultivated in such refined and subtle forms as in an English public school. Here at least one cannot say that English 'education' fails to do its job. You forget your Latin and Greek within a few months of leaving school--I studied Greek for eight or ten years, and now, at thirty-three, I cannot even repeat the Greek alphabet--but your snobbishness, unless you persistently root it out like the bindweed it is, sticks by you till your grave.` (George Orwell)

[@Z__K217]

The dominance of screen-based entertainment created a new canon of sources, away from the Great Books. Now we have ‘Rick Rolled’ for a reference.

[@barbarapiazza-georgi3831]

.... and we don't know the difference between "cannon" and "canon".

[@Z__K217]

@@barbarapiazza-georgi3831 Chuckle. I do, but my text predictor does not.

[@barbarapiazza-georgi3831]

@@Z__K217 .... the evils of automation.....:-)

[@paulk314]

Who is John Galt?

[@jimmyjames6796]

He is the man who invented Gallstones

[@raymondfrye5017]

@@jimmyjames6796 Gallstones? Keep on flippin'. Don't know how you do it with long legs though. Honestly

[@tripp8833]

An overrated character in an overrated book

[@grodesby3422]

You are number 6

[@grodesby3422]

the Classics have been replaced by Star Wars and Harry Potter as the universal cultural touchstone. Which is pathetic, I know.

[@jesuisravi]

Everybody in early 20th century America read Caesar in Latin? Who knew?!

[@paulheinrichdietrich9518]

"Everybody" who belonged to the priviledged clases and therefore received a decent education.

[@accademiaoscura7870]

Classical education is excellent, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s necessarily “Christian” - it’s not. Most classical literature was written by Greek & Roman Pagans and secular Platonic / Aristotelian philosophers.

[@Sbigrox]

This is like v sauces alternate personality

[@meofamily4]

"What we lost when we abandoned classical education" is the ability to make references to a very limited literary canon. Of course, what we gained is an enormous, and enormously rich, literary heritage of a wide variety of cultures, both domestic and global. Indeed, the drive to access a broader, wider, more varied cultural heritage was the primary reason for abandoning classical education. How superficial a view it is, to imagine that the greatest loss when we put classical education behind us is the inability to understand humorous references!

[@delbertclement2115]

Sounds like an argument for tradition. Perhaps, the movement away from classical education is merely a secular reformation.

[@hawks5999]

Aight, but bruh not thinking skibbidi bout what bussin books dey be reading now.

[@armandoeng]

Lol. If you think, these reference jokes are a kind of exclusivity club. So, the new elite doesnt care for what the old elite did.

[@peterdollins3610]

I think 'Guns, Germs & Steel' or Timothy Snyder's works and Einstein far more important much as I love Homer or 'The Histories' et al.

[@dreznik]

one question i do have is why is it important for us to know about julius caesar and rome which were probably ruthless empires. why is it such an imperative we lean upon that bloody, barbaric, past (honest question)

[@atillathehun4208]

Because that's how nations are built my guy, every country has a bloody, barbaric, past, and every nation will have a bloody, barbaric future, it's human nature.

[@serviustullus7204]

We don’t get a good hoity-toity joke. What a terrible shame! What a trivial argument for preserving the Classics - we can no longer laugh at inside literary allusions and appreciate Asterix comics much better. Yeah.

[@POLMAZURKA]

aND WHAT HAVE W LOST IN dANCE/ THE POLONAISE AMD MAZURKA...THEREFORE DO THEM:

[@POLMAZURKA]

FIGHT FOR EUROPEAN/ POLISH SOCIAL BALLROOM DANCES: POLONAISE AND MAZURKA ESSAYS, VIDEOS AND INSTRUCTIONS: GO TO THE INTERNET AND SEARCH FOR: ACADEMIA.EDU………..RAYMOND CWIEKA TO VIEW THE VIDEOS PASTE THE VIDEO - WORD - ESSAY TO A WORD DOCUMENT AND THEN CLICK & PRESS THE CTRL KEY ON THE VIDEO. ORIGINALLY THERE WERE SOME 47 BOOKS AND ESSAYS OF MINE.

