On the Stupidity of the American People
************************************ EDIT ************************************
I've just received a comment from Rick Shenkman, the author of the book I rail on in this entry. I'm posting the comment at the top of this post to give some context as to why I only slightly edited, and did not delete the post:
"I AM THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK YOU'RE CRITIQUING WITHOUT READING.
SALON LEFT A MISLEADING IMPRESSION. I CERTAINLY DO NOT BACK LITERACY OR CIVICS TESTS FOR VOTERS, FOR INSTANCE.
AND I DO NOT BLAME THE VOTERS FOR ANYTHING. I ASK THEM TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR BEHAVIOR. FOR EXAMPLE, AFTER THE 9-11 COMMISSION REPORTED THAT 50% OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE STILL INSISTED ON BELIEVING THAT SADDAM WAS BEHIND 9-11 I SEE NO REASON NOT TO HOLD THE PUBLIC RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS IDIOCY.
TH INFORMATION WAS AVAILABLE FOR ANYBODY WHO CAN READ OR WATCH THE EVENING NEWS. THAT SO MNY FAILED TO ABSORB IT IS A SAD COMMENTARY ON OUR DEMOCRACY.
THIS IS A 10 ALARM FIRE THAT WE CAN'T AFFORD TO IGNORE ANY LONGER.
PLEASE GO TO MY BLOG TO FIND OUT WHAT'S ACTUALLY IN THE BOOK IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO READ IT. THE BLOG PROVIDES A VIDEO, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT LAYS OUT SOME OF MY ARGUMENTS.
HTTP://HOWSTUPIDBLOG.COM
RICK SHENKMAN"
I removed the assertion about civic literacy tests and any unnecessary jabs at (or further mentionings of) the author. I think this is an interesting debate and I'd like to keep it up for that reason. I intend to dive into the author's blog (and book, if I have time) to hear it from the horse's mouth. I apologize to the author if I misrepresented his assertions in any way. This blog is certainly not meant to be a news source of any kind, simply a time capsule for an unimportant kid in some interesting times.
************************* ORIGINAL POST, edited *************************
As a huge disclaimer here, I don't often read Salon and I haven't read Rick Shenkman's book, "Just How Stupid Are We?". My knowlege of this book is based on hearsay about its controversial assertions and this one article. All the same, I have things to say. I'm going to make an uninformed guess that if Salon was trying to give a balanced perspective on the book and ended up criticizing it for a number of reasons, if they didn't mention the ones I have in my head, they probably aren't covered in the book either.
The basic proposition here is that We, The People, are stupid, and this is really a huge problem for democracy, because you know, we vote.
I'm not disagreeing with the statistics. I agree to a great deal that we are, not stupid per se, but ignorant of the government structure, current events, and generally how everything works. You can tell by how badly I wrote that last sentence that I'm among the many people who don't have a clue. It's definitely one of my huge weaknesses, especially for someone who argues that we overthrow the system (o! the irony), but this is something that's stuck with me my whole life. When I was young I had zero interest in politics, I still can't tell you the first five amendments, or who signed the Declaration of Independence. It's to the point where a few years ago I thought that reading Jon Stewart's America would actually help, and in actuality it only confused me!
So. Here I am. I don't consider myself a stupid person, although I'm wholly aware of my ignorance in many areas of life. I think I have just about as good a reason as any, and I don't think it's totally my fault. Yeah, so I thought history was largely boring, but is that due only to my own internal workings, which were grown in a complete vacuum? Hell no.
Shenkman's assertions according to Salon (which may actually not be Shenkman's assertions but are likely someone's assertions and are therefore interesting all the same) are generally that:
1. "they know nothing about government or current events"
2. "they can't follow arguments of any complexity"
3. "they stuff themselves with slogans and advertisements"
4. "they eschew fact for myth"
5. "they operate from biases and stereotypes"
6. "they privilege feeling over thinking"
7. "the hoi polloi no longer have anyone telling them how to think"
8. "Americans are very good ... at being manipulated and lied to"
What I love is that now its OUR fault that we're manipulated and lied to. I'm going to guess that psychologically it comes from the kind of rampant individualism that says "well I'm smart, why aren't you?" and completely ignores the brew that makes up people individually, and as a country.
