Decline of High Culture
Submitted by Wayne on Tue, 2008-09-16 13:28.
Ballet
Granted, my perception is not typical, I'm sure, but it sure seems to me that high culture (for lack of a better term) is declining. Theater, art, ballet, literature, etc., all seem to be suffering more now than a few years ago--suffering from apathy or disinterest. I believe it's largely due to an overall decline in our civilization, fueled by ignorance and a piss-poor education system. What do you think?
With homeschooling on the rise, will high culture experience a resurgence of popularity? I wonder if homeschooling will be effectively destroyed before this happens. Of course, how few homeschoolers actually subscribe to a classical method, a style of education more prone to developing an appreciation and participation in high culture (in my opinion anyway)? As much as we may try to swim against the current, I think our culture is being destroyed, and high culture is going down with the ship.
What do you think about my observations and my hypothetical explanation? Is my perception skewed from reality? Even if my perceptions are reasonably accurate, is my explanation way off base? If both are reasonable, what might be the next level of causation?
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Need a cultural renaissance
I agree. Children who can name all of the finalists on "American Idol" but can't name the current president are evidence to your argument.
I'm not sure why there are few homeschoolers who train under a classical method, but I can only guess that there are many of us who are just starting out. As a "newbie" I'm trying to gauge learning styles, scheduling differences and making sure I do what the government requires. (yuck) Perhaps in a few years we will transition to a classical method. Because of what we're currently using, I can see how it would be easy to ignore high culture in our education. By supplementing our curriculum with Artios, our child is actually being taught the fundamentals of high culture. I know there are other fine arts programs that do the same thing, and therefore I tend to believe that homeschooling actually holds out some hope that high culture will not die in our society but will experience a renaissance of its own (if the gov't doesn't kill homeschooling first).
Want to see some "high culture" in action? Then come see some plays being put on by Artios, Oct. 9 - 11. I'll put the details in another post if anyone's interested.