2023 The American Inferiority Complex

 The American Inferiority Complex

Steven B. Zwickel

December, 2023

Why did Colonial Americans feel inferior to Europeans? Do Americans still feel this way? There is no single answer to these questions, but several factors contributed to the American mindset. 

① We are a Nation of Mutts1

Unlike European countries, the United States is a diverse country, racially, and ethnically. 

In the 17th century, the principal component of the population in the colonies was from England and the second largest group was of African heritage, almost entirely slaves. 

During the 18th century, large numbers of German and Scots-Irish immigrants arrived.2 Many of the early Irish immigrants were of Scottish or English descent and came from the northern Ireland province of Ulster. Pushed out of Ireland by religious conflicts, lack of political autonomy, and dire economic conditions, these immigrants, who were often called "Scots-Irish," were pulled to America by the promise of land ownership and greater religious freedom. Many of the Scots-Irish immigrants were educated, skilled workers. Even those who financed their emigration by becoming indentured servants were well equipped to lead successful, independent lives when their period of servitude ended.

Other important contributions to the colonial ethnic mix were made by the Netherlands, Scotland, and France. 

New England was almost entirely English and the English were the most numerous of the settlers of European origin in the southern colonies. In the middle colonies the population was mixed, but even Pennsylvania had more English than German settlers. 

Except in Dutch and German enclaves, English language was used everywhere, and English culture prevailed. The “melting pot”3 began to “boil” in the colonial period, so effectively that Gov. William Livingston, who was ¾ Dutch and ¼ Scottish, described himself as an Anglo-Saxon. 

As the other elements mingled with the English, they became increasingly like them; however, all tended to become different from the inhabitants of “the old country.” By 1763, the word “American” was commonly used on both sides of the Atlantic to designate the people of the 13 colonies.4

Six races are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes: 

• Alaska Native and American Indian, 
• Asian, 
• Black or African American, 
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 
• White, and 
• People of two or more races.

To Europeans, Americans appear to be mutts. Up until very recently, many Americans also saw themselves as somehow inferior to the “pure-bred” Europeans. In fact, it has only been in the past five decades that Americans have started to feel proud about their mixed heritage, often adding a hyphen to show where their ancestors came from. Thus we have Italian-Americans, Greek-Americans, etc.

A 2022 research study concluded that “…mixed heritage individuals who were motivated to assert their ancestry claims did so for two main reasons: First, by claiming a specific ancestry (or ancestries), participants wished to assert a more individualistic sense of self than was typically allowed, given their racial treatment based upon their racial appearance; this could be especially meaningful if those individuals felt a mismatch between their racial assignment by others and their sense of self. Second, a claim to a specific ancestry was a way for individuals to forge connections with family, relatives, or an ancestry group that had not existed before. Overall, while most of our mixed heritage participants reported details of their European ancestries, it was their Black, American Indian, or Asian ancestries that were deemed to be most salient and/or meaningful to who they were.”5

② Bottom of the Barrel

While many of those who emigrated to America came for religious freedom and economic opportunity, ⅓ to ½ of the Europeans in Colonial Era America came as indentured servants, apprentices, or convicts.6 Thus, many immigrants were from the lower classes at a time when Europeans still had very strict boundaries between social classes.

• Indentured Servants7

Indentured Servants signed contracts to work for a master in the colonies for a specified number of years or until the servant reached a certain age. Other than the cost of traveling to America, indentured servants were not paid, but were guaranteed food, shelter, clothing and shoes as long as they worked. 

Approximately 300,000 European workers immigrated to the American colonies in the 1600s as indentured servants, and indentured servitude continued throughout much of the 1700s. 

Indentured servitude in the U.S. began in the early 1600s in Virginia, not long after the settlement of Jamestown. Many early American settlers sought cheap labor to help manage their large estates and farms, and commonly agreed to fund the passage of European immigrants to Virginia in exchange for their labor. 

Some people indentured themselves in order to gain passage to America or to escape debt and poverty. Others, including convicts, were sold into indenture upon arrival. Indentures were used for apprenticeship agreements as well as for service agreements.

Indentured servants could be sold, loaned, or inherited, at least during the duration of their contract terms. Today, indentured servitude is illegal in the United States and most other countries.8 

For many Americans, having an ancestor who was a servant—a class just above laborer—was an embarrassment.

• Apprentices

Apprentices made a contract to work for a skilled person—a master—for a particular period of time (and often for no or low payment), in order to learn that person's skills or to learn a trade from him. The master would feed, clothe and instruct the apprentice in the trade, and the apprentice would provide labor and watch out for his master's interests. At the end of his apprenticeship, the young person received clothes, tools, and became a journeyman who could work for himself.

As part of the contract, an apprentice agreed to keep trade secrets, obtain his master’s permission before leaving the premises, and abstain from vices such as frequenting taverns and the theater. The contract also listed the obligations of the master craftsman to his apprentice. Masters provided basic education (reading, writing, and arithmetic), training in the craft, room and board, and sometimes a set of tools or clothes on completion of the apprenticeship.

Having an apprentice among one’s ancestors was not quite as embarrassing as having a servant.

