A few months ago i learned from the CIA world fact book that there are 270 million americans. rewind that. most "debates" you hear between two people are monolouges of cliches with no facts whatsoever. Its very useful to know even one simple number, 270 million. If a petition signature collector says to you "15 million people have capal tunnel syndrome" you kind of know what percentage of the population that is. Or if you hear "Making $250k/year puts you in the top ten percent bracket", you know about how many people that is.

In order to resemble a well-rounded, learned man, there are things that one should be able to say. For instance, say one interesting thing about each century from 0 AD to the present. Define and give an example of each of the major forms of government.

So i got a book on world history from the library, just generic world history. The first name used in the first story of known recorded history is the epic of gilgamesh, which is the story of a man who builds an ark to avoid flooding sent by the gods to wipe out humanity. Civilization started in the Arabian peninsula ("the fertile cressent") which contained the land known as mesopotamia. Hammurabi became ruler around 1792BC. He became famous for putting into stone a code of laws which were set up in the courtyard of temples for people to consult. "...dealing comprehesively with a wide range of questions: wages, divorce, fees for medical attention, and many other matters. The family, land, and commerce seem to be the main concerns of this compilation of rules.... (quote)Let the oppressed man who has a cause come into the presence of my staue and read carefully my inscribed stele (stone tower of laws)(end quote)". Any group of problems that have existed since the bablyonian age can be considered part of the human condition.

oh what really gets me is the budget. how on earth can people arge about the cost of when they have no idea how much the government makes or spends in a year. No idea. Its ludicrous to even try. Plus you have to add an understanding of economics - the fact that governments can print their own money.

In the early part of america, the government was completely funded by tarrifs on imports and exports. Of course back then we didnt have a national highway system, a fleet of a couple dozen aircraft carriers, social security, etc. When did this income tax come into effect and whose idea was it?

a lot of this thinking is due to the influence of darrin eden.