[@Bigbopper01]

Weak argument. Alright, alright, alright. Very, nice! But did you die?! I’ll have what she’s having. This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Rosebud! There is plenty of cultural one liners that connect the masses. They come from books, movies, KZbin, TikTok etc. any the barriers to entry for TikTok is much more accessible than a New Yorker cartoon in pig latin, latin. I’m interested in the classical education idea but I’m not interested in forcing it on the masses. Calculus may be the best form of math but regular joes and Jill’s don’t need it. Would they be better off if everyone knew calculus? Debatable.

[@romanroads]

Aron, thanks for the engagement! We've had several comments to the effect of "wait...that is THE argument for classical education?" This was actually more of an insightful side comment than making THE case for classical education. It hints at the things we once held in common BECAUSE of classical education being the common education. So what we hold in common today aren't the trivialities of Latin puns (an outflow from classically educated minds), but the latest TikTok tune or movie reference. That was the trade, and that's kind of the point here. Your comment about Calculus is slightly different in my mind, though obviously related. I would compare it this way: Is it ideal that every person know the earth is round? Know the laws of gravity? Yeah, I would argue it is important to them as people who understand how the world works. I put Calculus in that category. We "survived" just fine for hundreds of years thinking the earth was flat or not understanding gravity. The average Joe is certainly not going to USE that information day-to-day. But an understanding of Calculus will affect how people understand the world around them in a similar way that understanding the rules of gravity and that the earth is round helps them understand the world. In a practical sense, non-essential. In a larger, educational sense, especially if education is the formation of human souls in virtue and wisdom, then yes, it's essential AND "useless" like most true education.

[@nietzschesghost8529]

Sure, we've lost the ability to pun in Latin, but elementary school children are now learning biology, astronomy, mathematics, and, at increasingly younger ages, computer code. Older students (middle school) are learning chemistry, physics, anatomy (complete with dissections), all in addition to learning history, literature, civics, etc. As a result, children these days have a broader knowledge of the sciences than children under the classical system ever had. And while they cannot understand the jokes and references of the past, the modern world has it owns humor that only they would be able appreciate. So when speaking of what we've lost, perhaps we should also mention what we've gained.

[@RageRabbitGames]

Unfortunately, most students seem to forget these things once they leave school. I think the most important feature (not mentioned in this video) of classical education is an emphasis on being a life long learner, and I don't believe progressive teaching has managed to achieve this. Current methods seem to try and give you enough information within 12-13 years that can serve your whole life, and anytime there seems to be a gap in education (for example civics or financial literacy), we blame schools and say "We need to teach this at high school!". I believe that students with a classical education should have the ability to learn or find out how to learn about things they do not know and have the ability to fill these gaps themselves. This video doesn't really provide a comprehensive argument, and I do think there are positives and negatives of both educative schools of thought.

[@GhostOfTazio]

These are now memes

[@NodakBro]

r/ClassicalEducation

[@mrallansisi]

Thank you, kind stranger! Idk how i never searched for this on reddit. There truly is a /r for everything! Hahaha

[@Cachoeira1986]

you have a good voice, the stuff is interesting, but for gods sake stop with "uh-uh-uh-uh-uh".... take a deep breath, think what you want to say and THEN speak calmly.... be sure, we have this extra 30 seconds.... but just stop with this interruptions.

[@kurtfrancis4621]

Lighten up, Francis...hey wait, that's my name :)

[@circlesinthenight3141]

Its sad that we lost this

[@MagnumBullets47]

We lost the capacity of getting all of those wonderful jokes... shame.

[@firstnamelastname2197]

@@MagnumBullets47lol there’s much more than that, i don’t know why he would lead with this

[@chickennuggetscoon6900]

Now the masses bond over WAP lyrics. Sad.