• Transported Convicts

Those who were convicted of felonies sometimes escaped a sentence of death when they were sentenced to transportation to the Americas. This solved two problems for the government: it provided a much-needed workforce for the colonies, and it got criminals out of the prisons and off the streets. England transported an estimated 50,000 to 120,000 convicts and political prisoners, as well as prisoners of war from Scotland and Ireland, to its overseas colonies in the Americas from the 1610s until the American Revolution began in 1776, when transportation to America was temporarily suspended.9 

England was not the only government that transported criminals to the Americas. Sweden sent political prisoners to New Sweden, now called Delaware; the Dutch sent vagrants and criminals to New York; and the French also transported criminals to New France. England sent vanquished political foes from Scotland and Ireland. The mayors of London and Liverpool regularly gathered up urchins from the streets of their cities to be sent to America and sold into indentured servitude.

Convicts who had been sold into indentured servitude, and who were making good in their new lives, were sometimes politely referred to as "servants" to avoid stigma.10

So many Americans have ancestors who were indentured servants, apprentices, or convicts—all members of the lowest classes in Europe—that it is not surprising that, for many, many years, Americans were deeply ashamed of their family origins.

③ If it’s European, It’s Better

For centuries Americans have been convinced that European culture and society are superior to theirs. Thus, the Europeans had enormous influence in many important areas. Examples include: In science, the most important research papers were written in German, in the fashion world, the language and sensibility came from France, and in the field of music, everything from notation to opera libretti were written in Italian.

German

• German was the primary language for scientific communication for most of the 19th and early 20th centuries. This predominance stemmed from a confluence of factors. German universities held a high reputation for academic excellence, attracting renowned scholars and fostering groundbreaking research. 

German scientists made substantial contributions to various fields, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, and medicine. As a result, German became the lingua franca of scientific discourse, with scholars from other nations often translating their work into German to reach a wider audience.11

French

• French has long been considered the language of fashion. France played a pivotal role in shaping the fashion industry, and during the reign of King Louis XIV, France became the epicenter of fashion, with its royal court setting trends for the rest of Europe. French designers and couturiers were highly sought after, and their creations were admired for their elegance, sophistication, and craftsmanship. French is often associated with luxury, refinement, and good taste. 

Even today, the use of French terminology in the fashion industry further reinforces this connection. Many fashion terms, such as haute couture, prêt-à-porter, lingerie, atelier, and défilé de mode, have French origins. These terms are widely used in the fashion industry, contributing to the language's dominance in the field. Paris hosts major fashion events like Paris Fashion Week, which attracts designers, buyers, and media from around the globe.

English has become more prevalent in the fashion industry due to globalization, but French remains influential.12

Italian

• Italian became the dominant language of music in Europe during the Renaissance, which flourished first in Italy, and it continues to be so today. Wealthy Italian patrons supported musicians, which attracted talented composers and performers from across Europe to Italy, leading to the development of opera and other musical forms. 

Musical notation began in Italy when an Italian monk created the system of a staff and clefs to represent pitches, still used today and that makes it easier for musicians to communicate and share their work. 

Italian language, a direct descendant of Latin, was widely spoken in Europe during the Renaissance, and was considered a language of refinement and culture. Italian is rich in expressive vocabulary and well-suited to describing the nuances of musical expression. Terms like “piano" (soft), “forte" (loud), “adagio” (slow), and “allegro” (fast) are all Italian words. Mozart, an Austrian, had his opera libretti written in Italian. Other operas by Puccini, Verdi, Monteverdi and others were all written to be sung in Italian.

Americans, given a choice, prefer classical music from Europe over works composed by an American.13

• It’s British, so it’s even Better!

So many colonial Americans were of English ancestry that it is not surprising that English language, culture, and social structure became the norm. In fact, England, and everything English was idealized by many of the colonists. Many colonial Americans were of British descent and shared a common language, religion, and cultural traditions with the British. They admired British society and aspired to achieve the same level of wealth, status, and refinement.

The colonial period corresponded to the rise of a new social class—families that got rich from trade and manufacturing. These newly wealthy Englishmen spent their money on lavish symbols to display their affluence such as huge country homes filled with art, antiques, and curiosities surrounded by enormous lawns and decorative gardens. They wore the latest high-fashion clothing, kept up on the most recent English slang and read the newest best-selling books. They sent their sons to the best schools—like Eton and Harrow—and then to the best universities—such as Cambridge and Oxford. Their oldest sons, who inherited all their wealth, became gentlemen who went fox hunting and married into the aristocracy. 

Younger sons, who inherited nothing could buy an officer’s commission and join the English Army, where they wore a gorgeous uniform (paid for by themselves) and rode fine chargers (also paid for by themselves), and ate in the elegant Officers’ Mess (food and drink they paid for themselves).

Colonists were obsessed with keeping up with the English and eagerly awaited the latest news from London14. This powerful desire for news and an increase in literacy led to the creation of printing shops throughout the colonies15. Americans were so enthralled with the upper-class English accent that it became standard in the middle colonies. When moving pictures began using sound, the studios considered the English accent the ideal; many Americans continue to be impressed by British upper-class “plummy” pronunciation.

Colonial men, like George Washington, wanted to dress like English gentlemen and copied English fashions. Washington also modeled his plantation at Mount Vernon after English estates. For most of his life, Washington longed to be an “English Gentleman”. His older brothers were sent to school in England, but George’s father died and there was no money for George to go. He joined the army hoping that the uniform would make the English officers accept him. They continued to treat him like an inferior “colonial”. Washington seethed, but eventually he got his revenge.

