How Stupid Can Americans get Before the Country Falls Apart

is usually the offspring of conservative, rich parents. Personally, I think you get a better education at UCLA. I have a BA in Geoscience. Unfortunately, there weren’t many job opportunities for geoscience grads in the 70s. Went back to school, and took classes in Mechanical Design. I worked in engineering most of my life.

There is nothing wrong with a community college education. I think it helps with cognitive reasoning.

 

You can educate a monkey to do certain jobs, such as push buttons in an orbital rocket, but its still a monkey, and education implies someone actually comprehends all the crap they regurgitate.

 

I'm in that group of "narrowly, technically-trained" folks ........ but I think I have a good understanding of societal needs and reality. When we put dollar amount tags on humans - as a means to equate monetary / economic value with HUMAN VALUE .......... we ALL LOSE.

It boils down to this ...... do we respect ALL people as fellow humans, and realize WE ALL have value - of whatever kind. The person who let's you proceed ahead of them in traffic, or the one who opens and holds a door for you, or the one who "pays something forward", or the one that donates food or sweat labor to a cause ......... they don't add money to your personal pocket - but they made others' lives easier and better - even for a short time. That's value to us all - but it's not monetary.

Today's REAL NEEDS ......

Decency, empathy, kindness, - and the ever-present - enough food for all, medical care, GOOD FACTUAL, TRUTHFUL education, respect and CARE FOR for our environment.

 

I have a basic question .......

Regardless of where, or to what degree one is educated ......... does it have to stop when one leaves the institution?? I'm a BIG fan of life-long learning. How can anyone exist & prosper in a fast-paced world without constantly learning more??

The reason we have sooo many problems here in the U.S. currently is due to the large number of "bare-minimalist" folks who barely escaped high school with their diploma. They put forth no real effort while in school, (being a "nerd" wasn't cool), didn't do anything extra, and didn't go to college. (if they did it was to party) After leaving "formal education" they didn't make - and still don't make - any effort to read and educate themselves further. Consequently, they know nothing of history, civics, economics, science, etc. - and are thus easily swayed by sets of loud flapping lips spewing lies and distortions. Had they APPLIED themselves while in school, and loaded-up on factual information / technical skills, they might have landed better-paying jobs and secured their futures. As it seems, many of the MAGA crowd are lacking in even basic communication skills. So ....... we have our current situation here in the U.S. - with LIES and MISINFORMATION finding happy homes in the poorly-educated.

 

This is a completely warped view of Americans, straight out of a bad cartoon. The simple truth is, Americans work longer hours than even the Japanese, while higher education is less valuable than ever, has been steadily increasing in cost for decades, and the entire country has steadily been dividing into Haves and Have Nots, as all the money floated to the top. The US has always had the worst social record in every fucking category imaginable, including the worst social mobility. Roughly a third to one half of the country, might as well forget about higher education as a way of climbing the social ladder, while the entire country has become the most nepotistic in the world, and has almost no unionization whatsoever and 20 million illegal aliens ensuring everybody else keeps working harder.

The US would literally have to beat people with a stick, to discourage them more from seeking higher education. As it is, many have been working up to six different careers over a lifetime, having to relearn an entirely new discipline every fucking time, just to be able to keep making the kind of living they are accustomed to. Banking is the most popular major, because you are either handling the money these days, or another stupid academic being overworked and ridiculed for insisting the earth revolves around the sun.

 

^^^^^ Every "civilization" has had it's cliques and "upper strata", much of those determined by inside connections. But a great education has it's own rewards, IMO. Is it the panacea for social climbing?? No. Personally, I find that it makes life MUCH more interesting. With a broader spectrum of views and topics of interest, life isn't boring, that's for sure.

As for shrinking union memberships ........... which political party has been at war - and continues to be at war - with unions?? Which party has enacted / continues to enact legislation that always strips the rights of workers - whether unionized and organized - or disorganized non-union workers?? Which party drafted legislation that would make political contributions by union members to their chosen candidates ILLEGAL - while allowing limitless contributions by corporations, the rich, and so-called "dark money" sources (untraceable) to them??? Which party is responsible for the creation of "dark money" with no legal requirement for public disclosure of who donated to whom??? Which party drafted legislation (by a California congressman) that would ELIMINATE ALL EMPLOYER-PAID BENEFITS??

