Embarrassingly Stupid Americans

[2020hindsight]

George Carlin on "the American Dream"

the table is tilted folks
It's called the "AMERICAN DREAM"
because you have to be asleep to believe it.

 

[moneymajix]

Re: Dumber than Dirt ...

2020

Very Good.

 

[prawn_86]

Yeh it seems to me as though America (and most Western countries for that matter) are operating Communism/Dictatorships under the guise of capitalism, with a select few controlling the vast majority by dumbing them down.

The pertinent question here is:

How do you beat "them"/help the vast majority become educated?

I havnt been able to find an answer, so the old adage "cant beat them, join them" is what im sticking to.

 

[Spaghetti]

Education has not helped it seems. I watched a program on the Singaporean education system once and how it produced a high level of technical skills but actually suppressed entrepenurial skills. I think we (and the US) have managed the same outcome from over education though perhaps to a lesser degree.

I did find before I FLED the workforce hee hee that the system was churning out manufactured employees. They were a good cultural fit rather than original thinkers. To be honest they all seemed to have the same personality, wore the same type outfits, read the same newspapers and books and ate at the same restaurants. Little wonder we end up with an inability for critical thinking when even the highly educated amongst us restrict their experiences to an acceptable few.

Yes we have been pigeonholed well and truly.

 

[PortfolioPlus]

Don't assume your own kids are representative of the whole.

Hey buddy, when I made my comment about Gen Y's...it's based upon me personally employing in excess of 200 Generation Y's...so yeah, whilst generalities can often be flawed, I feel I have the right to make a contrast between the generations. Give me the baby boomers anytime. For the record my kids are doing just fine.

But I do thank the generation Y's for one thing (or at least those who worked for me). And that is, that business isn't everything...so I sold out and am happy to have done so.

Now the task is to preserve the capital...and it ain't easy at the moment!

But I can rest easy...if I blow it I can get the pension and be a burden on the Gen Y's!

 

[spooly74]

"Is France a country?"

...

"I don't think France is a country."

Are you dumber than an American?

If you don't know what I'm talking about... check it.

GOLD



Mind you, this French bloke is just as bad, if not worse!....and that goes for the gob****es in the audience too!!

 

[chops_a_must]

Ah well... with 1500 euros, he'll be a millionaire in USD money soon anyway. Lol!

 

[theasxgorilla]

Yeh it seems to me as though America (and most Western countries for that matter) are operating Communism/Dictatorships under the guise of capitalism, with a select few controlling the vast majority by dumbing them down.

The pertinent question here is:

How do you beat "them"/help the vast majority become educated?

I havnt been able to find an answer, so the old adage "cant beat them, join them" is what im sticking to.

Does this really happen. Are there really politicians in a country such as America that actually do thing to dumb down their populous...or is it more a by-product of neglect?

ASX.G

 

[prawn_86]

Does this really happen. Are there really politicians in a country such as America that actually do thing to dumb down their populous...or is it more a by-product of neglect?

ASX.G

I would think intentional neglect is a very strong possibility IMO.

IE - not increasing education funding, or not making it a major issue, or saying they will improve things but not actual doing so, or falsifying figures etc etc.

Deliberate neglect is the same as intentional dumbing down. Providing it serves the politicians, and those who control/pay/bribe them then it will get done.

So yes, politicians would really do this

Thats my cynical view...

 

[wayneL]

Does this really happen. Are there really politicians in a country such as America that actually do thing to dumb down their populous...or is it more a by-product of neglect?

ASX.G

You gotta wonder. The are any number of conspiracy theories that claim we are being dumbed down. A quick google search.

Whether intentional or not, I have certainly seen a declining ability/willingness to examine issues, everything is centered around 8 second sound-bites... and even that used to be a 15 second sound-bite. The state is dictating more and more how we must think, that is undeniable,a nd as mentioned above, the constant appetite for entertainment (whether groomed or not) in favour of conversation, reading debating etc is highly disturbing.

And it's not just gen y. With a few delightful exceptions, my own generation of late boomers/early gen Xers have developed a singular lack of critical thought.