Lets start at the top, with ignorance on government and current events, borrowing the example from the article that students forced to listen to NPR for an hour called it "torture". With what I've learned in my "adult" years about history classes and the textbooks they're based on, I would say its no wonder that kids don't retain this knowledge (or seek it again) into their adulthood. American textbooks expend a great deal of energy speaking on how great America is and how good our decisions have always been, refusing to admit guilt for any but the most blatant of mistakes (like, you know, exterminating entire tribes of Native Americans), and we all know that a story without conflict is B-O-R-I-N-G. Not only that but I think young people find it less believable. Imagine yourself (if you need to) as a 12 year old African American female - do American history textbooks say anything to you? Do they make you FEEL anything? Do they give you a sense of hope? No. Women and minorities can be found in American history texts, but they are few and far between, and dumbed down to a large degree. Those textbooks are HUGE, do you remember the back pains you'd get from carrying 3 of those around in your backpack? So students are expected to lug around heavy, inconvenient, boring, misleading and totally not inspiring books and go home attempting to rush through tons of pages because the books are too long to get through in a school year. Teachers are watched to make sure they don't add any nuance or explanation to what's already in the curriculum. Students are tested based on memorization rather than understanding or critical thinking. Students who are skeptical and question what they're reading are ignored or reprimanded. Students who are told in history that they live in the land of the free where they can be anything they want to be end up going home to an impoverished lifestyle where they can't just dream up opportunities are going to be skeptical.
So its no wonder that kids don't retain this info, and consider it boring. And I wouldn't consider this the fault of people, I would consider it a by-product of how our system is set up.
Moving on to "they can't follow arguments of any complexity"... well, I just find that insulting, but if we have to go into it I would call this a claim that Americans are generally uneducated. I don't think this is true, and while I think that - um, should we call it "logic illiteracy" or something? - can be found in all classes of people, it tends to be the case that many of us in the lower classes, even middle classes, have too much crap to do and worry about and want and wish for to have enough time for education. In the close-to-worst case scenarios of the working poor, there's a never-ending cycle of problems with health, medical bills, living conditions, working conditions, paychecks, food, family relations, personal emotions, civic engagement, community engagement, safety, and many many etceteras to worry about before one can have a head clear enough to learn and retain information. Again I say this is not a personal problem, but a systemic problem. Perhaps if we were willing to help out the working poor (or anyone) more financially, they'd have the time and emotional availability and confidence required to give their full attention to education.
Ok this one I adore. It's very adorable, "they stuff themselves with slogans and advertisements". Oh! Here we are again, WE stuff OURSELVES with slogans and advertisements. Oh yes, I've been seeking out good slogans to fill my brain with, I found some really really good ones but I just can't seem to get enough of them in my head. Please! Give me more advertising! I NEED THE SLOGANS MAN!!!!
I mean are you kidding me? Our hyperprofitobsessed culture is now our fault? Who made those advertisements? Who is benefitting from them? Did you even do any research on the effect of advertisements on people who even TRY their HARDEST to ignore them (such as myself)? Ok so I haven't found that information either, but I'm fairly sure that being obsessed with my weight, even though I know rationally that I shouldn't be concerned about it and that it was socialized into me by the disgusting for-profit media culture that surrounds me, is not quite my fault.
Culture is pretty damn powerful. Many people don't know this, it's true, but if you were never told, you may never know (it's as simple as that in MANY cases). I grew up believing in god, not because my parents were religious (they aren't), but because of what I heard and read and saw around me. Sometimes it takes us awhile to question what we think without being prompted. Sometimes it occurs to us, and sometimes it doesn't, but I would say even that is due to environmental factors that poke and prod us to reassess. I don't think MOST women take issue with at least one part of their body just because they're stupid Americans, I think its because the images we are RAISED with, and encouraged to believe are reality are very very powerful and highly effective. Most of us are just looking for direction, and media, advertising, slogans, entertainment, news, etc - are all too happy to give it to us (in order to make a penny). Just watching television for example, we're shown who to vote for, what to think about anything, what to wear (what's cool and not cool), how much to weigh, what hair to have, what products to buy, what car to drive, what music to listen to, ad infinitum. Now you can go ahead and say "yeah but you're stupid if you actually listen to that thing". I disagree, I think if you're 14 and you find a show that you and all your friends like (for the same reason usually, socialization) and you find characters you resonate with and respect, yeah you're going to want to dress like them and act like them and have similar morals to them. So if we continue to objectify women and make fun of homosexuality YEAH, it's going to have an affect on our culture! And I think it's naive to think otherwise.
