The "stupidification" of America

[Toastmaker]

I have a rant. I'm going to place it here.

It may be time to invent a new series of words that I don't think exist now in english. I mean an extention of the word "stupid", as in, stupidify, stupidified and stupidification.

I've now lived back in the U.S. for a little over two years, after 11 years in Mexico and have noticed a disturbing trend in my country. It seems that in almost all aspects of American society there has been some kind of gradual stupidification of the American public. From politics to business to social and interpersonal relations, people here are a LOT stupider (?) than I ever remember. Am I missing some news here ? Was there some terroristic attack on our society where stupidifying enzymes were secretly introduced to the water supply or something ?

A lot of people make fun of Mexicans and Mexican society but in my 11 years of dealing with them in business and social setting, I never encountered as much individual stupidity as I have noticed here and now in the U.S. Is it that I live in the Washington D.C. suburbs of Maryland and it's just a regional anomaly ?

Frankly, I'm seriously thinking about moving back to Mexico and I consider this to be a sad and pathetic thing for an American citizen to consider.

It's true that I am reacting to some recent events in my work life and some recent news events but, even though I've looked for signs that I'm just exaggerating, it seems to me that there's a gradual "sea-change" in this country.

Thank you for allowing me to honk about this. I have to go now, there's a sale on at the Sears luggage dept.



:beach3: = where I ought to be.

[Snuffy]

Ummm ....

what was that about stupid?? :laugh:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,480172,00.html

(Actually I agree with the actions of the officers.)

[Odie]

Toast, is it stupid or me-ism? As in, if it doesn't directly affect me this very second that I'm living and breathing, I don't care or need to know?

Therefore, if the grocery store is open, I can get food so I don't need to know how to grow food? As long as my phone works, I don't need to know how it works because if it stops, I can go yell at the guy I bought it from.

Another contributing factor is that basic things (reading/writing/math) have slipped to the bottom of the list in the education food chain. We live in a an area that has huge corn fields. My son, 25, and I were going into town and I asked him if he knew why they grew different crops every year (one year soybeans, the other corn). Didn't have a clue.

I'm 53 and I learned that in the 2nd grade along with how to process meat, milk, and other food products....how-to-feed-yourself 101.

A third possibility is that the automation of things is fast and efficent, but you lose certain skills because of it. You don't use it, you lose it. Gradually over time, it all fades away.

[MaskRider]

You aren't mistaken Toast. Though I would bet that the problem is significantly more concentrated/pronounced there in the DC/NoVA/MD area than in other parts of the country. Growing up there and going back once or twice a year to visit convinces me that the probability of there being such a stupification anomaly in that area is high. However, SoCAL is running them a close second. And the influx of illegals from Mexico is not helping the situation at all. The DC metro area is probably more heavily concentrated with illegals than is SOCAL. Perhaps this is the common stupification factor??? The neighborhoods where most of these immigrants live are hardly what one would call hot spots of smart living. I guess it is possible that we are getting not but the dumbasses moving up here leaving only smart Mexicans behind in Mexico. Sounds like another good reason to crack down on illegal immigration. We are already stupid enough without importing cheaper stupidity.:D

The upside here is that if more smart people like you immigrate to Mexico, those smart folks left behind will become relatively scarcer and thus better able to demand and get higher pay and income?

[Toastmaker]

Yeah, Odie, perhaps a lot of the "me-first" attitude of today contributes to this.

And maybe Mexico does have a secret policy of only allowing the denser members of their society to jump/swim/tunnel the border. . . :D

[Willy]

It's as good an explanation for the last election as I can think of.

[Opie]

Is it that I live in the Washington D.C. suburbs of Maryland and it's just a regional anomaly ?



Speaking from my perspective across the Potomac from you, I can safely say it's not limited to the Maryland suburbs, although it does seem to be more concentrated over there. :BS:

I think a large part of it is what my instructors at Quantico would call "lazy-f***ing-ness" coupled with a growing feeling in society that they "just can't be bothered, it's someone else's problem, why should they have to do it, and there won't be any personal consequence if they f*** up."
:doh:

They should implement Bill Engvall's "Here's your sign" program (I'd post a youtube but I'm at work on dial-up :(). It might make things simpler if you knew who (what?) you were dealing with up front.

[Pen32Win]

The effect you're seeing is called the "NEA Effect".

They've remove analytical and critical thought from the schools right along with the RR&A.

They know how a problem makes them feel, or how they should feel about the problem; but don't have the first clue as to how to solve the problem.....

Not all, but far too many.