[@rtsesmelis]

That one, one day, might becomeva clssdic in its own right! I enjoy Thucidides, but reading the lyrics to WAP was also a revelation, be it of a different type. 🤣🤣🤣

[@PegasusFleets]

Yes.. what SHOULD our cultural base be.. now that we have a New World Order 🌎 and the first female President is Hindu 🕉 😀 ?? What IS the challenge of the public education systems with all of the United Nations nations having to agree to make progress towards the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( and Responsibilities ).. ?? 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@burninglamp3968]

So just inside jokes

[@zenondolnyckyj4325]

Of course not, but sure why not try it out. Yes (then). But what is humor. What must you understand to make a joke?... and what must you understand to make a joke that serves...?

[@NodakBro]

Lol! Pretty much what it sounded like

[@catsaresocute650]

This has to be the least persuasive case I have heared yet, that was meant to be taken seriously

[@retribution999]

We need an online Classical education school with free access.

[@roberto.8633]

The Arabs, The Indians, and the Chinese have been already been doing this today. As much as we may hate their way of life, their ability to preserve their Classical Tounges has been integral to the preservation of their culture, their thought and ways of living.

[@HH-rp7fr]

I thought this was a deeply flawed argument. Undeniably, what you said has some merit. Literary allusions from classic education abound in literature. However, simply getting the joke or allusion is a poor reason to be classically trained. I would recommend Sir Richard Livingstone’s works such as ”In Defense of a Classic Education.” This came off to me, with absolutely no offense intended, as culturally snobbish. You are clearly erudite, but knowing things and having a powerfully transformative experience through the best our species has produced are two profoundly different results.

[@vgo7089]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@mikloscsuvar6097]

1. I do not want to read the writings of an uneducated barbarian (Caius Iulius Caesar), who did not bother to read the Classics (Enuma Elish). 2. This sacrifice is not a sacifice, just simple adaptation to changing times. Other, newer authors bacame and become canon, some of the older ones are getting excluded, marginalised. 3. A Hungarian novelsit Mór Jókai is well known of his extensieve use of Latin and German expressions, therefore all his books include glossary for the readers and even a growing part of the literature teachers think, Jókai should be taken out or minimalized partially because of this archaic language useage. And this is the case here and with the movie mentioned. All those media can have supplementary material to help people to understandt deeper the opus. The HBO serises "Rome" have very good subtitles explaining the actions of the characters from Roman culture point of view. 4. Due to snobbism I started to learn Latin.

[@EndingSimple]

Welcome to TL/DR land. Mass communication, aided and abetted by computer technology (like what I am typing in now), has killed our ability to sit still and read text for longer than 15 minutes. There's too many things grabbing our eyeballs. Like youtube itself.

[@anselmbegley2514]

I recall seeing a Sid Caesar skit where Sid in a toga enters a Roman saloon ala Western & calls for a ‘Martino’. The bartender replies “Don’t you mean a Martini?” Sid answers “if I want more than you I’ll ask for it.” Sid was Jewish. Aside those raised with a Romance language, no one would get that joke today. Your loss is in no small part due, to the Catholic Church, Vatican 2, abandoning Latin in the Tridentate Mass - a tragedy. Worse still the loss of magnificent music we once sang.

[@danielfitzgerald2561]

Thanks to modern education I now have to do this myself. Starting off by using Howard Blooms somewhat incomplete list of canonical texts.

[@foucachon]

Have you seen the Old Western Culture list? romanroadspress.com/2017/11/owc-reading-list/

[@danielfitzgerald2561]

@@foucachon Thank you

[@lysanderofsparta3708]

I think you mean Harold Bloom.

[@danielfitzgerald2561]

@@lysanderofsparta3708 I do indeed

[@gargleblasta]

Worse... With current education it will be a miracle if they'd be reading Cheaper by the Dozen to begin with

[@Yesica1993]

I loved this, thank you.

