I have been facinated by this discussion. I admit that I am often a lurker here and love reading most of the threads but rarely participate.
However, I felt I just had to make two comments. First, I absolutely do not believe the majority of NA citizens value intellectualism. Maybe I am just confused about the terminology but doesn't to value something mean to hold it as a high priority in your life? I think maybe some people say they value something because it seems like it is the right thing to say.
If you say you value honesty and are not an honest person, how can you value honesty? If you say you value being generous with your money, yet you do not do what is within your power to help someone who is truely in need, do you truly value generosity?
So, to say that people value intellectualism, which I consider pursuing activities that encourage you to stretch your mind, to deeply appreciate beauty, or to learn new things just for the sake of aquiring knowledge, it would imply that those things are present in their lives as well. I can't agree that the majority of people in this country are actively pursuing knowledge for the pure love of learning.
Library lady, I wanted to agree with you about the ads that shown on T.V. I am most disgusted about the back to school ads that focus on how "cool" you will look when school starts, what clothes are the most "in" and how you will be able to fit in if you are wearing the right top. Why are there no ads about how you will have the opportunity to learn new things, or think in new ways? I know ads are meant to sell products, but they have public service ads all the time. Why don't they have more public service announcements encouraging kids to be excited for school to start simply for the joy of learning? Maybe because that isn't what public school education is about for most people? Just a guess.
I was a public school teacher for five years. I will never, ever, ever, go back to that job. My last year I worked with kids who we put in my remedial reading class. When I asked them what they wanted to learn more about, they each said nothing. I was shocked. Not even about a sports hero, a music star, nothing. No, nothing, they said. I had to work so hard to convince them of even wanting to go into more depth in the things they were interested in. I was so proud at the end of the year when my kids asked me to watch a version of Romeo and Juliet. I had left a very poorly done watered down script version of the play lying around, and they read it out loud. I mentioned it was in movie form and they asked to see it. I showed them the Leonardo DiCaprio version. It is faithful to the language of the play and would have someone in it that was familiar to them. They loved it and asked so many questions. I happened to be observed that day. I was later questioned as to why I would show the students a movie that had bad language. Um, hello, have you ever read Romeo and Juliet? It's the same language that was in the move. The administrator felt the movie had too much violence in it. Um, again, have you ever read the play? Do you or do you not want kids to read Shakespeare? She literally told me I was not needed at the school and would have been let go if I had not already resigned because I was pregnant with my twins. Those kids left my class caring more about reading that year (because I allowed them to read whatever they wanted, not just books that were supposedly at "their level." Yep, that's right. IF the kid tested at a third grade reading level in eighth grade and we found them even attempting to read a nineth grade level book even if it interested them, we weren't supposed to allow it).