[Hans Jaeger]

There's no doubt that urbanization leads to a disconnect from the basics of life. The proportion of urban population in most industrialized countries is around 90 per cent.

When all the green you see is lawns and parks, and everything else is paved or built on, and your outings consist of shopping in supermarkets and malls, and your recreation consists of cable or satellite TV, and your communication is almost all by cell phone and internet, it's bound to have an effect on you. Maybe part of the effect is feeling like a cog in a huge machine and feeling basically powerless. So you fritter away your time in amusements and inconsequential stuff and consider that LIFE.

[Lucky Dog]

There's no doubt that urbanization leads to a disconnect from the basics of life. The proportion of urban population in most industrialized countries is around 90 per cent.

When all the green you see is lawns and parks, and everything else is paved or built on, and your outings consist of shopping in supermarkets and malls, and your recreation consists of cable or satellite TV, and your communication is almost all by cell phone and internet, it's bound to have an effect on you. Maybe part of the effect is feeling like a cog in a huge machine and feeling basically powerless. So you fritter away your time in amusements and inconsequential stuff and consider that LIFE.

hmmmmm.........I think you're getting warm......and it's damn scary !!!

[USCG76]

Thank god I dont live in the city or suburbs. At least I can go out on the lake throw up a shanty and drill a hole and fish. Same for the summertime and also go get me a deer and a goose to boot. I do agree with Hans and Lucky Dog. damn scary.

[Hans Jaeger]

A good friend of mine sent me a book that makes an excellent read (particularly if you are a hunter, but not only for hunters). It's actually one of the best books I've ever read in its genre and it recalls values we shouldn't forget. It also deals with race (although that's not it's main focus). I just finished it a couple of days ago and it's an uplifting read; I highly recommend it.

It's called "The Everlasting Stream" (Sub-title "A True Story of Rabbits, Guns, Friendship and Family") . It's written by Walt Harrington, formerly a well-known writer with the Washington Post and now a professor of Journalism at an Illinois university.

Grove Press Books, softcover.

This is copied from the back cover:


"When Walt Harrington first spent Thanksgiving on his father-in-law's farm in rural Kentucky he was a high-profile reporter for The Washington Post who had developed a distaste for the archaic men who kill animals for sport. Yet over the next twelve years of Thanksgiving cottontail hunts, his companions that first morning—four African-American country men and lifelong friends who seemed to have nothing in common with the white city-slicker— would change not only his opinions about hunting, but also his feelings about the things that mattered to him the most. Bringing autumn mornings crackling to life, The Everlasting Stream shares the lessons that convinced Harrington to leave the city at the top of his career, eventually to introduce his growing son to an infinitely more rewarding world of life, death, nature,and manhood."



"This beautifully written book is about life's true values. Walt Harrington makes the reader understand the importance of family, the importance of what my friend Dan Jenkins calls "life its own self". Read it and count your blessings." —PRESIDENT GEORGE H. W. BUSH

Look it up; you'll be glad you did. You'll wish it was "required reading" of some sort.

[Opie]

I'm surprised no one has hit on the theme of an overabundance of electronic "conveniences." It seems that humanity at large has abdicated more and more of their decision making to little electronic devices (cell phones, blackberries, and what-have-you) rather than thinking for themselves.

I went to the grocery store on Monday since I was off (and so did everyone else, apparently). I couldn't believe how jammed the aisles were with people plodding along with something jammed in their ear. It's like everyone has forgotten how to make up a list of things you need before you leave the house, or they've lost the ability to cope with decision-making on their own. You wonder what they'd do without their electronic "tethers." Yikes. I worry about the future of the human race sometimes.

[Hans Jaeger]

I'm surprised no one has hit on the theme of an overabundance of electronic "conveniences." It seems that humanity at large has abdicated more and more of their decision making to little electronic devices (cell phones, blackberries, and what-have-you) rather than thinking for themselves.

Well, there was this...

"your communication is almost all by cell phone and internet" :)

[wilbur whately]

http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/idiocracy_hospital.jpg

[Hans Jaeger]

There are lots of pictures that show how stupid people are without making them up.

There's no such thing as St. God.

You of all people should know that.

Come to think of it, maybe you are proving the point? :D

[Pudro]

It may be time to invent a new series of words that I don't think exist now in english. I mean an extention of the word "stupid", as in, stupidify, stupidified and stupidification.

Was this a joke? Because we already have words for these.

[Toastmaker]

Oh, well, thank you, Pudro - I feel a lot better now.

:thumbs up: