Wow, when I first started reading this, I thought it was going to be some explosive crackdown on a massive counterfeiting organization. I think when conducting an investigation, it helps to engage the brain and use a little common sense. The age of the bill is what triggered the incident, since the counterfeit detection pen wasn't designed to work on older bills. http://abc13.com/news/lunchroom-lunacy-isd-cops-investigate-fake-money/1314203/
The dumbing down of America is real. Soon, doing simple math problems on paper with just a pencil will be thought of as some kind of trickery. Cursive writing will be viewed as a secret code. On my last job I once did some paperwork that involved lots of simple math. I did it all with a pen with no crossing out numbers. A younger co-worker said "Wow, I'm impressed. No calculator or nothing". Sad.
There's already talk about whether or not cursive should still be taught, since almost everything these days is typed / computerized. We're in a war for our society, and it seems we're losing. I think too many have been complacent for too long, letting the 'experts' handle the education of the young, and the government now feels it has the right to set the agenda, rather than setting it in response to the needs and wants of those who foot the bill.
Beyond feeling they have the right, they assume a sufficient degree of apathy has been achieved, whereby the majority of the population has become desensitized to it's traditional mores of personal achievement, of individual standing. Only to garner votes at the appropriate time, does government seem to listen, and even then, it is with only one ear.