"Americans are Simple-Minded"

I don't think we're stupid. I think Americans, generally, can be shallow and breathtakingly ignorant of the rest of the world.

Having said that, the Brits ain't a whole lot better. I recently spoke to someone who thought Los Angeles was a state. I did laugh at that.

Like 'empty vessel' Palin thought Africa was a country? One BIG difference, that Brit wasn't running for the office that is 'a heartbeat away' from having their finger on the nuclear trigger.

Building a Nation of Know-Nothings

It’s not just that 46 percent of Republicans believe the lie that Obama is a Muslim, or that 27 percent in the party doubt that the president of the United States is a citizen. But fully half of them believe falsely that the big bailout of banks and insurance companies under TARP was enacted by Obama, and not by President Bush.

...

In the much-discussed Pew poll reporting the spike in ignorance, those who believe Obama to be Muslim say they got their information from the media. But no reputable news agency — that is, fact-based, one that corrects its errors quickly — has spread such inaccuracies.

So where is this “media?” Two sources, and they are — no surprise here — the usual suspects. The first, of course, is Rush Limbaugh, who claims the largest radio audience in the land among the microphone demagogues, and his word is Biblical among Republicans.

...

On the Muslim deception, Limbaugh has sprinkled lie dust all over the place. “Obama says he’s a Christian, but where’s the evidence?” he said on Aug. 19. He has repeatedly called the president “imam Obama,” and said, “I’m just throwing things out there, folks, because people are questioning his Christianity.”

You see how he works. He drops in suggestions, hints, notes that “people are questioning” things. The design is to make Obama un-American. Then he says it’s a tweak, a provocation. He says this as a preemptive way to keep the press from calling him out. And it works; long profiles of Limbaugh have largely gone easy on him.

Once Limbaugh has planted a lie, a prominent politician can pick it up, with little nuance. So, over the weekend, Kim Lehman, one of Iowa’s two Republican National Committee members, went public with doubts on Obama’s Christianity. Of course, she was not condemned by party leaders.

...

Climate-change denial is a special category all its own. Once on the fringe, dismissal of scientific consensus is now an article of faith among leading Republicans, again taking their cue from Limbaugh and Fox.

It would be nice to dismiss the stupid things that Americans believe as harmless, the price of having such a large, messy democracy. Plenty of hate-filled partisans swore that Abraham Lincoln was a Catholic and Franklin Roosevelt was a Jew. So what if one-in-five believe the sun revolves around the earth, or aren’t sure from which country the United States gained its independence?

But false belief in weapons of mass-destruction led the United States to a trillion-dollar war. And trust in rising home value as a truism as reliable as a sunrise was a major contributor to the catastrophic collapse of the economy. At its worst extreme, a culture of misinformation can something like Iran, which is run by a Holocaust denier.

It’s one thing to forget the past, with predictable consequences, as the favorite aphorism goes. But what about those who refuse to comprehend the present?

Like Obama thought we had 57 states?

Are you actually capable of original thought or not? Because all you ever do is post other people's words.
 
I don't think we're stupid. I think Americans, generally, can be shallow and breathtakingly ignorant of the rest of the world.

Having said that, the Brits ain't a whole lot better. I recently spoke to someone who thought Los Angeles was a state. I did laugh at that.

Like 'empty vessel' Palin thought Africa was a country? One BIG difference, that Brit wasn't running for the office that is 'a heartbeat away' from having their finger on the nuclear trigger.

:eusa_hand: americans have not demonstrated that we will support a dummy like palin with the majority of our votes. there are idiots running for office in england as well. like palin, they are not in government leadership.

sure there's dumb americans - pop on the tv. there are idiot japanese on japanese tv, for certain. if you are dealing with a certain echelon of americans, however, there is nothing stupid about us. i believe we will take all comers on that basis for some time in the foreseeable future as we have in the past, outsmarting and overpowering british and japanese intellect, both.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbpWonUzlrc]YouTube - Obama Gaffe[/ame]

Corpse men?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh6Gx1KrvTw]YouTube - Barack Obama Sees Dead People[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws]YouTube - Obama Claims He's Visited 57 States[/ame]
 
Okay. How did this go from 'Americans are dumb' to 'your side is dumber than mine'?
Dumb Americans?