Lets skip to 6 cause this is getting too long: "they operate from biases and stereotypes". Well, YEAH. Again. If you feed them biases and stereotypes from the top, and as the culture creators and the sources we go to to understand and categorize our world, YEAH people are going to operate on the language you give them, because they've experienced NOTHING ELSE!
And skip to 8, "Americans are very good, he says, at being manipulated and lied to". That's hilarious. There is no manipulator, only the manipulated. I think this speaks for itself.
Lastly I find this quote interesting:
"The upshot is that we are now "in the pitiful position that neither liberals nor conservatives are prepared to say to The People: stop and pay attention. Liberals cannot because their ideology leaves them unprepared to find fault with The People. Conservatives have not because The People repeatedly put them in power."
My take on that is that I agree that Conservatives tend to not blame the people because they repeatedly put them in power, but I think the part about the liberals is short-sited. Liberals (well Dems) are also put in power by the people and wouldn't dare to insult them for the same reasons, but they don't seem to want to blame the system either, because its even more responsible for their positions of power.
I've just received a comment from Rick Shenkman, the author of the book I rail on in this entry. I'm posting the comment at the top of this post to give some context as to why I only slightly edited, and did not delete the post:
"I AM THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK YOU'RE CRITIQUING WITHOUT READING.
SALON LEFT A MISLEADING IMPRESSION. I CERTAINLY DO NOT BACK LITERACY OR CIVICS TESTS FOR VOTERS, FOR INSTANCE.
AND I DO NOT BLAME THE VOTERS FOR ANYTHING. I ASK THEM TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR BEHAVIOR. FOR EXAMPLE, AFTER THE 9-11 COMMISSION REPORTED THAT 50% OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE STILL INSISTED ON BELIEVING THAT SADDAM WAS BEHIND 9-11 I SEE NO REASON NOT TO HOLD THE PUBLIC RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS IDIOCY.
TH INFORMATION WAS AVAILABLE FOR ANYBODY WHO CAN READ OR WATCH THE EVENING NEWS. THAT SO MNY FAILED TO ABSORB IT IS A SAD COMMENTARY ON OUR DEMOCRACY.
THIS IS A 10 ALARM FIRE THAT WE CAN'T AFFORD TO IGNORE ANY LONGER.
PLEASE GO TO MY BLOG TO FIND OUT WHAT'S ACTUALLY IN THE BOOK IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO READ IT. THE BLOG PROVIDES A VIDEO, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT LAYS OUT SOME OF MY ARGUMENTS.
HTTP://HOWSTUPIDBLOG.COM
RICK SHENKMAN"
I removed the assertion about civic literacy tests and any unnecessary jabs at (or further mentionings of) the author. I think this is an interesting debate and I'd like to keep it up for that reason. I intend to dive into the author's blog (and book, if I have time) to hear it from the horse's mouth. I apologize to the author if I misrepresented his assertions in any way. This blog is certainly not meant to be a news source of any kind, simply a time capsule for an unimportant kid in some interesting times.
************************* ORIGINAL POST, edited *************************
As a huge disclaimer here, I don't often read Salon and I haven't read Rick Shenkman's book, "Just How Stupid Are We?". My knowlege of this book is based on hearsay about its controversial assertions and this one article. All the same, I have things to say. I'm going to make an uninformed guess that if Salon was trying to give a balanced perspective on the book and ended up criticizing it for a number of reasons, if they didn't mention the ones I have in my head, they probably aren't covered in the book either.
The basic proposition here is that We, The People, are stupid, and this is really a huge problem for democracy, because you know, we vote.