When the English began drinking tea16, the Americans followed suit and were soon hooked on it. High taxes on tea meant that social tea drinking could only be afforded by the wealthier classes and a cup of tea became an activity associated with luxury.17

Distance and time made a difference as colonists found themselves having to be more self-reliant and creative to solve their unique problems. Over time, the colonies became less English and more American—distinct in values, attitudes, and ideas from the mother country. And they stopped drinking tea and switched to coffee.

• Americans think Europeans look down on Americans

Europeans and Americans have different cultures and values. Europeans tend to place a higher emphasis on social welfare, healthcare, and education, while Americans often prioritize individual freedom and entrepreneurship. These cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations. 

Americans are embarrassed by the way Europeans perceive us. We accept their stereotypes as examples of how “uncivilized” we are: 

Americans… 

• …eat everything with ketchup
• …tear down relatively new buildings instead of respecting them
• …are obsessed with material wealth
• …don’t really know how to appreciate fine arts
• …are always in a rush
• …have no sense of history
• …are loud, talkative, and even arrogant.18

④ Perceptions Matter

Historically, Americans, if they were mentioned at all, were portrayed in European books and plays as unsophisticated country bumpkins. That contributed to the sense of inferiority. Nowadays, portrayals of Americans in the media seem to stress violence and disfunction, which play into the stereotypes of American inferiority.

At present, we hear about American exceptionalism19—the belief that the United States is either distinctive, unique, or exemplary compared to other nations. The phrase has its supporters and opponents. To some it reinforces America as a bastion of democracy, a nation of energetic, intelligent, compassionate people who try to do what is right. To others it smacks of chauvinism and blind loyalty to a country that has made mistakes. 

The lesson from all of this is that how we see ourselves—how we value ourselves and how we feel about our culture—is important. 

2023 Living in a State of Denial

 🍺 Living in a State of Denial

October, 2023 

Steven B. Zwickel

I am not a teetotaller. I drink alcoholic beverages, but I don’t drink much and a 6-pack of beer can last me a year. I am not opposed to drinking alcohol, but I didn’t grow up in a time and place where I encountered a lot of people who drank. We had no neighborhood tavern and my parents drank very little. We had wine at holidays and when we traveled in Europe, but that was about it. In fact, 40 years after the event,  I still had some bottles of liquor my parents bought for my Bar Mitzvah in 1962.

         When I went off to college, I didn’t make friends with drinkers and I was not in a frat or club, so, even though the legal age for alcohol was 18,  my drinking in college was minimal. {Confession: one night I was coaxed into going out for pizza and beer and I over-indulged. I got sick and after that I never got intoxicated.}

        Years later, I moved from New York to Wisconsin and entered a new world. I was a grad student, I made friends, and I was invited to grad student parties. The invitation almost always included this note, “Bring a 6-pack.” I was introduced to the world of Wisconsin beers—hundreds of brands and everyone I met seemed to be an expert. It made me uncomfortable, but when I asked another grad student why they only seemed to have alcoholic beverages, she told me, “Soda pop is too sweet.” And that seemed to settle the matter. Not wanting to be seen as a party pooper, I dropped the subject.

For two years I took the required courses and seminars in School of Social Work and I also took some electives in my chosen area of study—marriage and the family.  In what I now realize was a major failure, the school did not require any courses related to alcohol use. I realized later on that this gap in my knowledge left me quite unprepared to work in Wisconsin.

I got a job working as a social worker and living in rural Wisconsin. My cases involved children who were having difficulties at home, at school, and, in some cases, with the law.

Patterns Appear

After a few months in a rural county social services agency, I started to notice patterns. Every case seemed to involve a drinker or family member. I took an in-service training course on working with Adult Children of Alcoholics 1.

 I learned a bit about how families of alcoholics function (more accurately how they fail to function) and began asking questions. I polled the other social workers: how much of your caseload involves alcohol? And I was shocked by the answers. Most said three-quarters and a few said ninety percent. 

Startled by these answers, I asked other people who worked with my social services agency. When I asked two people in local law enforcement, they said, “If we got rid of alcohol, we could get rid of most cops; close most of the courts and the jails. We’d be out of a job.” The law enforcement people joked about how, whenever they stopped a driver and asked if he’d been drinking, the answer was usually, “just a couple of beers.” Apparently this was supposed to make it clear that he wasn’t really driving drunk.

I was talking to a local firefighter one day and asked him about alcohol and fires. His response, “About 95% of our calls are related to alcohol use.”

But, for the most part, the people I talked to about drinking in Wisconsin denied that it was a problem. “Everybody drinks” “Not really a problem” “I can take it or leave it” “It’s the same as everywhere else; no worse.”

I soon realized that every social and sporting event involved alcohol. People talked about “going drinking” is an acceptable activity. One of the social workers at my agency told me he used screening questions to identify alcoholics: “Ever go ice fishing?” followed by “Ever catch anything?” 

It was the same with local bowling alleys. A few people went there to bowl, but the rest were there to drink.

I heard more explanations and more ways of excusing misbehavior: “I don’t drink; just a couple of shots at bedtime to help me sleep” and “It’s not really his fault (what he did). He’d had too much to drink, is all.”

I was assured that people weren’t alcoholics because:

• They weren’t falling down drunk

• They could still hold down a job

• They only drank on weekends

I heard a slew of euphemisms: just had a few for my nerves, stopped on the way home, social drinker,  never gets really loaded. No one, it seemed, was ever called a drunk.