The wing-nuts had to make it an educational failure issue they're sticking to their opposition.

Stooges.jpg
 
Thank you, liberal-dominated education.

Irony...the 'personal responsibility' mantra always disappears when it can be blamed on 'liberals'...guess you need a nanny...

Beyond irony...America's education system was number one in the world for decades when it really WAS liberal-dominated. 30+ years of conservative dominated politics have us behind the rest of the world.

Now, the right wing ideologues want to remove Thomas Jefferson from school textbooks.

Texas Removes Thomas Jefferson From Teaching Standard

Bfgrn, you partisan drone, if "conservatives dominated politics," there wouldn't be a Federal Dept of Education.

Thank you for reinforcing my case pea brain...:lol::lol::lol:

Education is the cheap defense of nations.
Edmund Burke
 
Irony...the 'personal responsibility' mantra always disappears when it can be blamed on 'liberals'...guess you need a nanny...

Beyond irony...America's education system was number one in the world for decades when it really WAS liberal-dominated. 30+ years of conservative dominated politics have us behind the rest of the world.

Now, the right wing ideologues want to remove Thomas Jefferson from school textbooks.

Texas Removes Thomas Jefferson From Teaching Standard

Bfgrn, you partisan drone, if "conservatives dominated politics," there wouldn't be a Federal Dept of Education.

Thank you for reinforcing my case pea brain...:lol::lol::lol:

Education is the cheap defense of nations.
Edmund Burke

Originality is a good measure of intelligence.......:eusa_whistle:
 
Simple and stupid are two different words.

I would tend to agree that many Americans are not sophisticated. Americans tend to not know much about other nations. This might be because of the physical size of our nation. In Europe, people can much more easily travel to other nations. Most people in Europe know a second language and even a third language. Many Americans are very weak in the subject of geography.

Also, Americans aren't exposed to high culture much. In Europe, classic culture is much more available. Ancient history surrounds people. The arts are much more visible. In America, the public is more preoccupied with pop culture.

In America, people often work very hard, and focus on material acquisition. When someone gets ahead, they are most likely to buy a big house, nice car, a fleet of snowmobiles, a boat, etc... They aren't expected to start attending the opera and becoming well-versed in world politics.

:clap2:

best post in the thread
 
I see that some of you are using this opportunity to bash America but I can tell you this: Japan is dying. They're not making babies, the population is getting older, they don't want immigration, their economy has been sucking for a long time and they have crappy, do nothing leaders. The only thing they're doing right is buying US debt.

No one is killing themselves to get into "The Land of the Setting Sun", but they are killing themselves to get here. Think about that.

what does this have to do with americans being simple minded? do you know what ad hominem is?
 
I don't think we're stupid. I think Americans, generally, can be shallow and breathtakingly ignorant of the rest of the world.

Having said that, the Brits ain't a whole lot better. I recently spoke to someone who thought Los Angeles was a state. I did laugh at that.

judge a country by its education standards. for instance, in india, what we do in 2 & 3 year college they do in the 3rd year of their version of high school.

my gf's kid goes to regular school during thed ay, but we teach him extra stuff from india and other countries standards and its years ahead of his current school even with him being in a gifted school

Just send 'em to Catholic schools. Easy answer.

nah, the gifted schools are better academically than even the catholic ones.

I went to a catholic school though from k-12 b/c they didn't have the gifted schools here then and it was a million times better education than the public schools so I know they are good.
 
we are quickly becoming the dumbest civilized nation on earth. our school systems (except some colleges) are a joke compared to world standards. their students are a good 3-4 years ahead of us and their familys actually value education, a complete one at that which encompasses, art, science, math, history and everything in between.

"being dumb" and laughing about your ignorance of some subject is embarrassing in most other countries while it flourishes here
Thank you, liberal-dominated education.

