Chakote Chakote:
It wouldn't be very entertaining, but I would like to see an UNEDITED version of a video like that, or anything like Talking to Americans, really. Just to show an unbiased look at exactly what their success rate is being asked these questions. I don't think Americans are stupid, and when someone just rhymes that off as if it's a blanket statement, "Oh, that's because they're American. They're stupid and ignorant.", I don't think the speaker of said statement is much better.
I personally don't think it is the education system (that may be responsible for the math deficiencies and such, but like many of you, I don't think it's much better here); it's simply the fact that a stupid nation is easier to govern, and the US administration is just having a field day with that. The people are supposed to tell the government what to do, and in many European nations, that's the way it works. When a government like theirs tries to brainwash its population on a mass scale, the focus is taken off the issues that matter, and the people let the government control everything, so they can spend their time feeding the insanely destructive consumerist ideology, and taking stands on things that are not pressing issues, like abortion and gay rights. These things do not matter, but the government wants to make them matter, because that takes the focus off things that people need to know for us to perceive them as intelligent, like international politics, government spending, and the environment. All things that will dip into the pockets of the fatcats if the populace starts paying attention to them. Wouldn't want that, would we?
I'll bet that for every stupid person we saw in that video, there is a topic which is completely irrlevant and useless that they could school any one of us on; like being able to name every episode of "Friends" or some stupid information about the markets, which are a completely fictitious entity. I used to take tech support calls from people using brokerage software. Questions about their accounts. And I've seen people make over a million dollars right in front of me on my screen just during the course of one call. And for the most part they are some of the stupidest people I have ever spoken to (stupid as used above).
I guess what I'm trying to say is that they have no more and no less intellectual capacity than anyone else. But when the administration is trying to distract you from the issues at hand so they can run amok, and you are drowned in an endless sea of propaganda and 'values' and all the other shit that is in the media down there, how can you know what is important and what isn't? And how can you educate yourself?
I can see your points. And you raise some good questions. This is what I have noticed living in the US.
Americans tend not to be well rounded in subject matters. Unless it's a hobby or their job, you can pretty much guarentee that we will be clueless on the subject. Now it might be just the culture of the US (when will I need to know French, or history? It's not going to get me a promotion), or it could be that the US education system encourages people to specialize as soon as possible. I was already taking advance courses in mathematics and science with other kids becuase they knew that they were going into those professions.
In all honesty, the system works so longs as everyone is doing a great job at what they know and are best at. And it does maximize the efficiency of the education system(don't need to spend money on things you won't use) Now it does leave people clueless about political issues, which is why I dislike government intervention so much because it regulates people's lives.
