When I was in high school the three foriegn languages available were french,german and spanish.
The CURRICULUM stated french was the language of culture, german science and spanish for our nieghbors to the south.

Many of my classmates found themselves one year from graduation in Vietnam trying not to become bui dai. Some of those guys now speak fluent vietnamese, which is incredibly usefull at convenience stores in Little Saigon today.

Society dictates the curriculum of survival, be it wearing a suit to an interview, avoiding eye contact in 'bad nieghborhoods'
or telling park visitors to camp only in areas known by bears to be convenient food resources.

Members of that society who 'screw up' in wilderness are suddenly
responsible for their own well being in a society that regulates behaviour for job interviews, driving in bad nieghborhoods and camping.

Society has failed, not the individual. And when Boy Scouts only make the news over civil rights issues, people carrying pocket knives are deemed dangerous and 3 helicopters hover overhead for 4 hours watching a black bear running through a California nieghborhood something isn't right.

We are a SOCIAL animal. We admire the 'rugged individual' the successfull maverik entrepenuer, the avant guard artist. We just don't let our daughters bear their children.