Irony...the 'personal responsibility' mantra always disappears when it can be blamed on 'liberals'...guess you need a nanny...

Beyond irony...America's education system was number one in the world for decades when it really WAS liberal-dominated. 30+ years of conservative dominated politics have us behind the rest of the world.

Now, the right wing ideologues want to remove Thomas Jefferson from school textbooks.

Texas Removes Thomas Jefferson From Teaching Standard

hmm I wonder what that huge federal agency is that was created about 30 years ago and since then has had a strangle hold over education standards???
 
Like 'empty vessel' Palin thought Africa was a country? One BIG difference, that Brit wasn't running for the office that is 'a heartbeat away' from having their finger on the nuclear trigger.

:eusa_hand: americans have not demonstrated that we will support a dummy like palin with the majority of our votes. there are idiots running for office in england as well. like palin, they are not in government leadership.

sure there's dumb americans - pop on the tv. there are idiot japanese on japanese tv, for certain. if you are dealing with a certain echelon of americans, however, there is nothing stupid about us. i believe we will take all comers on that basis for some time in the foreseeable future as we have in the past, outsmarting and overpowering british and japanese intellect, both.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbpWonUzlrc]YouTube - Obama Gaffe[/ame]

Corpse men?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh6Gx1KrvTw]YouTube - Barack Obama Sees Dead People[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws]YouTube - Obama Claims He's Visited 57 States[/ame]

there are silly misspeaks in tense situations, people like palin show a lifetime of non-education and lack of world wide knowledge
 
I don't think we're stupid. I think Americans, generally, can be shallow and breathtakingly ignorant of the rest of the world.

Having said that, the Brits ain't a whole lot better. I recently spoke to someone who thought Los Angeles was a state. I did laugh at that.

Like 'empty vessel' Palin thought Africa was a country? One BIG difference, that Brit wasn't running for the office that is 'a heartbeat away' from having their finger on the nuclear trigger.

Building a Nation of Know-Nothings

It’s not just that 46 percent of Republicans believe the lie that Obama is a Muslim, or that 27 percent in the party doubt that the president of the United States is a citizen. But fully half of them believe falsely that the big bailout of banks and insurance companies under TARP was enacted by Obama, and not by President Bush.

...

In the much-discussed Pew poll reporting the spike in ignorance, those who believe Obama to be Muslim say they got their information from the media. But no reputable news agency — that is, fact-based, one that corrects its errors quickly — has spread such inaccuracies.

So where is this “media?” Two sources, and they are — no surprise here — the usual suspects. The first, of course, is Rush Limbaugh, who claims the largest radio audience in the land among the microphone demagogues, and his word is Biblical among Republicans.

...

On the Muslim deception, Limbaugh has sprinkled lie dust all over the place. “Obama says he’s a Christian, but where’s the evidence?” he said on Aug. 19. He has repeatedly called the president “imam Obama,” and said, “I’m just throwing things out there, folks, because people are questioning his Christianity.”

You see how he works. He drops in suggestions, hints, notes that “people are questioning” things. The design is to make Obama un-American. Then he says it’s a tweak, a provocation. He says this as a preemptive way to keep the press from calling him out. And it works; long profiles of Limbaugh have largely gone easy on him.

Once Limbaugh has planted a lie, a prominent politician can pick it up, with little nuance. So, over the weekend, Kim Lehman, one of Iowa’s two Republican National Committee members, went public with doubts on Obama’s Christianity. Of course, she was not condemned by party leaders.

...

Climate-change denial is a special category all its own. Once on the fringe, dismissal of scientific consensus is now an article of faith among leading Republicans, again taking their cue from Limbaugh and Fox.

It would be nice to dismiss the stupid things that Americans believe as harmless, the price of having such a large, messy democracy. Plenty of hate-filled partisans swore that Abraham Lincoln was a Catholic and Franklin Roosevelt was a Jew. So what if one-in-five believe the sun revolves around the earth, or aren’t sure from which country the United States gained its independence?