I learned that when a person was described as charming, it meant he was an alcoholic. I discovered some people were binge drinkers 2 and others, like a man I once worked with, took in alcohol one sip at a time all through the day. And I understood that many people (especially young people) I met felt social pressure; they must either drink or be considered anti-social, a snob, or some kind of an oddball.

I was curious to see what would happen if I tried adding information about alcohol abuse to some of the adult ed classes I was teaching. The result was immediate pushback; some people dropped out, and I heard more evidence of denial. Again, I was assured that drinking in Wisconsin wasn’t really that bad. I was told, “You’re not from here, so you don’t really understand.”

Drinking in Wisconsin: the facts

I had to find out for myself if Wisconsin is really so different from other states when it comes to drinking alcohol. So, I did a little research3 :

• Health care providers consider Wisconsin one of the worst places in the country for alcohol use. “Excessive alcohol use is a significant threat to the health, safety, and prosperity of Wisconsin’s residents. Unfortunately, every county in Wisconsin has high rates of excessive alcohol use” 4
• Binge drinking here is  a major problem. “Wisconsin not only has a higher proportion of people who drink compared to other states; it also has more people who drink ‘an incredible amount…’ ” 
• The alcohol industry is so powerful in Wisconsin that the state legislature is unable to pass any laws that might impact the Tavern League6 or the alcohol industry7. They are also deeply in denial. Recently some Republican lawmakers — Rep. John Plumer and Sen. Cory Tomczyk introduced a resolution to make the brandy Old-Fashioned Wisconsin's “Official state cocktail,” because, they argued, Wisconsin accounts for over half of Korbel's annual brandy sales in the United States — 150,000 cases in 2019 alone.8
• Driving Under the Influence (DUI): The punishments in this state for driving drunk are fairly lenient9. Many people in Wisconsin have multiple drunk driving convictions, including “a 74-year-old Green Bay native by the name of Wallace C. Bowers holds the record for most DUIs in Wisconsin, racking up his 18^th OWI conviction on January 8^th, 2021”10 The average jail sentence for a second offense DUI in Wisconsin is approximately 45 days in jail, more or less. It takes four offenses before it becomes a felony.

Life in a State of Denial

I like living in Wisconsin. It’s a beautiful place and the people, for the most part, are kind and polite. But I pay a price for living here.

• It is scary to be driving here, especially on weekend evenings. The roads feel dangerous when you know many drivers may have been drinking.11
• Bar fights downtown Madison and everywhere. That’s all related to alcohol and, sometimes, drugs.
• Failure of education. If you look at the course offerings in the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Social Work12 you will find a single elective class that deals with alcohol: “SOC WORK 453 — Substance Use Disorders [3 credits]. Presentation of social, historical, legal, political, and ethical considerations surrounding the use and abuse of alcohol and psychotropic drugs in the U.S.” That’s all. The School of Social Work let me down and is letting the state of Wisconsin down. The people who are supposed to be working with a population full of alcohol problems don’t know what alcohol does to individuals and families and how it affects all of us.

What I Learned About Alcohol Use and Abuse 13

Here is some of what I learned about alcohol abuse, which is officially called “alcohol use disorder”14 

• Alcoholics use more sick time, more healthcare, more hospital time, more court time than the rest of the population. According to a “report based on death registry data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol-induced deaths increased 25% in Wisconsin, the greatest jump in almost two decades, in 2020. Starting that June, alcohol-related deaths began rising in two categories: acute deaths (such as acute alcoholic hepatitis or car accidents) or chronic ones (the long-term impact of excessive alcohol use, like cirrhosis). In 2020, Wisconsinites died from alcohol-induced causes at a rate nearly 25% higher than the national rate. The rate tripled from 6.7 to 18.5 per 100,000 from 1999 to 2020.” 15
• Alcoholics only care about getting the next drink. They will do anything they can to get to that next dose of their drug of choice. That includes lying, cheating, and making up excuses to eliminate obstacles between them and the next drink. If necessary, they will control family members with angry outbursts that justify going out to get a drink. Family members are intimidated and afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. But it is just a way of giving the alcoholic an excuse to get mad, slam the door, and go drinking. 
• Anger and stress (and just about anything else) are used by alcoholics to justify drinking. They like celebrations, holidays, and anything else that “calls for a drink” 
• Alcoholics like to have company when they drink; it makes them feel less guilty. Thus, alcoholics’ spouses are often drinkers or they are enablers (people who make it possible for the alcoholic to drink). 
• And, alcoholics lie. They lie about anything related to their drinking, including how much they drink, how often they drink, how drinking affects them and the people around them, and the impact of alcohol on their bodies. They lie so much that the helping professionals who work with them become cynical, skeptical, and exhausted trying to determine what is true and what is a fabrication.
• That is why, after a decade of practicing social work, I got burned out and left the profession.

2023 Aging Gracefully

Aging Gracefully

2023, Steven B. Zwickel

Coping with Losses

What I have learned about growing older is the importance of dealing with losses. As you get older, you lose people, places, material things, and the groups and associations you once belonged to you.

💔 No question that these losses can be painful. It hurts to lose relatives, friends, co-workers, schoolmates, and others, some more than others. The closer you are—or were—to someone, the more it will hurt. A “Broken Heart” is more than a metaphor; losing someone you really care about can cause physical pain as well as deep sadness.

