Have you noticed that over the years how people have gotten more “stupid” year in and year out? I remember getting an e-mail with an 8th grade final exam from the turn of the century (1900), you may have gotten the same one. The test was pretty hard, I took it and fortunately I passed…but certainly not with flying colors (especially poor was English, writing skills and grammar…imagine that?)
There is a reason that I bring this subject of “stupidity” up and will get to it a bit later but first for a few laughs I thought I’d post Mark Dice walking around in public (presumably in California where they grow lots of “fruits and nuts”) and asking some really basic questions. He asked “What day and year was The Declaration of Independence signed and who did we declare our independence from?” …only a German tourist got it right. He asks in other videos for people to sign a petition supporting the repeal of the 1st Amendment, The Bill of Rights and in others to support things like forced euthanasia and infanticide. He stood outside of a coin dealer and tried to sell Silver Eagles for .99 cents and another time he tried to sell a 1 ounce Gold Maple Leaf for $50 while the price of gold was $1,100…with no takers. He even got people to sign a petition where it stated clearly at the top “By signing this I affirm that I am a moron.” He got people to support the confiscation of guns from Tea Party supporters. He couldn’t get any answers when he asked why we celebrate Memorial Day and he even got people to sign a petition for a “Holocaust celebration day.”
So my point for writing this piece about how dumbed down and brainless we are as a country and society have become? Simple, WE ARE SCREWED! Think about it, these people vote! And recently they have become the majority who as Ben Franklin forecast so many years ago would be able to vote themselves curry and favor from the Federal Treasury. Worst of all, they can vote themselves “benefits” to procreate further for a greater majority and greater benefits.
I can remember years ago when my Dad would read about something stupid (“stupid” back then is definitely better than average intelligence today), would put his hands up to head and say, “And this is what’s going to pay for Social Security? Good Luck!” In a nutshell this is where we have arrived. A dumbed down population that can only see 1 inch in front of their own nose and is easily persuaded. “Persuaded” that what is not good…is good. Persuaded that what is downright wrong… is right and just because the “old timers” just didn’t get it. 2+2 can equal any number that politicians want the dumb (m)asses to believe and vote for.
Logic and reason in a dumb society gets routinely shouted down as “dumb” which is exactly what those running the show now need. We live in a world where “money” is not real, never mind that no one (very few) can tell you or even define what a “dollar” is. Never mind that even some of our politicians still think that the dollar is somehow backed by gold. “Nothing bad,” REALLY bad has happened yet…
But “yet” is coming and coming soon. We face a potential situation today in the Middle East where the world has abandoned standing with us because they disagree with our logic and probably more important our motives. Congress has been asked to vote the war powers and attack Syria for alleged use of chemical weapons. John Kerry says, “We even have PROOF with hair and soil samples”…yes, Sarin gas was probably most assuredly used…but by whom?
With a population that either doesn’t care or has a problem even reading an 8th grade exam from 100 years ago…no one will be the wiser right? That is until something we do overseas affects the standard of living here. As long as the checks are coming and the cards swipe and work…the majority doesn’t care. If Syria turns into a real war…life will change within our borders. Can Americans even envision gas or food rationing? Can they imagine a banking system that malfunctions and “bails in” accounts? Can they imagine the dollar being tossed for another currency that replaces it and halves or worse what was saved as purchasing power?
I ask the above questions because we as a population have become so dumbed down and believe that “wars are fought on TV.” This is what we have “learned” since the 1991 invasion of Iraq. It is almost as if wars have become video games that are watched in our living rooms. Well I’m sorry, if an attack on Syria spreads to include Russia this will be anything but an “armchair war.”
Congress will vote next week whether to go to war or not and after watching the mainstream news last night and hearing that John Boehner is in support tells me that it will be a “yes” vote. The mainstream news was full bore in their efforts to swing public opinion in favor…but as Obamacare and other travesties have proven; the will of the public does not matter. Make no mistake, “we” need a war to prolong the use of the petrodollar…and we also need something to point to as blame when, not if, the banking system comes down.
A war makes no sense unless …there are no other alternatives for the petrodollar which apparently there are not. I sense that the whole “rig” and jig is up and that all the past “misdirections” are coming to a head here and now. The “sheeple” who have steadily become more numb and more dumb accepted it all the way along don’t know or don’t care but will have to be given a reason, any reason that “life has changed.” A World War will distract and obfuscate many past wrongdoings and can (will) be pointed to when the time comes to explain what just “happened.”