But false belief in weapons of mass-destruction led the United States to a trillion-dollar war. And trust in rising home value as a truism as reliable as a sunrise was a major contributor to the catastrophic collapse of the economy. At its worst extreme, a culture of misinformation can something like Iran, which is run by a Holocaust denier.

It’s one thing to forget the past, with predictable consequences, as the favorite aphorism goes. But what about those who refuse to comprehend the present?

Like Obama thought we had 57 states?

Are you actually capable of original thought or not? Because all you ever do is post other people's words.

No, Obama knew there are 50 states. The Democratic Party's 2008 strategy was called a '50 State strategy'

Republicans prepping Palin for her debate said she didn't even know Africa was a continent.

Lest we forget Palin's pea brain interviews with Charley and Katie?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze1dQBluxiA]YouTube - Sarah Palin Fails The Bush Doctrine Test[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rXmuhWrlj4]YouTube - Couric Stumps Palin With Supreme Court Question[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9go38MgZ4w8]YouTube - Palin: I Read All the News[/ame]

Hey Cali girl, you keep harping on the same theme. But, I seem to recall a conversation where 'someone' said knowledge is knowing where to find information...that someone was YOU...

I guess you were 'born' with knowledge. That would fit your haughty narcissism.
 
we are quickly becoming the dumbest civilized nation on earth. our school systems (except some colleges) are a joke compared to world standards. their students are a good 3-4 years ahead of us and their familys actually value education, a complete one at that which encompasses, art, science, math, history and everything in between.

"being dumb" and laughing about your ignorance of some subject is embarrassing in most other countries while it flourishes here
Thank you, liberal-dominated education.

Irony...the 'personal responsibility' mantra always disappears when it can be blamed on 'liberals'...guess you need a nanny...

Beyond irony...America's education system was number one in the world for decades when it really WAS liberal-dominated. 30+ years of conservative dominated politics have us behind the rest of the world.

Now, the right wing ideologues want to remove Thomas Jefferson from school textbooks.

Texas Removes Thomas Jefferson From Teaching Standard

So, you're saying the whole right wing is responsible for the actions of a few.

Cool! I want to play!

The left wing is responsible for teaching kids that they can get credit for test questions with wrong answers and that soccer shouldn't be scored because the losing team might get their feelings hurt.
 
Thank you, liberal-dominated education.

Irony...the 'personal responsibility' mantra always disappears when it can be blamed on 'liberals'...guess you need a nanny...

Beyond irony...America's education system was number one in the world for decades when it really WAS liberal-dominated. 30+ years of conservative dominated politics have us behind the rest of the world.

Now, the right wing ideologues want to remove Thomas Jefferson from school textbooks.

Texas Removes Thomas Jefferson From Teaching Standard

So, you're saying the whole right wing is responsible for the actions of a few.

Cool! I want to play!

The left wing is responsible for teaching kids that they can get credit for test questions with wrong answers and that soccer shouldn't be scored because the losing team might get their feelings hurt.

yea I can't stand that crap. taking the competitiveness and drive out of kids so the ones at the bottom don't have their feelings hurts. it only hurts everyone involved.
 
Irony...the 'personal responsibility' mantra always disappears when it can be blamed on 'liberals'...guess you need a nanny...

Beyond irony...America's education system was number one in the world for decades when it really WAS liberal-dominated. 30+ years of conservative dominated politics have us behind the rest of the world.

Now, the right wing ideologues want to remove Thomas Jefferson from school textbooks.

Texas Removes Thomas Jefferson From Teaching Standard

So, you're saying the whole right wing is responsible for the actions of a few.

Cool! I want to play!

The left wing is responsible for teaching kids that they can get credit for test questions with wrong answers and that soccer shouldn't be scored because the losing team might get their feelings hurt.

yea I can't stand that crap. taking the competitiveness and drive out of kids so the ones at the bottom don't have their feelings hurts. it only hurts everyone involved.

In math testing, it HAS been common practice for years to award points for showing an understanding of the proper procedure to solve a problem, even if the calculations are incorrect. It makes perfect sense, because the goal is to learn HOW to solve a problem.

