Our society loves to point fingers, so surely someone is to blame.
Let's start with the obvious. Television. We could end the conversation here, but that's the easy way out. Television stations cater to ratings. If people don't watch something, they take it off the air.
I'm personally a fan of 'boring' things like documentaries, and scientific studies. That being said, I'm not sure it's fair to call television the enemy. There is a LOT of educational material out there. If people were actually interested in educating themselves, there is more than enough information available for them to do so. (If people were interested in learning anything, shows like Jackass never would have made it on television.)
Have you ever wondered why people are so stupid?
I'm not talking a little bit stupid. I'm not talking doing something stupid. I'm talking an ignorance so deep you could detect it in their DNA.
In the digital age, I often find myself wondering why there are still so many stupid people. Perhaps they're so stupid, they don't even realize how far gone they are. Perhaps they look around and see NOTHING wrong, because they fall nicely into the present status quo. This mentality drives me insane, personally. Blinded by corporate distractions, people can't comprehend the situations even with details pointed out. Generally, they'll defend their position, and the honest observer ends up looking like a pompous ass.
90% of Americans know who Honey-Boo-Boo is. Only 47% of Americans know that the sun is a star.
~This is why I'm starting to think that people are too stupid to know what stupid is anymore. ~
Even more alarming than this first statistic, is the fact it's hard to carry on a conversation with ANYONE anymore. Pay attention. You'll find most casual conversations will consist of sentences using 5 words or less. If you use words with multiple syllables people will loose interest, or accuse you of 'speaking down to them.' Remember this the next time you go to the gas station, grocery store, mall, wherever. Even basic questions are often met with mental strain from the responder. "Do you know if this product contains _____________?" "Do you know if this product will react with ______________?" "Do you know what the 4th amendment of the constitution says?"
Civilization exists OUTSIDE of America.
Americans have been told they are number one for so long, they've turned an almost entirely blind eye to their crumbling infrastructures. Contrary to the beliefs of many, many international cities make many American cities look primitive. There's a silent arrogance when people say they've never left the country. It's as if nothing worthy of exploration exists anywhere else in the world. Perhaps if more Americans ventured out into the world, they'd gain a little (much needed) perspective. We've let our greatness go to our heads. Our inflated egos have resulted in inflated waistlines. We feel the need to label everything (except genetically modified organisms.) Maybe if we stopped labeling everything we'd start getting along better. If there weren't specific names for all of our individual differences, maybe people could stop generalizing themselves based on a label, and learn how to be an individual again.Children are born with an innocence.
Innocence: Something we loose as we get older. This loss is something we accept as being inevitable. Sometimes I wonder if this assumption is actually true. People marvel at the 'simple minded' logic of young children. Sometimes children are even able to reach us enough to make us ponder our own decisions. We don't seem to ponder long enough to remember whatever it was we lost between childhood and adulthood though...
Of course some children have their innocence stolen from them unjustly, but even when there's no foul play involved, the 'innocence' eventually fades. No one seems to question WHY this happens.
No two stories are ever quite the same, but the basic sets of emotions we're born with are the same. For the sake of this article, I'm going to consider 'curiosity' to be an emotion. Let me explain. Children are naturally curious. They ask thousands of questions. Many of those questions can catch us off guard, and some are hard to explain, even by a highly educated individual.
I can't tell you how many times I've witnessed a parent getting angry over a persistently curious child. (Intelligent children are often diagnosed with behavioral disorders and placed on medication.) I feel like curiosity is a sign of intelligence. If a child is constantly told not to question authority, and not to question the world they're in, they WILL eventually give up. Killing the instinctual curiosity in someone else should be considered a form of abuse.
If you're not pissed off yet, you should be.
If the idea of generations of cookie cutter copies of former generations sounds appealing, then you're probably a victim of 'The StuPid CrAzE.'
This fad needs to end. NOW. The government barely funds the educational system anymore. Many parents are even asked to provide toilet paper for their kids at school. Even in the face of embarrassing facts like this, the masses aren't outraged. The government still spends money to send teenagers and young adults into war zones. When they come home, many of them aren't employable. PTSD is a massive problem in modern society, yet it is something that is treated behind closed doors. There is very little public awareness for post traumatic stress disorder, but hopefully awareness will rise.
I find it appalling that we can 'ignore' children until they're old enough to fight a war they don't understand, and then send them out to wage corporate battles.If we nurtured our children to appreciate and respect history, they MIGHT actually learn from our mistakes. If you think we're actually fighting a "War On Terror" you're also a victim of the Stupid Craze. (It has been about robbing native people of their natural resources for decades.) Sorry if you find this offensive, but don't forget how America was founded. This land was stolen from the natives. What makes you think that anything has really changed.
Why do you think they say truth hurts?
The lack of creative nurturing we offer our children is almost criminal. When creativity is allowed to die, the beautiful side of human nature dies with it. Sadly, our society has decided to victimize the children by not educating them, and simply sending them out to die. I find it equally appalling that the masses don't seem to notice anything wrong. In America, around 1/8 of the population struggles with hunger. A statistic like that shouldn't exist in "the greatest nation on earth." It doesn't look like things are going to get better any time soon. Due to the recent government shutdown, there is some fear that schools won't be able to provide food to students on a free/reduced system. (If at all.) Many of these children don't get proper food anywhere else. Why are the children being punished for a corporate war? Perhaps if the children were properly educated, they'd find solutions to the world's problems. You're not talking about punishing a generation that doesn't exist. We're not imagining a dark future. This is happening NOW. People should have been outraged over 10 years ago, but the system has managed to continue digressing. It has been digressing for decades, but in recent times things have been blatantly obvious.
