Myth-teries -- a Definition

Myths form the basis for many beliefs. At least that is my personal opinion. From Family Myths I grew up with, to myths about the supremacy of Ohio I learned in high school civics (Go Buckeyes! Beat Michigan!! Remember the Toledo War!!!), to myths about the benign influence of the United States on just about every other nation and the list could go on and on. I have started calling many of these myths Myth-teries because it is a mystery to me whether I actually learned them or took them in plantlike from the society of the 50s and 60s. But I believe we live under myths right now. Political ones, religious ones, jingoistic ones, retirement ones, educational ones ... and that list could go on and on. We even institutionalize myths with the SOLs which force students to learn only government approved topics. SOLs make learning into a test cramming -- learning for learnings' sake is not taught at all. And I believe that is what the government is after. A person who ceases to learn becomes a citizen looking for easy answers. A citizenry of unquestioning people can't begin to refute and then fight back intelligently on issues where the government is just plain wrong, can it? Or be able to fight a government full of people who twist facts. It is criminal to leave a future generation unprepared on the pretext of saying "we need to test them so they can be prepared." If that is not a myth-tery in progress, I don't know what it. Until this nonsense becomes sense ... pax