You have written some dumb things in the past, but this really takes the cake. The people in Mark Dice’s videos are not, and have not recently become the majority. Most of them fall into the 18 to 29 year age group. That age group in 2012 had @50% turn out, (23 million votes), and made up a 19% share of the total electorate, (130.2 million votes). Below 2008’s benchmark high, but still above most presidential elections of the last 40 years. (If Mark Dice had asked them if they voted in 2012, I bet most of them would have said no.) These people don’t vote and history proves it. The overwhelming majority of people who vote are 40 and above. That means you and me and people like us, so don’t blame the youth for the state of this Union, present or future. Your writing does a disservice to critical thought and argument. Your argument is bankrupt of logic and reason. It is our age group that keeps electing the same people over and over again. We are the ones who keep electing politicians that don’t represent us, the majority, over and over again. We are the dumb ones. Where is your article ridiculing them/us?
seems I remember seeing a fair amount of older people on his videos as well…in any case sorry I’ve “written so many “dumb things”. I don’t read stuff that I think is dumb…that would be dumb now wouldn’t it?
Ordinarily I would just nod my head and think “Right on, Bill”, but Old Oly Jack’s comment cannot go unchallenged and uncorrected.
First, Ole, you don’t have to watch a tv show to know we have an entire generation and possibly two generations of self absorbed mush-heads out there. All that is needed is to talk to them, or worse, read their resumes and interview them for employment as I had to do.
Second: I agree with your analysis of the number of voters in that group who did not CAST a ballot – BUT, do not for one minute think that these airheads did not VOTE! By ignoring their patriotic duty, they most certainly did VOTE for the scum that fills most of the seats in congress and the oval office.
Third: “People like us” What does that mean? Over 40? People who work and hold a job? OR the 47% that live off the rest of us who produce the wealth in this country. Your broad rambling on whatever point you were trying to make is just too vague to comprehend.
LAST – Oily – or whatever – you should take your bug filled arse and spread your shoulder chips elsewhere. The MF Blog is only for the reasonable, the balanced and the sane.
B.
“young” does not necessarily mean dumb though like you said, just talk to a few of them. There are also middle aged and elderly who drank the kool aid and don’t have a clue. Common sense is evaporating quickly and if we make it down the road much further will only be a quaint concept written (not understood) in history books by “fringe lunatics” and never read either because people can’t read or are too lazy…….
Well said, Bill. I agree with you analysis and view completely. I wish I knew what could be done to regain the patriotic fervor in our country
that existed during my post WWII youth. Somehow it just faded away.
I guess the seduction of “self” and socialism is just too powerful.
Too bad poor Ole Jack is not capable of understanding deeper than his prejudice. He is obviously not capable of grasping the message you presented. I feel sorry for him and the dark world he inhabits.
B
thanks
Bill
You are very right. SAT scores have declined for decades. The California secondary school system was the best in the US in the 60’s, now ranks 47th or so. The US as a whole once ranked one or two in the world and now we are somewhere south of 35th when scores are considered. OJ’s criticism was very odd. He essentially chastised you for simply citing one video and rebutted with nothing more than opinion. Nice.
I speak with young people frequently. I walk them through these issues. Take the 4th amendment. They will say that it is not that big of deal and then I explain how it essentially allows universal blackmail of everyone, thereby giving the ruling party control of everything, and those that control the puppets, including the President, the ability to pick and choose all candidates. Boehner has no secrets? Lindsey, I have no and have never had a girlfriend, Graham? No secrets? Everyone has things that they deserve and want to keep private. Young people will likely only get educated after they eat a big t*rd sandwich….which is in the kitchen, now….
Bill, The video you attached had a total number of 16 people interviewed of which 3 were obviously over 40 years old. Is that your definition of a fair amount/majority? Yes, these people are uniformed, but isn’t that an indictment of the failure of the education system and the people who run it? I used the word dumb in my first reply because you did, I didn’t use “bug arse”, “scum”, “fringe lunatics”, “prejudice”, “turd sandwich”, or “dark world he inhabits”. Is this speech a form of critical thought or is it a product of an educational system in decline? Don’t feel sorry for me.
I never said “majority” only “a fair amount”. If you can’t see that “people IN GENERAL” today are dumbed down and stupid then yes, I do feel sorry for you because …you just might be one of them! If I do such a disservice then please do not read my writings because that would as I said…just be plain dumb and we all know that you are not “that”. Sorry I struck such a nerve!
I miss-spelled un-informend, sorry. Also, another thought. Is this speech a product of a media that scapegoats, (divide and conquer by making us blame and fight among ourselves?)
Bill, paragraph three, fourth sentence, ” And recently they have become the majority.”
yes you are correct but I was talking about the “takers” (as Ben Franklin spoke of) who have now become the majority with the minority supporting them in some fashion…besides, you are the one who brought up “age”, I did not. Whatever, if you don’t like my logic then don’t read it and please consider me a dummy…the Sun, God willing will still rise on my world tomorrow. I stand by what I wrote, Americans have become number, dumber and stupider than any time in our history…and please don’t correct my grammar because I really don’t care.
