To: Sun Tzu who wrote (52105 ) 9/14/2001 3:55:43 PM From: Sam Citron Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 70976 it is so much easier to hate people you've never been in contact with That is so true. I had the wonderful opportunity first as a ham radio operator at 13-15, and then as a traveler to get to know friends all over the world. I traveled overland through Afghanistan in 1970 through the Khyber pass enroute to India. I visited the tombs of Sufi poets, though regretably missed the amazing Buddhist statues in Bamyan. I had to drop out of college to get such an education. I went to a pretty good high school on Long Island and although I was offered a smattering of quantum physics in advanced placement science class, I was never offered even a rudimentary education in high school in terms of understanding other cultures, other than European cultures which were very similar to our own. So far as I know, high school curricula have not changed much since, although I am happy to see that economics has at least been added in many places. But "social studies" class covers so narrow a spectrum of the world as to be useless as a remedy to ignorance. I can only echo your sentiments Sun Tzu and ask when are we ever going to wake up and start to take a more serious interest in our neighbors on planet earth? It is so easy to hate someone who seems alien due to our own ignorance of them. No wonder we will have such a tough time finding a cooperative country neighboring Afghanistan to let us use their air space and perhaps a base for support. China, Iran, Pakistan - not one of them has sufficiently strong ties to the US. Our influence in South Asia is almost nil, even in India, the largest democracy on earth. Laura and George Bush, how does your education reform plan address these issues? Sam