Is it intentional? It's a bit hard to believe that a global elite (bildabergers or whoever) had it planned all the time, but they are certainly capitalizing on it.

 

[2020hindsight]

Whether intentional or not, I have certainly seen a declining ability/willingness to examine issues, everything is centered around 8 second sound-bites...

and sometimes the "point" zooms past - and you have to think about it ...

Apart from the fact that Governor Spitzer of NY was a total hypocrite (sure to be a headline) - and the fact that the new Governor is blind ( yesss!!)

but probably the real news is .. why the hell was his phone tapped??

PS Unless he was stupid enough to put it on his government VISA I guess )
PS I don't condone his behaviour - then again, I'm not sure I condone the police behaviour either

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2188789.htm#comments

It seems to me that moral hypocrisy has got quite out of hand. We have allowed the chattering classes, notably journalists and in the current case also the police, to impose on the community, moral standards that often enough they do not practice, any more than does the community.

The spectacle of the governor of New York abasing himself on television about how he had violated his obligations to his family and that he had violated his or anyone's sense of right and wrong was invidious.

What did he do? Did he kidnap children, confine them in a basement and then rape and murder them. Did he run an orphanage, and violate those entrusted to his care. Did he steal the gold from Fort Knox.

No, he did none of those things. He availed himself of the services of a sex worker, in a New York Hotel. He paid a lady for a service, and received it, like a number of other guests at the same and other New York hotels. And nobody would have been any the wiser had the federal police not tapped the booking and made it public.

What were the police doing, wire tapping the State governor? Do they do that for all the governors of America's 50 or so States? What are they looking for? Terrorists? Adulterers?

What business is it of anybody but Eliot Spitzer? What does Mrs Spitzer think of having this titbit served up for public delectation and her private embarrassment? And what business is it of ours, here in Australia on the other side of the world, where it was an item on the 7pm evening news.

Well, it is our business, because as America goes, so do we. If it's wrong to sleep with a prostitute in America, then it's wrong here, isn't it. No. It's not. It's perfectly legal here.

 

[xoa]

Hey buddy, when I made my comment about Gen Y's...it's based upon me personally employing in excess of 200 Generation Y's...so yeah, whilst generalities can often be flawed, I feel I have the right to make a contrast between the generations. Give me the baby boomers anytime. For the record my kids are doing just fine.

But I do thank the generation Y's for one thing (or at least those who worked for me). And that is, that business isn't everything...so I sold out and am happy to have done so.

Now the task is to o preserve the capital...and it ain't easy at the moment!

But I can rest easy...if I blow it I can get the pension and be a burden on the Gen Y's!

Every generation has bad eggs. A large minority of baby boomers were filthy, degenerate hippies. Years of substance abuse caused many to develop a chronic mental disability.

Good on you, for boasting about your business success to an anonymous audience. I'm a GenY, born in China but now a proud Aussie, and in my last year of university. I haven't experienced the pleasure of ripping off an unsuspecting entrepreneur (I guess that's one of our generational character flaws), but I'm also happy with my life to date. I secured a scholarship and guaranteed graduate employment in my first year of uni. It's not all about the money, I'll genuinely look forward to treating your generation as you enter your autumn years.

Rest assured that I won't mind paying for your pension, my starting salary will be generous. Within a few years, private health funds will be giving me more cash than I could possibly spend. Baby boomers expect silver spoon service, and they're willing to pay through the teeth for it.

 

[2020hindsight]

well fwiw, I reckon we could just as easily start a thread "Embarrassingly Stupid Australians" as well. With the possible exception of us being probably more interested in "matters USA", whereas the average American has little incentive or presumably encouragement to be interested in AUS for instance. - just speculatin here

 

[Mofra]

but probably the real news is .. why the hell was his phone tapped??