"People hate what they fear, and they fear what they do not know. "
The N.S.A. can't protect you. Neither can your government. You should be more afraid of structural issues in that bridge you drive over causing collapse than you should be of terrorism. The fact that you're not aware of major infrastructure issues in this country should at least make you wonder... Maybe the government is not as wonderful as they say they are.To truly be free, there's always some risk involved. It's time to be accountable for your own actions again. Quit blaming others.
If you don't feel safe in your own home, then it's up to YOU to find a solution to that problem. It's nice to have a backup system in place to keep things fair and balanced, but our current system of checks and balances isn't too balanced at the moment. When everyone is trying to place blame on someone else, they can't make personal progress. Without personal progress, the system can't progress. (Turn on the news, our environmental and economic issues are pretty hard to ignore once you've learned how to see through the propaganda.)
Remember, the people that speak up make history. Silence isn't as golden as you might have been taught.
Parents like to blame the system, and the system likes to blame the parents.
These days, everyone has issues. Times have been hard on everyone, and it doesn't look like things will be turning around economically for quite some time.
Greatness does not guarantee success. Regardless of how amazing you are, there is ALWAYS room for improvement. Pointing fingers never really accomplished anything long term. No one takes into consideration the fact that by placing the responsibility on someone else, no one can actually be held accountable. Accountability is a term that has gone the way of the dinosaurs in our modern culture. Children can't really raise themselves. (I'm aware that many do, and a few turn out alright, but the overwhelming majority don't.) This dysfunctional lack of standards is getting passed down through generations. Why? No one has been willing to be accountable. It's a pretty basic concept, but the effects can be monumental.
How much can children really learn in class when they're distracted by the latest fashion, sports game, or pop icon? Socialization and hierarchy reign supreme in public school, and in the meantime academia suffers. The universe is an endless source of mystery. The history of political systems worldwide contains more drama than anything on prime time television. Why do we tune out such important information?
If people flocked to scientific seminars the way they flock to Wal-Mart, society would be able to advance more quickly. It's hard to focus on peace, when war produces enormous private wealth.
There is this sense of "I don't need to be educated. I'm going to be rich and famous." Obviously that's not how it ends up for most people. No one prepared these children for the real world. Idolizing the latest trends and keeping up with pop culture are what occupy the majority of the young minds in America. Thinking like that as a teenager will set them up for a lifetime of disappointment. As long as they have a cell phone, they feel like they're "somebody." There is MUCH more to life than that.
So what if you're smart?
"Nerd" was not something you wanted to be in public school. (My generation later learned that most of the nerds make excellent livings, but who would have wanted to suffer through high school as a nerd? Eeek! Adolescence is hard enough as it is. ) Eventually many intelligent people get lazy, and can even blend in with the rest of the masses. If this behavior goes unchecked for too long, data suggests you run the risk of actually loosing intellectual abilities.
Intelligence shouldn't be something to be ashamed of. The fact that it is openly shamed indicates just how far our society has already fallen.
Children who openly question things are usually chastised. They should be praised. The system we have now obviously doesn't work. Who are we to always tell them they're wrong?
Religion should not be forced on children.
Religions today? Here's the way I see it; Human beings (according to SCIENCE) have only been around for a few million years. We're floating on a tiny rock in the middle of something we barely understand. There is no way that anyone has it quite right.
There should be ONE BASIC LAW: Don't hurt anyone.
This is a quiet problem that mainstream media has stayed away from.
America is supposed to be the land of the free, but we have more people incarcerated both in actual numbers, and statistically IN THE WORLD. (Hey, at least we're still number one at something!)
Can someone please explain why non-violent people are sentenced to decades in prison? What good does it actually do? If you're making money from this system, you probably don't have much to say. If your life was ruined because you got caught smoking a joint 30 years ago, your opinions on this topic might be a little stronger.
Only when people wake up their minds, will they have the opportunity to be free.
The average IQ in the United States is only 98.
We're not at the bottom of the stupid list, but we're pretty close. We're ranked 19th out of 25 westernized countries. The lowest averages in the world can be found in Africa. (Mainly areas where proper nutrition and medical treatment are rare.) So what? We're smarter than "starving Ethiopians?" (Not that I don't have sympathy for the situations in those regions, but I'm trying to make a point. Don't get all 'butthurt' over an ancient South Park reference.) Many of you get upset over nothing. Quit acting like you're entitled to never be offended. Grow a pair, already.America used to be the land of opportunity for scientists, dreamers, artists, mathematicians, and inventors. These days, it seems like you can get famous for simply making a fool out of yourself in public. Everyone is easy to get offended, but no one wants to raise the standards. That's why I'm writing this. People need to open their eyes, and see the mess they've made. It's not going to be easy to clean up.
So who's fault is it? All of ours. We should all be accountable for our own actions, yet most of the time we're not.
Nothing worth doing is EVER easy.
If you actually care about the future, then it's YOUR responsibility to raise the bar, and set new standards.
*Don't forget to share. Together we can raise awareness. Together we have the chance to make a difference. You're guaranteed to fail if you don't try.
