Less than 50% of Americans have a passport, pretty low considering the country’s wealth, substantially less than Canadians, Brits or Germans, for example, where passport ownership exceeds 70%.
Nothing really wrong with that but the relatively more insular Americans might be missing some valuable lessons from history.
As Mark Twain said:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
Americans may also be missing from their own history.
Assessments and surveys consistently show that the historical knowledge of the average American is low.
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In a 2019 survey conducted by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, only 40% of Americans could pass a basic, 20-question U.S. history test based on the U.S. citizenship exam. Even more concerning, only 27% of Americans under the age of 45 passed.
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The Nation’s Report Card, which conducts the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), showed that only 13% of eighth graders score at or above the “proficient” level.
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The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) found that only 18% of four-year colleges mandate a foundational course in U.S. history or government.
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Only 15% of adults could correctly name the year the U.S. Constitution was written (1787), and only 25% knew it had 27 amendments.
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A quarter of adults were unaware that freedom of speech is guaranteed by the First Amendment which reads:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Very clear, except for the first word, which is now proving too narrow.
Experts suggest that history is too often taught as boring lists of dates, names, and events to be memorized rather than as a way to understand the present and future.
With increasing pressure to improve reading and math scores, many elementary schools spend less instructional time on social studies, including history.
This lack of historical fluency has broader implications for American society. An ACTA report linked historical ignorance to low voter turnout in some areas, suggesting that an understanding of history is crucial for an engaged and effective citizenry.
Others express concern that historical ignorance, combined with increasing political polarization, could threaten the country’s democratic foundations.
Suzanne and I just spent a week in Matera, a 60,000 population Southern Italian city.
There, we learned the term “negative architecture” which, in Matera, refers to the caves “built” by digging the limestone formations to establish protective homes, i.e. taking material out to build safe living spaces.
One could say that this ancient form of protectionism works. Matera is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The first traces of inhabitants in Matera date back to the Palaeolithic era, around 400,000 years ago.
The first evidence of more complex, settled life comes from the Neolithic period (around the fifth millennium BC, or some 7,000 years ago), with the development of fortified villages, showing a shift from nomadic life to a more sedentary, agricultural society.
About 3000 people once lived in the Matera caves in what is now called the Sassi.
People first set up in caves, then built walls around the settlement, then houses on top of the caves for larger and more hygienic spaces.
Negative architecture protected these people from the climate but also from intrusions from potential foes, the first form of protectionism.
The US government is currently using a modern form of negative architecture (carving out) to isolate itself from perceived foes:
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Foreign goods are no longer welcome;
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Immigrants are sent back home;
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Foreign capital is limited;
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Foreign students are pruned;
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Learning institutions’ curriculums are redefined;
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History is being rewritten;
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Critics or “obstructionists”, including judges, are being threatened or kicked out;
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“Friendly” businesses are better treated than less friendly ones;
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Less friendly countries can be targeted with harsher treatments;
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Friends can quickly become enemies;
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Congress is less and less involved;
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Federal government funds are more easily directed to red states;
The American government is building walls everywhere it can.
The media are more controlled on what they broadcast and publish, carving negative info out.
Even foreign media may be subtly denied freedom of speech in the land of the free: the US is proposing to change the duration of the “I” visa for foreign journalists from the current “duration of status” (allowing for multiple years) to a shorter period, such as 240 days, with a special 90-day limit for Chinese nationals.
In effect, foreign journalists could hardly set up for more than 8 months, being constantly subject to arbitrary non-renewals.
Canada recently got an additional 10% import tax because Trump did not like a particular Ontario government advertising.
The early Materans also built a protective wall around their caved community. But as much as they creatively hollowed their caves out to create more spacious living spaces, the reality gradually kicked in: they needed more openings and different structures and materials for healthier and longer lives.
So they eventually started to build on top of their caves in order to survive and grow. Learning from neighbouring villages built on positive architecture, the Sassi became larger and more enjoyable. Families grew and lived longer.
Today, the Matera Sassi offers rentals, hotels and restaurants for people yearning for a cave experience. Nice, but only because it’s short. The restricted space, limited ventilation, humidity and sometimes apparent mold, don’t appeal to most people for very long.
We also learned that Matera was the first Italian city to rise up against fascist occupation in 1943.
A bit of history:
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In 1919, Benito Mussolini founded the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento (“Italian Fasces of Combat”), which officially adopted the latin term “fasces” meaning a bundle of wooden rods tied around an ax, carried by attendants of magistrates. It represented authority and power: the rods for punishment and the ax for execution. The symbolism represented strength through unity: a single rod is easily broken, but the bundle is not.
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In 1922, after the Fascists marched on Rome and Mussolini was appointed Prime Minister, the word “fascism” became strongly associated with his regime and its authoritarian principles.
Having kicked the German/Italian axis out of North Africa, the Allies occupied Sicily in June 1943, prompting the Italian government to oust Mussolini in July 1943, before officially surrendering on September 8, 1943.
Nazi Germany then occupied much of Italy. As the occupying forces became more brutal, resistance began to grow in many cities.
In Matera, the population’s frustrations peaked as the German garrison prepared to retreat. German soldiers went on a rampage of looting, destruction, and violence against the local population.
On September 21, 1943, armed civilian groups, supported by some Italian soldiers, rose up and engaged the German troops in guerrilla warfare throughout the city.
The Matera insurrection ultimately forced the Germans to withdraw from the city before Allied forces arrived from Sicily. This prevented the widespread destruction of buildings that occurred in many other cities during the German retreat.
It also prevented an Allied bombing of Matera which might have destroyed what is now a Unesco world heritage site visited by more than 2 million people per year.
Getting rid of fascism prevented a tragedy.
Mark Twain again:
“One must travel, to learn. Every day, now, old Scriptural phrases that never possessed any significance for me before, take to themselves a meaning.”
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
1 thought on “YOUR DAILY EDGE: 28 October 2025: Negative Architecture”
I usually find myself looking forward more to the content in Roman/Upright font in these newsletters. This was an especially enjoyable and thoughtful piece. (The two quotes in italics were great too!)