Congratulations 2020, you've demonstrated critical thinking abilities that pot you ahead 98% of the pack

 

[2020hindsight]

Congratulations 2020, you've demonstrated critical thinking abilities that pot you ahead 98% of the pack

hey mofra - blame ABC's David Barnett for the thinking - I just did the reading

I liked one of the comments there .. (Aussie larrikin obviously) ...
"Why should anyone, let alone Australians, care whether an American politician SLEEPS with prostitutes" - as long as he doesn't snore I guess

But hell there are brothels in Nevada etc that cover acres, - they could connect generators to the bedsprings and run the lights of Las Vegas .!!.. - yet elsewhere in USA they make it out to be a hanging offense - weird isn't it

 

[chops_a_must]

Whether intentional or not, I have certainly seen a declining ability/willingness to examine issues, everything is centered around 8 second sound-bites... and even that used to be a 15 second sound-bite. The state is dictating more and more how we must think, that is undeniable,a nd as mentioned above, the constant appetite for entertainment (whether groomed or not) in favour of conversation, reading debating etc is highly disturbing.

And it's not just gen y. With a few delightful exceptions, my own generation of late boomers/early gen Xers have developed a singular lack of critical thought.

Definitely, and anyone that can't spell that word shouldn't be allowed a uni degree.

But yeah, we have a situation where our society is churning out economics, business, commerce, blah blah blah clones on a massive scale, with abominable spelling, and who have not for one moment studied anything that would be closely regarded as critical analysis. Learning models and coming up with numbers, regurgitating clichés, as seen on this forum, is not a sign of intelligence. We might as well have a bunch of parrots being paid top dollar. At least they are entertaining.

We have University courses offering PHD's, literally, "Doctor of Philosophy in", without those Universities offering philosophy units at all! So you can go from pre-school to PHD level without ever learning critical analysis or critical arguments. Such is the society we live in where lateral thinking and questioning is actually shunned, and those with a mindset for such, scorned.

/justified, correctly spelled and grammatically correct rant.

P.S. - Spitzer's hooker was pretty gorgeous. Good on him I say!

 

[wayneL]

P.S. - Spitzer's hooker was pretty gorgeous. Good on him I say!

At $1,000 an hour, she is probably more than just gorgeous!

 

[PortfolioPlus]

Every generation has bad eggs. A large minority of baby boomers were filthy, degenerate hippies. Years of substance abuse caused many to develop a chronic mental disability.

Good on you, for boasting about your business success to an anonymous audience. I'm a GenY, born in China but now a proud Aussie, and in my last year of university. I haven't experienced the pleasure of ripping off an unsuspecting entrepreneur (I guess that's one of our generational character flaws), but I'm also happy with my life to date. I secured a scholarship and guaranteed graduate employment in my first year of uni. It's not all about the money, I'll genuinely look forward to treating your generation as you enter your autumn years.

Rest assured that I won't mind paying for your pension, my starting salary will be generous. Within a few years, private health funds will be giving me more cash than I could possibly spend. Baby boomers expect silver spoon service, and they're willing to pay through the teeth for it.

WooHoo! Go XAO! Sounds like white shoes for you!

Will we meet in the dentists chair, the surgery or will I be looking up at you as the anaesthetic is about to kick in?

Great to see you on this site as you might just resolve the medical riddle.

Why don't doctors retire?

Answer: They can't afford to because they invested in just about every dumb-ass tax avoiding program running around that wasn't worth a "hill of beans".

Have a great career buddy and that old bit of advice about saving 10% of what you earn still doesn't have a peer.

As to the hippies...well...most of them grew out of it in their thirties and picked up their "responsibility" yoke. And that's the generalised frustration I have with GenY and I know I am not alone.

You see, if someone in society doesn't shoulder their share of the load...others have to. Like the six strapping...but unemployed..."surfies" who can rent a beachside unit with their pooled benefits.

XAO...with your "generous starting salary" comes a generous tax slug and you have a right to ask the question: what does my tax buy me?

 

[chops_a_must]

At $1,000 an hour, she is probably more than just gorgeous!

Perhaps a specialist in lateral positioning for leg trades?

Or is that, "lateral legs for position trades"? I forget.

You'd hate it if she liked to knock off early... so to speak...

 

[wayneL]

Perhaps a specialist in lateral positioning for leg trades?

Or is that, "lateral legs for position trades"? I forget.

You'd hate it if she liked to knock off early... so to speak...

I wonder if she is in the 5% :