Just finished reading Bill Maher's article New Rule: Smart President ≠ Smart Country on Huff post, a great read, I strongly recommend it. I could not beleive some of the stuff he was saying, for examples:
- 24% [of Americans] could not name the country America fought in the Revolutionary War.
- More than two-thirds of Americans don't know what's in Roe v. Wade.
- Two-thirds don't know what the Food and Drug Administration does.
- Half of Americans are aware that Judaism is an older religion than Christianity? That's right, half of America looks at books called the Old Testament and the New Testament and cannot figure out which one came first.
Some other factoids, I could easily believe and/or was already aware of:
- On the eve of the Iraq War, 69% of Americans thought Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9/11. Four years later, 34% still did.
- Nearly half of Americans don't know that states have two senators
- More than half can't name their congressman.
- Among Republican governors, only 30% got their wife's name right on the first try. [It's a joke, relax]
- A Gallup poll says 18% of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth.
Are we really that dumb? If so, can we expect these people to understand the intricacies of a health care system? As Maher later claims, most of this stuff you should know by the mere fact of being alive.
Why not let the smart people take care of this? Obviously people who think the sun revolves around the earth should not be allowed to debate policy. If they do, nobody should listen.
Don't bother telling the mob they are dumb and need to be educated. They are ready with "If you don't like America the way it is, then you can just get the hell out!" If you don't like how dumb we are, go elsewhere. So we should leave the land to the 30-40% retards and things will run smoothly.
This is not to stop any time soon. So long John and Kate plus 8 or whatever that show is called continues to get more google hits than health care reform, don't expect the next generation to be any smarter. Just because they can't type faster and have more gadgets in their pockets does not mean they are working out their brains - just their fingers.
Is the country going to hell in a hand basket, or am I getting jaded?
Forget health care reform. We needed education reform, and a government task force, yes government the private sector delivered Jon and Kate already, in charged of the Undumbing America.
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Comments: 63
There is so much information available today, that the basic fundamentals are lost.
LOL.
you better believe they think the sun revolves around the Earth. These people should not be allowed to vote.
Now April, the dumbed down could think the moon is a falling star!
Folks, we know where and what the problem is. Conservatives are denying evolution and border line denying the solar system.
I put the kids in my state (MA) against any kids in the union. I am proud of the curriculum here, I am very proud of the kids, I am usually impressed. I just came from judging a robotics competition. Kids blew my mind. They even included and addressed energy conservation in their designs and they are well rounded.
There are dumb people everywhere but, some states have systematic and dogma problems, and are holding America down.
I know a home schooled 8 year old who just rolls her eyes when she listens to the "evening" propaganda. That's why they are trying to stop "hone schooling".
I'll re-copy most of a comment that I made on another post, with minor edits:
Increasing funding to our education system WILL NOT HELP. Throwing money at a problem is not the solution, just like giving a spoiled child more toys so he will stop begging for more is not the solution.
Whats broken is the entire system. I would probably title this video, the case for getting rid of our current educational system. Through the years we have been told to increase funding and all will be well. Unfortunately, in general, our public schools are getting worse, not better. And we now live in an era of extreme government deficits. We can't afford to sell our nation away- even for 'better education' (read more expensive education). At some point it will collapse. The President has no intention of turning it around, apparently he thinks deficits greater than $500 Billion is required for the next 10 whole years.
We have let the government train our minds over the past century. Its no wonder that Americans are loosing a taste for liberty and looking to the government to solve all our problems. With each generation, they brainwash us more and more. I'm not saying that all the people in the system, especially the teachers and other staff of the schools, have some 'secret agenda' but the leadership behind the system, whoever it is, does. You can't deny it- today's public education is more concerned about controlling your thought and lifestyle than giving you a good education. What a way to take away our liberties- they go to the youngest in our population before they know any better.
The solution is for parents to take back their rightful responsibility in educating their children. Whether this means putting them in a private school of their choice- or even better teaching them at home (homeschooling).
Speaking of the sun, if Bush were still President, we would have a man on the sun right now. When he proposed this mission to NASA & was told that the space ship would burn up, he chuckled & with a knowing grin (Smirk) replied: "Here's the beauty of it - We're going to go at night!"
