Last year the University of Pennsylvania did an unsurprising survey of 1,013 Americans. Only a quarter knew the three branches of government! Even worse is almost three hundred couldn’t name any. Your first thought should be if the United States is supposed to be the first democracy (maybe of the millennia) then we are definitely letting our ancestors and the founding fathers down.

I don’t know what percentage of the greatest generation voted but all I knew never missed a chance. When we have a high turnout vote, it isn’t even half of us. Sometimes it’s in the teens!

Why is the key? When AARP members went to school, we had a civics class and had to pass a test on the Constitution. I still remember the basics but I do not know many of today’s cabinet. There are twice as many today than we had in the 1960s. Somewhere afterwards schools stopped teaching civics. Is that the reason for later generation’s ignorance? Is that why voting and knowledge has dropped.

Good news for Illinois. The schools are mandated to teach civics (Morris will teach a full semester.) to the class of 2020. The question is will it be the idealized version that never existed or the real government. Will it involve dark Monday, lobbyists, campaigns, national parties, organizations, political foundations and all the other real parts of the three branches?

Is it better to teach the truth and hope they will vote to improve the situation or let them remain ignorant of real life? Should people vote if they are clueless and ignorant as many voters are or know the reality of the system and not vote?