Don't Get Stuck On Stupid

 Yesterday I was speaking to someone about a US map.  She pointed towards an island below Arizona and asked which island that was. I told her that was Alaska.

Without a blink of embarrassment she started to argue that Alaska was NOT below Arizona, and she knew because they had visited Alaska some years prior.

For a reason few people can understand we have actually started to celebrate stupidity in ways that other nationalities have difficulty understanding.  No one exemplifies this better than Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin thought the queen is the actual head of the British government. She had no idea that the UK had a Prime Minister.
Neither did she know what "the Fed" was, as in the Federal Reserve System.
The history of World War I and World War II, and Germany's involvement in them was a blank sheet of paper to her.
Lehman Brothers' spiral, and the country's economic collapse in general - she was hopelessly uninformed.
North Korea is the US ally in the dizzy world of Sarah Palin.

 Yet the right wing seem totally oblivious to her lack of knowledge or her inconsistencies. They don't seem to be able to recognize stupidity when they see it.  I am unsure that the left wing do any better. They did vote for Obama after all.. isn't that proof?

So I did a quick web search to find out what the real journalists are saying about this subject and found a wealth of information:

Opinion: America's problem -- we're too dumb - CNN

America the Clueless - NY Times

Are Americans too stupid for democracy ?- Salon. com

How Ignorant Are Americans? - Newsweek

A.A.Gill on America, Europes Greatest Invention. - Excerpt from Vanity Fair.

"Stupid, stupid. Americans are stupid. America is stupid. A stupid, stupid country made stupid by stupid, stupid people.” 
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/07/america-with-love-aa-gill-excerpt 

Why Americans Are Becoming Stupid - Huffington Post

Scientists say America is too dumb for democracy to thrive- San Fransisco Gate 

Time to Americans: You are stupid, vapid, self absorbed narcissists.  - Patheos

Kerry defends liberties, says Americans have a right to be stupid - Reuters

 "The reason is, that's freedom, freedom of speech. In America you have a right to be stupid — if you want to be. And you have a right to be disconnected to somebody else if you want to be. "

 And Kerry said this in a speech in Germany. What a wonderful reflection of our society when the representative for the country implies that stupidity is yet another freedom to applaud.  

America The Ignorant - Outside The Beltway

America - An Ignorant Nation - Rense

Looking outside of the United States found even worse results:

Are Americans dumb? No, it's the inequality, stupid. - The Guardian

The Dumbing Down of America- Pravda 

Defending American Ignorance - Francistapo

The author of this letter to the editor of Morehead City, NC's Carteret County News-Times thinks that the term "natural born citizen" in Article II of the Constitution means someone who wasn't delivered via a C-section.

And the editor printed it?

A Gallop poll shows that 1 in 4 Americans believe we won our independence from a country OTHER than Great Britain. Many people said France. Others said China. China! I'll let that sink in. China! Gonna repeat it a few times. China! Nothing against China (!), but China? (!)  

I wanted to know if we are stupid just in the political arena, or if this is an affliction can be found everywhere we turn. 

The writer of the letter to the editor below clearly has nothing against other religions, as long as they are Christian denominations.. it's the people who have no religious affiliation she wants to leave the country.

Has she not heard that the United States practices "separation of church and state?" Perhaps she ought to heed the advice of the letter printed below her letter and go fishing.

 

This next writer doesn't want to kick anyone out.. in fact she would prefer that we don't see all terrorists as bad. "Terror-ist" 

"Terror."

Is there a new definition for the word terror that I fail to understand?

Is the word "terror

"Fema probe reveals rain caused floods"  
I question FEMA's professionalism and I think they should be made to prove that the rain caused the floods. Perhaps someone left their bath running?

In March 2009, the European Journal of Communication asked citizens of Britain, Denmark, Finland and the U.S. to answer questions on international affairs.
Europe came out on top. Around three quarters of British, Finnish and Danish people could, for example, identify the Taliban but just over a half of Americans could, despite the fact they led the charge in Afghanistan.
Many blame it on the complexity of the U.S. political system.

The problem I have found in America is that people are indoctrinated with political dogma and they never learn to comprehend or digest any information that does not fit a preconceived notion. They literally get "stuck on stupid."

Arguing with anyone from the radical right wing about universal healthcare is like arguing with a 4 yr old child who say's that he hates broccoli when he has never tasted broccoli in his life.

It makes poor bedfellows when ones "ideals" ignore concrete facts and contradictions, and no one can doubt that the political atmosphere fosters the desire to keep trying to make square pegs fit into round holes.

I normally do not prescribe to any degree of selfishness .. but when it comes to knowledge I advocate a selfish approach. Knowledge is more than reading, writing, and arithmetic in an academic setting. It is more than a university degree, or high school diploma. It is beyond the responsibility of schools or educational boards.. it is a personal responsibility. It is one of the most important investments an individual can make for themselves, their future and is critical to understanding the world around us and the complexity of the issues.

Few knew better than Albert Einstein - “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.” One never saw late night comedians mocking Albert Einstein!