There are no rules for how to grieve a loss. It will be different, and take differing amounts of time, for everyone. I think it is extremely important to remember this, because I have heard about people saying things like, “Are you still dealing with that?” and “That’s all ancient history, so get over it.” Don’t let anyone tell you to “Snap out of it” or to rush you when you are dealing with the emptiness of a personal loss.

I am old enough now to remember when computers were actually used for computing, so I feel comfortable offering my opinion about what it means to age gracefully. I think people who find a way to come to grips with the many losses in their lives are the ones who are able to make the most of their years. And those who can’t find a way to accept their losses, who obsess about the past and fret about what might have been do not do as well.

I am not sure if there is such a thing as “aging gracefully” but I think it is worth trying to find a way to accept the “slings and arrows” that life is sure to throw your way. It helps, of course, if you have done your best to be a kind, considerate person. You will have much less to regret as you get older. 

The pain may never go away and it will hurt more when you lose the people with whom you had the closest relationships. But remember that you would not have had those relationships had you not been worthy of other people’s love and respect. 

Nostalgia or Delusion?

To continue with my theme of how people deal with the losses in their lives, I will turn to how some Americans deal with the loss of their connections to their ancestral homes.

America is a “nation of immigrants” we are told and there is lots of evidence that many people here feel some kind of connection to the “old country”, wherever that was. As I studied the history of different immigrant groups (in 2020) I came across many examples of this longing for the people, places, and customs that immigrants to America left behind. Irish-Americans long for the Auld Sod, descendents of Italian immigrants want to “return to Sorrento”, Mexicans sing “Canción Mixteca”, Scots have “Caledonia”  etc. 1

It’s not just people who are descended from European immigrants. Recently I had the opportunity to see a reading of a wonderful play, “The Barber and the Unknown Prince” by Gavin Dillon Lawrence. The characters in the play are mourning the impending loss of their Black neighborhood in Washington, DC. They talk a lot about how much they miss the sights, sounds, and smells that they are losing to gentrification.

All of these yearnings for there and then  seem to be based on some idealized notion that things were “better” in a different place and time.2 To some degree, they are right. Once upon a time they were part of a homogenous group living in a place where life was (mostly) predictable and, for the most part, people felt comfortable. 

Like anyone who claims to miss the good old days, they are sure things were so much better then. 

Are they remembering the way it  really was or are they idealizing it and deluding themselves? 

Is it merely nostalgia or are they struggling to cope with what must be an enormous loss—the loss of one’s childhood home, or the loss of a long-gone way of life, or perhaps the loss of the people who were part of their lives back there?

Letting Go

What I have tried to show in this short reflection is that those who keep such a tight grasp on the past are missing whatever joy they might get from living in the present. 

Romanticizing life in the old country, or in the past in this country, is an exercise in futility. Let the past be the past. 

Remember the good things and cherish your heritage, but embrace the world we live in now. After all, it’s the only one we’ve got.

_________________________________________________________

1  I used to think the Yiddish song “Rumania, Rumania'' [Music & lyrics by Aaron Lebedeff (1873–1960)] was nostalgic, but I have been told that it is actually a biting satire implying how awful things were there for the Jews.

2 A lot depends on your definition of “better.” For those with wealth and power, the good old days were probably great. For the majority, especially those who chose to emigrate to America, not so much. In fact, all the evidence, regardless of where ones ancestors came from, says that, in the days before people understood sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition, life was terrible. Infant and child mortality before the advent of modern medicine was unbelievably high. Epidemics and pandemics wiped out entire villages and families. The wars and revolutions that swept across Europe, Asia, and Africa were devastating. Millions of people were enslaved or were serfs—tied to the land and unable to marry, move, sell property, or even change jobs without permission. Famine and starvation followed wars. 

2023 What They Need to Know

 What They Need to Know

Steven B. Zwickel

May, 2023

What should education prepare students for?

Time was that teaching children the 3 R’s—reading, writing, and arithmetic was enough to get them through life. That was over 200 years ago, when all one really needed to know was how to raise crops and care for animals.1

With the industrial revolution, people were needed in factories, on the railroads and steamships, and on farms who understood how machines work. The three Rs weren’t enough and school systems added new subjects and expanded others to meet what they saw as the students’ needs.

People, many of them new immigrants, moved to crowded cities and school systems started teaching more about nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation.

1894 Mansfield, Ohio grade school report card. Students were graded on Arithmetic, Geography, Language, Spelling, Reading, Writing, Drawing, Music, Physical Education, and German.

The twentieth century brought more technology, new and faster forms of communication and transportation, and an international economy. The schools tried to offer more content to help students cope with a changing world.2

In the post-WWII world, consumers bought new appliances and automobiles, all of which needed people who could build, fix, and maintain them. 

In just the past few years, computers have shrunk and moved out of science labs and accounting offices to where they are now part of ordinary people’s lives. The spread of computers increased the need for people who understand how they work.

Today, however, it just isn’t enough to know the 3Rs. Our schools must do a much bigger job of preparing people for the future.

What would you add?

Does everyone need to learn the same thing? Probably not, even if we could agree on what should be in that curriculum. Here are some examples of things that would improve the way young people manage their lives. You can probably think of some others.

Civics/History 

This used to be a big part of every American child’s education, but we couldn’t agree on what exactly we want our children to know, so the topic has been watered down or eliminated. Understanding the importance of engaging in the democratic process and taking the time to really understand the issues (rather than relying on ignorant “influencers” should be part of everyone’s education. Reading up on issues is boring. So what? Superficial knowledge is much worse. People need to learn how to do research online that will produce competent, accurate information.

Geography/Earth Science

The weather forecast isn’t perfect, but if you don’t know the science behind climate and weather, how can you understand the impacts of global warming? If you don’t know where countries are on the earth, how can you understand where your food, your phone, or your bicycle came from? How can you understand a pandemic? Where do old clothes and phones end up? What kinds of things can people do that will really help the environment?

Biology

Everything, from how DNA works to theories of modern medicine and its limitations, needs to be taught. How small is a virus? Everyone needs to understand pregnancy, fertility, and gestation.3 They need to know about how drugs, alcohol, and tobacco affect the body. They should also have a much better understanding of aging and what happens to people as their bodies get older. Good biology life lessons also include recognizing and responding to mold, insect, and rodent infestations in one’s home. And, of course, everyone should know what to do if they encounter a wild animal.4

Economics/banking/debt

Financial literacy matters. Understanding how decisions by Americans about buying and selling affect people in other parts of the world makes people smarter consumers. Why are people shocked when they discover how much child-care costs? How can people decide if higher education is worth the money? How and why do you save for retirement? How much should you save and where should you save or invest your money? How does insurance work? When should someone pay for insurance? What is a credit score and how does it affect people? What is bankruptcy and how does it work? What are a tenant’s rights and responsibilities when he or she signs a lease?

Math/probability and statistics

Twelve out of nine doctors recommend taking a statistics course. People need to be able to read and understand opinion polls. 5

They need to avoid being deceived by the phony statistics advertisers use. Everyone should understand that you can’t give 110%. Having a .02% chance of getting sick does not mean you will fall ill. How do you understand the “ratings” on a website? What is a 100-year flood?

Law and the Political Process

Understanding the legal system takes more than watching “Law & Order.” What rights does the US Constitution NOT protect? What is meant by Due Process?Who really runs the government? How does Congress operate? What are the different types of taxes? What do judges do and how do they do it? What are Zoning Laws? How do people get elected? What happens when a person is arrested by the police? 

Staying Safe and Staying Alive

The world is a dangerous place, especially for the young and inexperienced. Children need to learn what to do in emergencies. They should know basic first aid and what to do if someone is bleeding, choking [the Heimlich maneuver], or appears to be having a heart attack, how and when to call 9-1-1 for help. 

        People should know what to do if someone is bitten by a snake or has an allergic reaction to an insect sting. 

        Swimming lessons—at least “drown-proofing”—should be taught to everyone. 

       What should you do if the power goes out? What must you take if there is an emergency and you are ordered to evacuate? 

       I know this is not a popular idea, but I believe everyone should be taught how to handle a gun safely. 

      Other useful skills include knowing how to use power tools—big ones like lawnmowers, snow-throwers, etc., and smaller ones—electric saws, drills, and other shop tools.

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1  Colonial America was home to different kinds of educational systems. The wealthiest families hired private tutors or sent their children to schools that followed the classical education model used in English and European schools. That model focused on Greek and Latin—the classics—and other subjects that a “gentleman” would find useful. Boys—almost never girls—were taught to take on leadership positions. Before and after the American Revolution, in parts of the country, starting in New England, local and state governments started public schools, which were usually tuition-free. These schools focused on preparing pupils for becoming good citizens and concentrated on literacy, arithmetic, and morality. The curriculum was closer to what is now called “liberal education” based on the liberal arts and intended to bring about the improvement, discipline, or free development of the mind or spirit. [liberal here means liberated; that is, not a serf or servant] Religion and religious texts, usually Christian, was the basis for learning in many of the early public schools.

2  You can see how educational goals changed by doing an online search for images of “report cards”

3 For extremely clear explanations of human reproduction, see Fear, Wonder, and Science in the New Age of Reproductive Biotechnology by Scott Gilbert and Clara Pinto-Correia, 2017, Columbia University Press.

4 See <https://www.kwch.com/2022/08/08/ellsworth-county-deputy-injured-by-charging-buffalo/>, <https://abc7ny.com/black-bear-attack-in-connecticut-avon/13175908/> 

5 See <https://aeon.co/essays/good-citizenship-depends-on-basic-statistical-literacy> 

2023 Why They Were Superstitious

 Why They Were Superstitious

2023, Steven B. Zwickel

A young man was telling me he’d walk around the block rather than let a black cat cross his path, so we got to talking about superstitions and different cultures and why people believe in them. That got me to thinking more about why my family emigrated to the US from Galicia (Galicia comprised parts of Eastern Poland and Western Ukraine) and what led some of them to believe in curses, spells, and magic.

In an earlier post about my family’s immigration experience, I wrote about how “food shortages, overpopulation, disease, and poverty” pushed them to leave Eastern Europe. The more I looked into this, the clearer it became that they were often the victims of forces over which they had no control. Here are some examples of just how awful life must have been in the old country and which may explain why, in the days before science and technology were available to help, they may have been superstitious.

Food shortages and Famine

Famines in Galicia, resulting in 50,000 deaths a year from malnutrition, were frequent and have been described as endemic. (See Wikipedia entry for “Famines in Austrian Galicia” < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famines_in_Austrian_Galicia>) 

According to Wikipedia, “Famines in Austrian Galicia were a common occurrence, particularly in the mid to late 19th century, as Galicia became heavily overpopulated. Triggered primarily by natural disasters such as floods and blights, famines, compounded by overpopulation, led to starvation, widespread malnutrition, epidemics, poverty, an average of 50,000 deaths a year, and from the 1870s to the beginning of World War I, emigration.” 

Famines in Galicia during the 19th century 

[Sources cited in en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famines_in_Austrian_Galicia are indicated by letters]

1804–1806 a

1811–1813 a

1832 a

1836 Heavy flooding destroyed crops

1844 grain and potato crop failure after severe rains and floodingb and famine lasted until 1848a

1845 potato blight {Phytophthora infestans}d followed by more flooding and blight in 1846 c d

1847 partially caused by political unrest and rioting in 1846.b The 1847 famine is estimated to have affected ~90% of the Galician population, and resulted in at least 227,000 deaths.b

1848 famine, ~140,000 deaths.e with reports of cannibalism. b

1849 famine f with some 40,000 deaths. e

1850 famine due to potato blight. b 

1853–1854 starvation h “The Great Famine”

1855 famine f

1865 famine f

1865–1866 starvation h

1871–1872 starvation h

1876 famine f

1880 g  

1889 famine f For more on the famine of 1889, see <https://doroshheritagetours.com/galician-tragedy-in-1889/> and Martin Pollack The Emperor of America: The Big Escape from Galicia.

And a large famine affected many Eastern European territories, including Galicia, as late as 1913. 

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Sources cited in < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famines_in_Austrian_Galicia>

a Maria Skowronek (1987). Losy Polaków w XIX-XX w: studia ofiarowane prof. Stefanowi Kieniewiczowi w osiemdziesiątą rocznicę Jego urodzin. Państwowe Wydawn. Nauk. p. 61. ISBN 978-83-01-06985-8. [The fate of Poles in the 19th and 20th centuries: In honor of Prof. Stefan Kieniewicz on his 80th birthday. State Publishing. Science.]

b Keely Stauter-Halsted (28 February 2005). The Nation In The Village: The Genesis Of Peasant National Identity In Austrian Poland, 1848–1914. Cornell University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-8014-8996-9.

c Stefan Kieniewicz (1951). Ruch chłopski w Galicji w 1846 roku. Zakład Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich. p. 328.

d Stanisław Grodziski (1976). W królestwie Galicji i Lodomerii. Wydawn. Literackie. p. 175

e Stefan L. Zaleski (1921). General Demography of Poland. Committee for the Polish Encyclopaedic Publications. p. 142

f Alison Fleig Frank (2005). Oil empire. Harvard University Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-674-03718-2.

g Larry Wolff (9 January 2012). The Idea of Galicia: History and Fantasy in Habsburg Political Culture. Stanford University Press. p. 256. ISBN 978-0-8047-7429-1.

h Krzysztof Dunin-Wąsowicz (1956). History of the People's Party in Galicia. Ludowa Spółdzielnia Widawnicza. p. 19

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The direct reasons for famines are often given as bad weather and blights (in particular potato blight), but other factors contributed. Most people living in Galicia were subsistence farmers and nearly all of the crops or livestock raised were used to feed and care for the farmer’s family. People had almost no cash to buy tools or other items. 

Because they used primitive farming techniques, unchanged since the Middle Ages, agricultural productivity in Galicia was the lowest of all the provinces of Austria and one of the lowest in Europe. (Markovits, Andrei S. & Sysyn, Frank E. “The Ukrainians in Galicia Under Austrian Rule” Nationbuilding and the Politics of Nationalism: Essays on Austrian Galicia. (1982, Harvard University Press) at http://jgaliciabukovina.net/  ISBN: 9780674603127 p.52)

Epidemics

The Jews of Galicia lived under very difficult housing and health conditions.Farmers living in close proximity to farm animals (and their waste), rodents, insects, and lacking clean water suffered terribly from the diseases mentioned. About 60% of eastern Galicia's Jews lived in cities and towns and urban life in Galicia wasn’t much better. (Encyclopedia of Ukraine <http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/J/E/Jews.htm> ) Neighborhoods were often dirty, crowded, and dark. With their immune systems weakened by an unhealthy diet, diseases like tuberculosis, scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, typhoid fever, and dysentery spread and killed people. 

Modern medicine—with its understanding of infection, sanitation, nutrition, and hygiene—didn’t reach Galicia until the late 1800s. It wasn’t until the beginning of the 1900s that the health service eliminated smallpox by vaccinating infants. (Berner, Włodzimierz. “Stan sanitarny, ochrona zdrowia i sytuacja epidemiologiczna chorób zakaźnych we Lwowie w okresie autonomii galicyjskiej”. (Lata 60./70. XIX W. -do 1914 R.) [“Sanitary conditions, medical care and epidemiology situation of infectious diseases in Lvov in the period of Galicia autonomy” (from the 1860s/70s to 1914)]. Przegl Epidemiol. 2007; 61(4): 815-25. Polish. PMID: 18572515. <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18572515/>)

Epidemics in Galicia during the 19th century

Cholera epidemics spread to Galician towns in 1854, 1873, and 1894 and the people, already weak from lack of food, died by the thousands. (Wrobel, Piotr “The Jews of Galicia under Austrian-Polish Rule, 1867-1918” (1994, Austrian History Yearbook, 25) pp.97-138.))