Bill, One more thought then I will leave you alone. When I said, “Your writing”, and “Your argument”, I was referring to this specific piece. Also, when anyone in the media makes a generalization about any group, it dumbs-down the discourse, (including myself).
I would not be so hard on young people or the ignorant. I was totally brainwashed — knew nothing about gold, trusted government — until age 42.
The 8th grade test from 100 years ago is misleading. 100 years ago, few went to high school. Those who did were enroute to college to become professors or pastors, mostly. No doubt educational standards have declined, but that is what is required to populate our current bubble, ‘higher education’, with debt-slaves.
People are getting smarter, not dumber. Look up ‘Flynn Effect’; IQs have been getting higher for 100 years, and are markedly above what they were 100 years ago.
Today’s SAT does not measure intelligence (ability); it measures ‘achievement’ (knowledge), which is much different from intelligence (speed of processing, ability to draw analogies, etc.).
Today’s kids are a lot less brainwashed than I was or my in-laws are. They see the stupidity of our economic system, foreign policy, hews, etc. I know because I rubbed shoulders with them when I campaigned for Ron Paul in 2011-2012.
Sincerely,
John G.
51 year old Navy veteran, ex-Republican, awakened at last
Hi John, like you said, “you rubbed shoulders with young supporters of Ron Paul”…I have no doubt that many, most of these youngsters are very bright…but as Ron Paul supporters they are surely not even close to the majority, maybe 15-25% of the young population? I stand by what I wrote and will say again, “ignorance” has spread rapidly along with apathy across all age groups.
Clearly Oly Jack missed the broader message of your excellent piece. Our country is consumed by mass media propaganda, video games, on-line social media and electronic gadgets so that most people have lost the mental capacity to think for themselves and instead rely on being spoon-fed garbage from their big screen TVs. That is why so few people don’t have the slightest idea what is coming regardless of what happens in Syria. A attack on Syria will only accelerate the inevitable. I think it is pretty obvious that things have gotten so bad that the U.S. government desperately needs a major distraction so that they can keep the sheeple in the dark a little while longer and when things really get out of hand, blame it all on the Russians and/or Chinese or whoever the Americans love to hate.
yes AK, THIS is what I tried to get across in writing this piece.
Bill, I corrected MY spelling, not your grammar. Also,I assumed you were referring to ” these people”, when talking about the majority. If not, my mistake. It’s nice to hear from some of your readers who are more articulate in their argument. If I may, I disagreed with your delivery, lack of facts, and your generalizations, not your premise. Obviously the sample in the video is skewed in size and shape, not to mention edited to fit a narrative, so I would be careful who we call dumb in the future. It might include us. I encourage more debate from people like John G., and AK.
“my lack of facts”? OPEN YOUR EYES and just talk to people on the street, more often than not the person on the other side of the conversation doesn’t even have a clue! You have your opinion and I have mine which is what makes horse races. I will continue to write whatever it is I believe in and will deliver it the only way I know how. This was not a debate, if you noticed…most all of the comments that you called “articulate” were in agreement that Americans have become more and more stupid over time. I believe this and stand by it as I dealt with the public for nearly 30 years and over time “ignorance” became more and more prevalent. THE END I will not reply anymore.
Bill,
Do you know what premise means? I disagree with your delivery. If you want more credibility, back it up with facts. The difference is, I prefer debate and you prefer lecture. It is cheap and easy to scapegoat a group, ie: the young, the poor, the Mexicans. Stop ridiculing the symptoms of a failed cause.
you win
What does, “Stop ridiculing the symptoms of a failed cause.” mean? I read Mr Holters posts just about every day and I cannot recall ever reading anything that sounded like he was, “scapegoating” the young, the poor or the Mexicans.” ??? Nor do I get, “lecturing” when I read his missives? More what I feel I am reading here is what Howard Cosell use to refer to as, “telling it like it is.”
If you want to get spoon fed propaganda just look to the main stream media, they will tell you what you WANT to hear. The, “recovery is picking up steam and everything is going to be hunky dory.” Good luck with that!
As an aside I had an employee, with a High School Diploma ask me, “Is Great Britain a state?” and on another occasion, “Is Yugoslavia a state?” So yes, I would say they are dumbing down the citizens to better control them. My father did not graduate from high school (his dad pulled him out of school to help work the family farm), but he was far better educated than the high school graduates of today.
I want to apologize to Bill Holter for my initial post. I focused on a small point and completely misinterpreted his overall message. I hope you all can forgive me.
Jack
A very gracious apology – Bill is definitely one of the few good guys writing today. I withdraw and apologize for the broad negative statements I posted about you. I went too far. You may be interested in the link listed below that illustrates, at least somewhat, the reason for the strong reaction to your statements.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/06/201376/retired-justice-sandra-day-oconnor.html#.UisVFuAeYso
B.