[@DotDotDot0272]

Thank you. Very informative.

[@SilverGrizzly]

I had a fantastic Latin teacher in high school. I minored in the Classics at a rigorous university.

[@steveschramko2386]

While you were talking, they left the room to check their Facebook page....

[@feslerae]

Lots of negative comments, but I enjoyed the video.

[@australianbricklayer1752]

Love this bloke

[@MultiSmartass1]

A classical.education or more accurately an education in classics is not specifically relevant to the US. After all, Greek, Roman and other works are European not American .Im no nativist nor a right winger. In fact, I'm left wing. However, They are not essential to understanding American society and it's history . In Europe, the Gallic Wars and other such works might be relevant and culturally important . After all they are tied to what eventually became Europe but serve no specific cultural importance to the US. Also the classical works while worth perusing as literature admittedly are out of step in an Anerican society that is multiethnic and multiracial . These are after all works by what became Europeans by Europeans. These works have no cultural consonance to people of other ethnic and racial groups .

[@jazzstandardman]

Are the groups to whom you are referring part of the human race? If so, then they all can all receive education from the classics since these works deal with the human condition. It seems that you might want to emphasize and maintain tribalism.

[@marcobelli6856]

I’m sorry but more than half the Usa Population has is robots in Europe. Why pretend It’s Not true anymore?

[@gorgo4910]

You don’t understand why an American citizen should understand the history and culture of western civilization… You did not need to state your left wing status.

[@MultiSmartass1]

@@gorgo4910 Apparently you didn't read the comment . European Classics are not relevant to the US. That the point. It's important to Europeans clearly but that doesn't mean it should be important elsewhere. .If peoole wish to look them up and learn about them they are free to do so. I don't see any bar or impediment to individuals doing so personally. After all, there is the internet. Also the West per se specifically Europe doesn't consist of one civilization but many civilizations.Different nations, different civilizations.

[@MultiSmartass1]

@@jazzstandardman Countries value the history and literature they produce not those of other nations. Thus the emphasis in the classics of those nations not others. Also claiming that these works deal with the human condition is a fallacious point. It makes it seems as if other classics or works don't do so which is nonsense.

[@DrJohn1946]

Uh...uh....uh...

[@thatoldserpent851]

DrJohn1946 umm uhh uhh

[@goodgirlkay]

DrJohn1946 Never speak with a French native if the "uh" bothers you so much. Run far and fast if someone with a French accent ever approaches you. It is a very widespread linguistic tick in France. Even when speaking in their native tongue.

[@adamcostilla1692]

He's a good speaker, just needs to slow down some.

[@raymondfrye5017]

@@goodgirlkay Tongue? The French are still in the nasal stage; something like grunts from Cro- Magnons.

[@goodgirlkay]

It is the 21st century and education has changed. Get over it. STEM is much more important than learning a dead language, in order to get a joke in the New Yorker. Magazines and newspapers are obsolete anyway.

[@goodgirlkay]

Straight White Male living like an animal? Wtf are you on about?

[@WolfeTone66]

kay jay ...I agree with you to a certain extent. A Classical education is not necessary in today’s world, but Western Culture was founded on the subject matter. A Classical education focuses on the higher principles of Humanity & for the sake of learning, not just to go out & make a big salary. Yes, we are in the 21st Century & education has changed, but I think we, as a society are losing our souls & our morality. It’s just my opinion & I offer it respectfully..🤗

[@Silly-Little-Mama]

Classical education taught people how to think. Current education (common core) teaches people what to think. Unfortunately this video doesn’t touch on that aspect much.

[@knpstrr]

I agree in today's culture/society it is wise to get an education in order to survive economically. However, before/during/after the formal education/training, one can get an informal liberal arts "degree", on one's own time/dime, to become a more well-rounded person.

[@kurtfrancis4621]

Obviously your opinion is as shallow as your education. I state this as someone with a BS in Mechanical Engineering who wishes that his education had been one of a classical nature.