Common sense and rational thinking are quickly becoming an extinct thought process in America today. Many people follow Marxist thinking and are not even aware of doing so.
Welcome to "1984" and "Fahrenheit 451" Mr. & Mrs/Ms. America. or what ever politically correct names you seem to use now.
Now that's a dumb thing to do. Sorry. /hugs
With so many liberals teaching, it's not going to change anytime soon. And I am not being a meanie. That's just the way it is.
A lot of this stuff, people should know regardless of is taught in school. You don't need to be taught that each state has two senators and there are 9 supreme court justices. Yes, civics is taught in school or supposed to be, but you won't believe how many foreign friends of mine understand how our house of representative works and how the Census influences the districting and so forth. This stuff you should know by being alive.
I think we have a CULTURAL problem. We have people promoting ignorance. I think Courtney summarizes it. Many of us just don't seem to want to know anything.
Educators are underpaid - my sister teaches college and high school and still has to find another job on the side to support her family.
No child left behind is a horrible idea - kids are being pushed through school like an assembly line and going into the "real world" without the basic tools for survival.
Those of you in your 40s or older - think back on when you went to school - if a kid couldn't pass English, Math and basic eduation courses they had to repeat the grade.
Now - if a child fails a grade - the school is threatened with a lawsuit and the teacher more than likely gets fired
we need to raise standards for teacher and give them a respectable salary - after all they are the responsible for educating the next generation - do we want another generation of ignorance or do we want to turn things around?
We really need to get serious.
Believe me, some kids in America today, are way smarter than previous generations at their age, or even smarter than adults. Yet, when you look at the whole, we are getting dumber.
Income disparity is getting more pronounced, racial issues will never be discussed, and we won't solve much.
You can't just pin this as a liberal vs. conservative problem as some tried to do. Of the top 5 school system by states, 4 are liberal states, regardless who does the ranking or who is on it. Yet, if you look at it city wise, 10 of the worst school districts are liberal school districts as well. What does that tell you? There is also an income problem. Education, I would say 40-60% of it, happens outside the classroom. You need parents to help you with homeworks. Parents take you to zoo or museum on week ends. Parents tune the History channel or discovery channel if there is any TV viewing at all.
Bottom line, this is as much as a parenting issue as a schooling problem. We are quick to jump to school but what are the parents doing?
Don't forget about what those family loving GOP knuckleheads did some years ago. They repealed the tax break for stay at home parents. I think they called it the marriage tax.
We need to re-create the marriage tax by giving families with one stay at home parent that earns no income an additional $20,000 deduction. Then maybe someone will do the JOB of raising kids.
From a retired teacher: The fault lies not so much in the schools but in the students and parents. People bash the schools but not the parents who do not teach that education is important and the key to their future.
We need parenting classes required in high schools!
When he did the Tonight Show and did his Jays Walking, it was very telling that at least the people on the street of Los Angeles were not well educated.
Why is that?
Typically, the more rural the area, the more conservative the voter.
Let's face it, there are just as many dumbass country bumpkins as there are urban street idiots.
But I do find it interesting that when the city is large enough, the dynamics of the culture tend to swing liberal.
Finally, someone has the courage to openly endorse authoritarian rule. While I appreciate the candor, we as a people would truly be stupid to abandon democratic (notice the small "d") principles and follow Jareds prescription. After all, some of the most horrific tyrants in history were smart.
The educational system is the same in rural areas as in urban areas, so I fail to see your correaltion.
"liberals pushed us into the era of single mothers, high divorce rates, working moms, etc"
"Social liberalism has RULED our education system"
These are ridiculous comments. What would you be basing this on Don?
The only thing you said that started to make sense was "chasing after the almighty dollar".
And where does that mentality come from Don?
I want you to REALLY think about where these culture shocks originated. We used to be educated in private institutions across the country in the Old West with no standards and then the public educational system was created, and BAM, we almost overnight became the world leader in education, technology, capitalism.