Other epidemics that affected Eastern Europe (Michał Szukała “Ashes, Ashes We All Fall Down”: A History of Epidemics in Poland <https://polishhistory.pl/ashes-ashes-we-all-fall-down-a-history-of-epidemics-in-poland/ >)  included:

1829 Cholera — Began in 1826 in India; in 1830, 37595 killed. By 1831 in Russian cities and towns (197,069 deaths in 1831); especially severe in Volhynia, Podolioa, Grodno, Vilna; brought to Poland by soldiers: Warsaw April 14, 1831; Hungary, June 1831 (100,000 deaths).

1831 Influenza — Began in China 1829; November 1830 –Moscow; January 1831-St. Petersburg; February- Baltic; March-Warsaw; April-Breslau, Berlin, East Prussia; May- Budapest, Prague, Vienna; October-Hamburg. Low mortality

1831 Cholera pandemic — August 1831-from Poland to Berlin; October 1831-Hamburg <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1826–1837_cholera_pandemic>

1831 Plague in Moldova & Wallachia — merged with cholera

1836 Influenza — November 1836-Russia; December-Berlin, Hamburg. More deaths than previous pandemics.

1847 Cholera

1847 Typhus (or some other, unknown fever)

1848 Cholera pandemic — All over Europe.

1850 Bubonic Plague pandemic

1851 Cholera — Poland, Silesia, Pomerania, Prussia. Spread to adjoining Russian provinces and Prussia.

1854 Dysentery, Cholera, Scurvy, Typhus — Crimea/Ukraine spread during Crimean War

1854 Cholera — Galicia The Wielka Cholera (The Great Cholera)

1867 Cholera — Europe, Russia, Germany (115,000 deaths), Austria (80,000 deaths), Hungary (30,000 deaths).

1870-75 Smallpox — Europe

1873 Cholera — Galicia (The Little Cholera). Germany (33,000 deaths), Hungary (190,000 deaths) July-August-troops retreating from Poland and Galicia; Volhynia, Minsk, Mogilev and Grodno.Influenza Asia, Europe Mid-November 1889-Central Europe; late November-Gdansk, Warsaw, Berlin; by December most of Europe. Morbidity ⅓–½. Overall mortality 0.75–1 deaths per 1000 (Highest death toll of any 19^th century disease).

1899 Cholera pandemic

1910 Cholera — June 1910-Eastern Ukraine (230,000 cases with 110,000 deaths-case fatality rate 45%) Ekateinoslav (18,894 cases); Kiev (4077 cases).

1914 Cholera — Austria [outbreak of WWI diseases spread with armies and refugees]

1915 Typhus — Russia

1915 Cholera — Russia July-August-troops retreating from Poland and Galicia; Volhynia, Minsk, Mogilev and Grodno.

1918 Influenza pandemic— 30,000,000 deaths <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_epidemics>

Epidemic Diseases — cures and prevention today

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingesting contaminated food or water. Two oral cholera vaccines are now available. Cholera is now treated by replacing lost fluids and electrolytes with oral rehydration salts (ORS), which is available as a powder mixed into boiled or bottled water. Without rehydration, approximately half the people with cholera die. <https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cholera/symptoms-causes/syc-20355287>

Influenza is a highly contagious viral infection of the respiratory passages causing fever, severe aching, and catarrh, and often occurring in epidemics, such as SARS and Covid-19. Nowadays there are vaccines that provide protection against the most dangerous effects of influenza and drugs can be used to treat the disease. <https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/flu/symptoms-causes/syc-20351719>

Plague is a life-threatening diseases caused by Yersinia pestis, a bacteria found in small animals and in their fleas, which bite humans and spread the disease. There is no vaccine available to protect people from bubonic plague. Antibiotics such as streptomycin, gentamicin, doxycycline, or ciprofloxacin are used to treat plague. <https://www.cdc.gov/plague/index.html>

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection of the lungs. Tuberculosis can spread when a person with the illness coughs, sneezes or sings. This can put tiny droplets with the germs into the air. Another person can then breathe in the droplets, and the germs enter the lungs. <https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tuberculosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351250> It became epidemic in Europe in the 18th and 19th century, showing a seasonal pattern, and is still taking place globally. Today TB can be treated with a combination of anti-bacterial drugs.<https://www.who.int/activities/treating-tuberculosis>

Typhoid fever is spread through food that's come into contact with fecal Salmonella bacteria. Typhoid fever is spread through food that's come into contact with fecal bacteria, often in contaminated water. Nowadays there is a typhoid vaccine to protect people from typhoid fever. Antibiotic therapy is the only effective treatment for typhoid fever. <https://www.cdc.gov/typhoid-fever/index.html>

Typhus (Spotted Fever) is an infectious disease caused by rickettsiae (very small bacteria), characterized by a purple rash, headaches, fever, and usually delirium. It is also called camp fever, jail fever, and war fever, names that suggest overcrowding, underwashing, and lowered standards of living. and was historically a cause of high mortality during wars and famines. Typhus is transmitted by lice, ticks, mites, and rat fleas. Typhus can now be cured by antibiotics like chloramphenicol and by the tetracyclines. A vaccine for typhus was developed during World War II and is quite effective. <https://www.britannica.com/science/typhus>

Is it any wonder, then, that faced with starvation, sickness, and grinding poverty, they turned to magic—superstition, amulets, faith healers, and charms—to try to ward off the evil forces that made life so painful (and short)? 

✒ For more about mysticism and superstition among Eastern European Jews (and their non-Jewish neighbors), see Men of Silk : the Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society; Glenn Dynner (2006; Oxford U. Press)