I'm not disagreeing with the statistics. I agree to a great deal that we are, not stupid per se, but ignorant of the government structure, current events, and generally how everything works. You can tell by how badly I wrote that last sentence that I'm among the many people who don't have a clue. It's definitely one of my huge weaknesses, especially for someone who argues that we overthrow the system (o! the irony), but this is something that's stuck with me my whole life. When I was young I had zero interest in politics, I still can't tell you the first five amendments, or who signed the Declaration of Independence. It's to the point where a few years ago I thought that reading Jon Stewart's America would actually help, and in actuality it only confused me!
So. Here I am. I don't consider myself a stupid person, although I'm wholly aware of my ignorance in many areas of life. I think I have just about as good a reason as any, and I don't think it's totally my fault. Yeah, so I thought history was largely boring, but is that due only to my own internal workings, which were grown in a complete vacuum? Hell no.
Shenkman's assertions according to Salon (which may actually not be Shenkman's assertions but are likely someone's assertions and are therefore interesting all the same) are generally that:
1. "they know nothing about government or current events"
2. "they can't follow arguments of any complexity"
3. "they stuff themselves with slogans and advertisements"
4. "they eschew fact for myth"
5. "they operate from biases and stereotypes"
6. "they privilege feeling over thinking"
7. "the hoi polloi no longer have anyone telling them how to think"
8. "Americans are very good ... at being manipulated and lied to"
What I love is that now its OUR fault that we're manipulated and lied to. I'm going to guess that psychologically it comes from the kind of rampant individualism that says "well I'm smart, why aren't you?" and completely ignores the brew that makes up people individually, and as a country.
Lets start at the top, with ignorance on government and current events, borrowing the example from the article that students forced to listen to NPR for an hour called it "torture". With what I've learned in my "adult" years about history classes and the textbooks they're based on, I would say its no wonder that kids don't retain this knowledge (or seek it again) into their adulthood. American textbooks expend a great deal of energy speaking on how great America is and how good our decisions have always been, refusing to admit guilt for any but the most blatant of mistakes (like, you know, exterminating entire tribes of Native Americans), and we all know that a story without conflict is B-O-R-I-N-G. Not only that but I think young people find it less believable. Imagine yourself (if you need to) as a 12 year old African American female - do American history textbooks say anything to you? Do they make you FEEL anything? Do they give you a sense of hope? No. Women and minorities can be found in American history texts, but they are few and far between, and dumbed down to a large degree. Those textbooks are HUGE, do you remember the back pains you'd get from carrying 3 of those around in your backpack? So students are expected to lug around heavy, inconvenient, boring, misleading and totally not inspiring books and go home attempting to rush through tons of pages because the books are too long to get through in a school year. Teachers are watched to make sure they don't add any nuance or explanation to what's already in the curriculum. Students are tested based on memorization rather than understanding or critical thinking. Students who are skeptical and question what they're reading are ignored or reprimanded. Students who are told in history that they live in the land of the free where they can be anything they want to be end up going home to an impoverished lifestyle where they can't just dream up opportunities are going to be skeptical.
So its no wonder that kids don't retain this info, and consider it boring. And I wouldn't consider this the fault of people, I would consider it a by-product of how our system is set up.
Moving on to "they can't follow arguments of any complexity"... well, I just find that insulting, but if we have to go into it I would call this a claim that Americans are generally uneducated. I don't think this is true, and while I think that - um, should we call it "logic illiteracy" or something? - can be found in all classes of people, it tends to be the case that many of us in the lower classes, even middle classes, have too much crap to do and worry about and want and wish for to have enough time for education. In the close-to-worst case scenarios of the working poor, there's a never-ending cycle of problems with health, medical bills, living conditions, working conditions, paychecks, food, family relations, personal emotions, civic engagement, community engagement, safety, and many many etceteras to worry about before one can have a head clear enough to learn and retain information. Again I say this is not a personal problem, but a systemic problem. Perhaps if we were willing to help out the working poor (or anyone) more financially, they'd have the time and emotional availability and confidence required to give their full attention to education.
Ok this one I adore. It's very adorable, "they stuff themselves with slogans and advertisements". Oh! Here we are again, WE stuff OURSELVES with slogans and advertisements. Oh yes, I've been seeking out good slogans to fill my brain with, I found some really really good ones but I just can't seem to get enough of them in my head. Please! Give me more advertising! I NEED THE SLOGANS MAN!!!!
