(OR: Millenniums are dumbing down.)
Many have worried for some time that sufficiently educated millenniums are dumbing down. Wisdom is being lost. Just recently Rooster told a young man and women, in their 20s, that a certain place was like Shangri-La. They simply looked at him, waiting for an explanation. They had no idea what the word meant. Rooster then did a small poll of some other millenniums and found only one of 10 had any idea what the word Shangri-La meant. The pity is Shangri-La is lost.
To quickly get you all aboard this thought train, or train of thought, Shangri-La is a fictional place of great magic and wonder where age was not a factor and life was good. It was coined by a man named Hilton in his book, “ Lost Horizon”. Since his book, from the 30s, the word has been used and understood…. until now. The Millenniums have lost it. Not because someone took it or hide it. It is because they do not read.
The reasons are several. One is the liberal methods of education. Yes, that same bunch who decided cursive writing was not to be taught. That is just part of the answer. The primary reason is the false god of electronics. Today’s young people do not read, books, magazines, newspapers etc. They devote their time to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and watch movies and gather together to laugh and joke about the Academy Awards. They actually believe racial prejudice closes black actors out, while they watched a black moderator in a country lead by a black president. They may visit news sources like CNN or FOX or collectors like Reddit. What they get are headlines and by-lines. Since these two words are from news- papers the Millennium isn’t really sure what you mean when you say, “By-line”. If they have some particular project they go to their search engine on their software of choice and read that. If they have an interest in some particular project they have the skills to use electronics to work on the problem. What they have lost by not reading is the horizon, and the historical knowledge it takes to view it. It is wisdom.
Recently Rooster received a note from his paper delivery man. This man thanked Rooster for taking two papers. He lamented that in his 30 years of delivering papers there has been a 50 percent drop in subscriptions. The young do not read news papers. As the population ages wisdom is being lost. Newspapers, regardless of their political bent, must fill space and most of the news is printed someplace in it. Rooster’s reading habits have him looking for the little articles and relating them to the rest of the news. There is a treasure trove of information in the 4 corners (if you understand) of a paper. The broader the read the more wisdom you obtain. The more books you read the greater in depth your thinking. There is a strange and good correlation between reading and thinking. Watching and thinking, is a very poor substitute.
There will come a time, assuming civilization lasts that long, that the young will crave to read again and again and again. Why? Because out of their ash heap they will seek wisdom as the only solution to free themselves from the restraints they have allowed. Had they wisdom they would not allow it to happen in the first place.

PROTEST: Fly the Betsy Ross flag. It is the one flag where all the States supported the Constitution.
Wc: 569
Rooster Bradford gives up all rights to this article and seeks no compensation for its use. 2016