The link to the soccer article has only a paragraph and a picture.

1149480962_9987.jpg


If THIS is the age group, then the focus should be on participation, getting exercise and making it fun. There is plenty of time when they grow older for competitive games.

I played and coached baseball and hockey for years. I saw way to much PARENT interference and competitive obsession that ruined the fun for the kids.
 
Simple and stupid are two different words.

I would tend to agree that many Americans are not sophisticated. Americans tend to not know much about other nations. This might be because of the physical size of our nation. In Europe, people can much more easily travel to other nations. Most people in Europe know a second language and even a third language. Many Americans are very weak in the subject of geography.

Also, Americans aren't exposed to high culture much. In Europe, classic culture is much more available. Ancient history surrounds people. The arts are much more visible. In America, the public is more preoccupied with pop culture.

In America, people often work very hard, and focus on material acquisition. When someone gets ahead, they are most likely to buy a big house, nice car, a fleet of snowmobiles, a boat, etc... They aren't expected to start attending the opera and becoming well-versed in world politics.

excepting the upper social classes in britain, i think their population is geographically and linguistically just as inept as their american counterparts. the grasp of english and of history was startling for myself, an american, and one who had the inferiority complex reflected in this post. i have not travelled anywhere in the world where common people struck me as being well educated.

egypt, oddly, had the most informed general populace i've encountered with respect to geography and geopolitics.

just a non-scientific, personal perspective.
 
I played and coached baseball and hockey for years. I saw way to much PARENT interference and competitive obsession that ruined the fun for the kids.

Lemme guess: They didn't like it when you called their kids "pea-brains.":lol:


Or


Did they call you "Pea Brain?":(
 
In math testing, it HAS been common practice for years to award points for showing an understanding of the proper procedure to solve a problem, even if the calculations are incorrect. It makes perfect sense, because the goal is to learn HOW to solve a problem.

The link to the soccer article has only a paragraph and a picture.

1149480962_9987.jpg


If THIS is the age group, then the focus should be on participation, getting exercise and making it fun. There is plenty of time when they grow older for competitive games.

I played and coached baseball and hockey for years. I saw way to much PARENT interference and competitive obsession that ruined the fun for the kids.

the focus on doing things right and affirming competitive spirit has worked too well in the past for it to be abandoned. wrong answers and lost games are not mutually exclusive to the battle and the effort to solve problems and win. i believe children can benefit from earlier exposure to life, rather than this presumption that sheltering and coddling will actually rear adults who can perform in the real world.
 
In math testing, it HAS been common practice for years to award points for showing an understanding of the proper procedure to solve a problem, even if the calculations are incorrect. It makes perfect sense, because the goal is to learn HOW to solve a problem.

The link to the soccer article has only a paragraph and a picture.

1149480962_9987.jpg


If THIS is the age group, then the focus should be on participation, getting exercise and making it fun. There is plenty of time when they grow older for competitive games.

I played and coached baseball and hockey for years. I saw way to much PARENT interference and competitive obsession that ruined the fun for the kids.

the focus on doing things right and affirming competitive spirit has worked too well in the past for it to be abandoned. wrong answers and lost games are not mutually exclusive to the battle and the effort to solve problems and win. i believe children can benefit from earlier exposure to life, rather than this presumption that sheltering and coddling will actually rear adults who can perform in the real world.

Competitiveness is intrinsic in humans, it doesn't need to be indoctrinated by over zealous adults at that age.

After years of coaching, I honestly believe little league was invented for fathers that failed in sports. Kids are better off going to a playground and having a 'choose up' game all by themselves and let them work things out on their own. There should be a sign posted...NO ADULTS ALLOWED
 
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Competitiveness is intrinsic in humans, it doesn't need to be indoctrinated by over zealous adults at that age.

After years of coaching, I honestly believe little league was invented for fathers that failed in sports. Kids are better off going to a playground and having a 'choose up' game all by themselves and let them work things out on their own. There should be a sign posted...NO ADULTS ALLOWED
And you know what kids do on their own?

They keep score. One team wins, the other team loses.
 

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