The answer to these - and many other anti-average American worker questions - is as usual .......... THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY has for decades been controlled by - and mostly financed by - the very richest Americans. The very richest people are mostly REPUBLICANS - with few exceptions. When the Koch bothers publicly stated / bragged that they were donating $800 MILLION DOLLARS to the REPUBLICAN PARTY to finance election campaigns of REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS, and other VERY RICH donors were shoveling hundreds of millions of dollars to THE REPUBLICAN PARTY - does anyone really think they don't expect to get all that money back ....... and more ....... from legislative actions by THE REPUBLICAN PARTY POLITICIANS??????? Does anyone truly believe that these rich folks want workers to have any legal standing to bargain for better pay??? (If these billionaires wanted workers to be paid better ...... you know ...... because they care about their workers - then why did they move all those factories and businesses to China, Mexico, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Honduras, Pakistan, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Brazil, etc. ????? ) Does anyone fail to recognize the connection between corporate interests / the interests of the very richest, and the REPUBLICAN ATTACKS on U.S. working people and their rights?????

HOW LONG will the people of the U.S. continue to buy the BULLSHIT from THE REPUBLICAN PARTY that they are on the side of U.S. working people - or that they care about U.S. workers????? Can't they SEE???? Have they NO EYES or SENSE OF REASON????

The things that boggles my mind is that so many of the "REPUBLICAN BASE" are avg. working Americans who are being financially clobbered by all these anti-worker/anti-workers' rights laws enacted by THE VERY REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS THEY VOTE FOR !!!!!!!!!!!!! How's THAT for the sheep electing their own butchers????

( Imagine an economy where everyone had enough money - earned by working in some way - to pay for life's necessities, and still have enough money left to spend in that economy, save for kids' college, secure retirement, buy a home / remodel a home, take vacations { where more money would be spent }. Or is it better to have the majority of all the money in the hands of a relatively FEW extremely rich people??? )

 

we are heading down the rabbit hole for sure. and lots of folks seem to see it happening. But people still keep voting in the same old farts. I get it our government is broken. we need new common since thinking people to help get out of this. not the same old jack asses.

 

Problem is there are too many clueless jerks who long for the "good ol' days" when life was good for "good ol' boys". And Trump and his GOP minions keep promising to deliver that.

 

I agree. One way to learn about different cultures is to travel. Unfortunately, owing to the economy, many people can’t afford to do that.

 

I'm out, folks. Got things to take care of. We could talk on and on, but......

 

AND Covid-19. It's ABSOLUTELY beyond my comprehension why so many people (at least here in the U.S.) refuse to get vaccinated, wear masks, and social distance - at least until Covid is beaten down and under control. Everyone wants things to "return to normal" - but WILL NOT do what's necessary to make that happen. Big-mouthed, LYING, self-serving politicians and certain TV & talk radio anchors are responsible for turning a new, global pandemic into a political land mine ......... to get votes - or higher ratings = more money ........ FOR THEMSELVES.

Truth and INTEGRITY take a backseat to selfishness. Consequences be damned.

 

Donald Duck is still a free man, and proof that the good-old-days are here to stay, but its money that made them the good old days in the first place.

 

While I agree that its absolutely bizarre that SO MANY refuse to do a few relatively simple things to quell the outbreak, the reason is relatively simple DISINFORMATION and PROPAGANDA . A lesson in how absolutely effective and almost unstoppable it is, the proliferation of social media has shown that you can posit just about any ridiculous claim and some will follow, anit vax .flat earth etc

 

I hate to admit it but I fear I may have been partly to blame for the sub-faction of flat earther breakaways that got the funny idea in their head that the earth is in fact toroidal.
Sorry for that

 

Where's Brandon? Let's go!!

 

That's true up to a point, but keep in mind even Donald Trump recommends getting the vaccine, and got booed at one of his rallies for saying so. Fear of innoculation runs deep in some of these people, for whatever paranoid ridiculous reasons they may have.

 

FWIW I'm betting it has something to do with memories of Bill gates, Monsanto and the whole "depopulation agenda" scare that was going on 10 or so years back.

 

Meanwhile, those who still support the idea of the American dream, and may love how the vaccine was developed at warp speed to reduce the impact of the rampaging virus, recognize that it's the mandates which are a cause for consternation (not the vaccine itself).
And those insisting on it have tunnel vision blindly following "the science" as selectively interpreted for their consumption.
The concept of personal risk management is above their heads and so they simply err on the side of socially acceptable within their aquatintences. That's their choice, but since they're operating out of ignorance, they then demand that everyone be forced to the same as themselves. That flies in the face of the precepts under which America was founded.

 

Archie Bunker rides again!

 

Heaven forerfend there should be mandates--that we should be required to do things for the health and safety of others as well as ourselves. The mandates were put in place cuz after the vaccines were developed at warp speed, Americans, especially those in the Red States weren't taking them and our hospitals were overflowing. Do you feel the same about stopping for red lights? The concept of personal risk management, left to the Q-Anon crowd, leads to a lot of dead people. When it comes to medical science, I tend to go by the consensus of scientists, since I'm not one. Otherwise it's Aunt Millie or the dipshit down the street. The idea of leaving individuals to figure it out for themselves during a pandemic is my idea of the American nightmare!