But that also brought out the greed in Americans which resulted in the negative side of capitalism.....Monopolies, Power, Influence, and Fraud.
Who had the power? Well, white capitalists men who fought against every liberty and freedom that women and minorities had to struggle without and eventually threaten violence and disorder until they changed the status quo.
So, do you want to take a guess whether those upstanding white caucasion, self-righteous, christian, Americans were liberal thinkers or conservative thinkers?
Do you think that same mentality helped create the welfare system, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, unemployment, Veterans Affairs, AFLCIO, teacher unions......all wonderful institutions when they originated eventually taken over by the same greedy capitalists when they learned they could use the system to their advantage.
Capitalism is a wonderful thing, until someone almost always figures out a way to manipulate it.
Tell it LOUD!!
Caption for video link: "Aaron Russo recalls his conversation with one of the Rockefellers, who told him that they created and financed the womem's lib movement so they could tax another half of the population and so that the children would be trained by them in government schools rather than in the context of the family unit."
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/August2006/190806Russo.htm
By Bill Maher’s standards (if that is what we can call them) I have been stupid for a very long time.
As for the information people don’t know. What is important about it? Will it put food on the table, clothes on their backs, or a roof over their head?
Knowing facts are the simple way to teach. I am more concerned about people not being able to count the change without pictured keys, people not being able to read, people not knowing why they should learn skills like reading and writing and arithmetic or natural sciences.
My concern is that the schools have no expectations of the students, or even in the current debate on helaht care none of the politicians feel that people should have responsibility for their health. We can be upset with people not knowing some facts, what is more disturbing is the politicians cater to those people so they won’t have to know even how to think or be responsible for themselves.
Duane,
these things are not mutually exclusive to the things Maher used. He is a comedian as well and it was about politics. So he uses political/civic must knows such as "how many senators each state" has to illustrate his points.
Believe me those who don't know their state has 2 senators have trouble with your concerns. Most of all, as you say, they don't know "why they should learn skills like reading and writing and arithmetic or natural sciences."
Something you said troubles me. The stuff about "putting food on the table." I submit to you they don't why "they should learn skills like reading and writing and..." because they don't see how those things "put food on the table." It should not all be about knowing things that can help put food on the table.
Historically food, shelter, and clothing have been the basic needs people have been responsible for. If learning would help them provided those then they had a reason to learn. If they don;t feel they are responsible for their own food, shelter, and clothing or if they feel they are owed those by society then why should they learn?
As far as I can tell Bill Maher has never felt people should be respponsible for anyhting and the government should provide the basics and more for them. Bill Maher maybe disappointed in people not knowing what he feels is important, but he never makes a case for why they should learn anything.
Why do you feel knowing whether yuor state has two Senators is important? If you do register to vote, what does it matter? If you vote only for who someone tells you to vote for, what does it matter?
That does not help anyone put food on table. To not know that is IGNORANCE and a sign that one is poorly educated and ignores a lot more than that. There is no going around that as much as you would like to. Somebody who does not know that is a dumbass, period. That somebody should not be taken seriously and/or allowed to participate in any discussion that has serious implications.
"Each state has two senators."
Well, if you don't know that, then don't talk about the political system in America and how it is not working. Quite frankly, any AMERICAN citizen who does not know that, should lose their right to vote.
As for my state having two Senators and whether someone knows that doesn't diminish their ability to talk on a public subject of personal concern.
My Senators vote how they are told to vote by their party or the UAW does that reflect well on their intellectual abilities or their general knowledge? I can;t say, but they do know there are two Senators. If you have ever listened to Debbie Stabenaw speak you may no be so quick to feel that knowing there are two Senators is valid test of intellect.
Not knowing there are two Senators is A valid test of STUPIDITY
No I am not interested in helping them become better educated as I think this should be known for simply being alive.
It isn't about having a basic education of the system and it's working parts because almost EVERYONE understands how it works and how to manipulate it, it is about having an understanding of what NOT to do and how your self-importance affects everyone around you financially, ethically, and morally.
When people understand that their personal survival relies on the combined efforts of the entire community instead of their individual hard work, then you understand how civilization moves forward or evolves.