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chaosmage comments on Open Thread for February 11 - 17 - Less Wrong
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This was fun. I like how he emphasizes that every kid can figure out all of math by herself, and that thinking citizens are what you need for a democracy rather than a totalitarian state - because the Czech republic was a communist dictatorship only a generation ago, and many teachers were already teachers then.
A cultural detail which may help to explain this attitude:
In communist countries a carreer in science or education of math or physics was a very popular choice of smart people. It was maybe the only place where you could use your mind freely, without being afraid of contradicting something that Party said (which could ruin your career and personal life).
So there are many people here who have both "mathematics" and "democracy" as applause lights. But I'd say that after the end of communist regime the quality of math education actually decreased, because the best teachers suddenly had many new career paths available. (I was in a math-oriented high school when the regime ended, and most of the best teachers left the school within two years, and started their private companies or non-governmental organizations; usually somehow related to education.) Even the mathematical curriculum of prof. Hejný was invented during communism... but only in democracy his son has the freedom to actually publish it.
That's very true. Small addition: Many smart people went into medicine, too.