No one knows what socialism or fascism is, so I spend time writing up digestible definitions. No one knows what Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" is, and I supply it because it's impossible to understand the theme of the novel without a basic knowledge of that work--which used to be required reading a few generations ago.
*********
The Plato reference brings a memory to the surface which illustrates Bohne's point.
....
Several years ago I went out on a date with a young woman attending the Univ. of Pennsylvania.
An Ivy as you know; perhaps not the most worshipped of that strata but well regarded nonetheless.
It was a good date, she was bright and sexy. The immediate future looked luminous with possibility.
At one point, while we were looking at the bright moon she asked me a question, I don't remember what. But I do remember that my reply included a reference to Plato's cave allegory.
"Who?" She asked.
"Plato" I said, thinking that she simply didn't hear me properly (or was joking) cause how could she be at U. Penn and not know at least a little about Plato. Unthinkable.
"Who was that?" She asked.
An anamoly I thought. Somehow she got through a private school system and into an ivy without being told about Plato.
Later, I met her friends and learned she wasn't alone.
What else, I wondered, do these folks not know?
And if this depth of un-knowledge could be found here, what was it like at less elevated institutions?
DRM
__________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com