I mean are you kidding me? Our hyperprofitobsessed culture is now our fault? Who made those advertisements? Who is benefitting from them? Did you even do any research on the effect of advertisements on people who even TRY their HARDEST to ignore them (such as myself)? Ok so I haven't found that information either, but I'm fairly sure that being obsessed with my weight, even though I know rationally that I shouldn't be concerned about it and that it was socialized into me by the disgusting for-profit media culture that surrounds me, is not quite my fault.
Culture is pretty damn powerful. Many people don't know this, it's true, but if you were never told, you may never know (it's as simple as that in MANY cases). I grew up believing in god, not because my parents were religious (they aren't), but because of what I heard and read and saw around me. Sometimes it takes us awhile to question what we think without being prompted. Sometimes it occurs to us, and sometimes it doesn't, but I would say even that is due to environmental factors that poke and prod us to reassess. I don't think MOST women take issue with at least one part of their body just because they're stupid Americans, I think its because the images we are RAISED with, and encouraged to believe are reality are very very powerful and highly effective. Most of us are just looking for direction, and media, advertising, slogans, entertainment, news, etc - are all too happy to give it to us (in order to make a penny). Just watching television for example, we're shown who to vote for, what to think about anything, what to wear (what's cool and not cool), how much to weigh, what hair to have, what products to buy, what car to drive, what music to listen to, ad infinitum. Now you can go ahead and say "yeah but you're stupid if you actually listen to that thing". I disagree, I think if you're 14 and you find a show that you and all your friends like (for the same reason usually, socialization) and you find characters you resonate with and respect, yeah you're going to want to dress like them and act like them and have similar morals to them. So if we continue to objectify women and make fun of homosexuality YEAH, it's going to have an affect on our culture! And I think it's naive to think otherwise.
Lets skip to 6 cause this is getting too long: "they operate from biases and stereotypes". Well, YEAH. Again. If you feed them biases and stereotypes from the top, and as the culture creators and the sources we go to to understand and categorize our world, YEAH people are going to operate on the language you give them, because they've experienced NOTHING ELSE!
And skip to 8, "Americans are very good, he says, at being manipulated and lied to". That's hilarious. There is no manipulator, only the manipulated. I think this speaks for itself.
Lastly I find this quote interesting:
"The upshot is that we are now "in the pitiful position that neither liberals nor conservatives are prepared to say to The People: stop and pay attention. Liberals cannot because their ideology leaves them unprepared to find fault with The People. Conservatives have not because The People repeatedly put them in power."
My take on that is that I agree that Conservatives tend to not blame the people because they repeatedly put them in power, but I think the part about the liberals is short-sited. Liberals (well Dems) are also put in power by the people and wouldn't dare to insult them for the same reasons, but they don't seem to want to blame the system either, because its even more responsible for their positions of power.
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1 Response to "On the Stupidity of the American People"
SALON LEFT A MISLEADING IMPRESSION. I CERTAINLY DO NOT BACK LITERACY OR CIVICS TESTS FOR VOTERS, FOR INSTANCE.
AND I DO NOT BLAME THE VOTERS FOR ANYTHING. I ASK THEM TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR BEHAVIOR. FOR EXAMPLE, AFTER THE 9-11 COMMISSION REPORTED THAT 50% OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE STILL INSISTED ON BELIEVING THAT SADDAM WAS BEHIND 9-11 I SEE NO REASON NOT TO HOLD THE PUBLIC RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS IDIOCY.
TH INFORMATION WAS AVAILABLE FOR ANYBODY WHO CAN READ OR WATCH THE EVENING NEWS. THAT SO MNY FAILED TO ABSORB IT IS A SAD COMMENTARY ON OUR DEMOCRACY.
THIS IS A 10 ALARM FIRE THAT WE CAN'T AFFORD TO IGNORE ANY LONGER.
PLEASE GO TO MY BLOG TO FIND OUT WHAT'S ACTUALLY IN THE BOOK IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO READ IT. THE BLOG PROVIDES A VIDEO, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT LAYS OUT SOME OF MY ARGUMENTS.
HTTP://HOWSTUPIDBLOG.COM
RICK SHENKMAN
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