Why Americans are so STUPID 2926
Well. to return to the thread. Americans are stupid. Whether they are smart enough to retain a democracy is a moot point, as is whether what really have now, is...
On Sat, 19 Mar 2006, TwistyCreek
Why is this stupid? The answer might depend on where one starts from. It may also depend on at least two other qualifiers I can think of.
America is not as dependent on the rest of the world as vice versa: "we" don't have to learn a foreign language, but most of "them" do if they want to do business with us. Being a big power (at least at present), we can bully everyone else around. Specifically, I'd like to criticise the use of the words American and America as they are misused to label the USA and people in the USA. America really is the sum of North America and South America (connected by an isthmus). Americans can, actually, be anywhere in this large land mbutt. Although awkward, "people in the USA" would be a better term. Canadians, for example, should not be confused with "United Statesians." Or, Mexicans. Etc.
Psychologists are recognizing that people who are "plugged in" (on line, "keyboard potatoes" and nintendo jocks) too much are also maladjusted to society. People who watch too much TV also have their intelligence "dumbed down" to the lowest common denominator, which has been decreasing linearly in recent decades. You need to throw out the TV, too.
Yep.
He (or she) who controls the media also controls reality. Ever read 1984? when I was a kid, we in the USA were told (by the media) that we were the goodguys and the Russians-communists-Soviets were the badguys and that is because their government controlled, absolutely, all disseminated knowledge, facts, and truth. Here in the west, its called "advertising interests" which are basically orriented towards cajoling people into spending whatever they have in their wallet for mostly things they really don't need but which makes rich people richer. Not quite propaganda, but definitely indirect mind control.
Or placed in front of "the tube" all day.
Not all that long ago, mom didn't have to get out and do work outside the house (thus creating a whole category of children with unusual problems; they are called "latchkey kids" because they get to be at home in unsupervised situations and they get into trouble)
Mom and Dad are usually
Mom is in different bars.
When standards are lowered....when the cat is away, the mice will play.
I have seen no convincing statistics that teacher pay correlates with taught quality. I have monitored the debates about what makes good teaching for the last half century. The debates will continue. No one knows the final answer.
Perhaps like you, I am more serious about life than a pretty big fraction of the kids (young people) I see around me. But, I lean on "instant gratification" more. We have too many cell phones. I can go literally anywhere, today, and see one of any three people, jawing on a cell phone while doing something else, including walking into walls, driving into telephone poles, or irritating someone else. And, most of the conversations are absolutely unessential.
Europeans are flat-out jealous. THEY have history and culture and real antiques going back two thousand+ years and are mostly a bunch of dinky countries, constantly squabling with each other, all with the "I'm French, therefore I'm superior" atbreastude which generates the "I'm British, no you're not superior, we are because of THE QUEEN", etc., and they all hate this new country about 200 years old with no history, no culture, no antiques but lots of atomic plants and the biggest military ever buttembled yet, and the most overpaid CEOs ever, anywhere, anyhow, and it bugs the living poo out of them.
On Tue, 20 Mar 2006, Kamal R. Prasad It is a fact that a degree from a high prestige school, eg...
Try other places in the world, too.
Just today, I saw a bumper sticker (here in the USA) that said "Boycott France." Yeah, sure.
George W. Bush doesn't either. BFD.
Probably more than half of everyone else doesn't know either.
Americans gave away their self determination and their self respect when they allowed the TwoParty to limit the U.S. House of Representatives to 435 money chasing suckubutts. As consbreastuencies grew from 200k to...
Japanese kids are not taught, either, about Japanese attrocities that the Japanese caused to China and Korea back some 70-80 years ago, either.
Or, how many people know that the Turks committed genocide against the Armenians (killing half of them), also back about a century ago.
Good for you. don't forget to ask them questions, get them to think.
They need to read 1984, Brave New World, Animal Farm. Too.
Books are superior media for learning. Cheaper, no viruses, no rootkits, no spyware, no DRM, no format compatibilty problems. Don't need electricity. Can drop on concrete and not be hurt. Can read them anywhere in bright sunlight. Tuck paperbacks in pocket.
Extend the list. I left out many more advantages of books.
www.booksalefinder.com
Most of the time $1 for used hardbacks, 50 cents for paperbacks.