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The terrible state of public education has paid huge dividends in ignorance. Huge. We now have a country that can be told blatant lies - easily checkable, blatant lies - and I'm not talking about the covert workings of the CIA. When we have a terrorist attack, on September 11, 2001 with 19 men - 15 of them are Saudis - and five minutes later the whole country thinks they're from Iraq - how can you have faith in the public? This is an easily checkable fact. The whole country is like the O.J. Simpson jurors.

Fran Lebowitz#7

EducationFactsIgnorancePublicPublic opinion

About this quote

What does it mean?
Poor education leads to widespread ignorance, making people easily misled by false information. The speaker cites public confusion after 9/11 as evidence.
In plain terms
Bad schools create a confused and easily misled public.
What can you take from it?
Education failure leads to public ignorance.

Where it applies

  • politics
  • media
  • public knowledge

Putting it to work

  • educational reform
  • critical thinking

Questions to consider

  • How much does education impact public understanding of current events?

Another view

Poor education makes the public vulnerable to misinformation.

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