Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)Are You Dumber than an American? [View all]
http://watchingamerica.com/News/184212/are-you-dumber-than-an-american/Are You Dumber than an American?
Expressen, Sweden
By Ann-Charlotte Marteus
Translated By Grace Olaison
7 November 2012
Edited by Natalie Clager
Sometimes one is a little afraid of the United States. Not because it possesses nuclear weapons or anything along those lines, but because many Americans, beside the brilliant elite, seem so well foolish.
How can 46 percent of the population reject the theory of evolution? How can half the people want a rogue like Mitt Romney as president? How can Sarah Palin even exist? How could doubt about Obama's citizenship and religion become a perpetual point of mobilization, despite the total lack of common sense and evidence?
The deep distrust of reason, science and facts that many Americans wallow in today, is purely detrimental to society. You cannot raise a democratic discussion when preposterous lies are given the same credence as truths.
And never have politicians gotten away with so many lies as during the 2012 election campaign. The exaggerated distrust seems paradoxically to have made people so misguided that they have become gullible.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
325 replies, 83273 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (224)
ReplyReply to this post
325 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
what a stupid article. yeah, all americans are stupid except for "the brilliant elite".
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#2
I think you misinterpreted the description. It isn't that the American elite are brilliant, rather
Egalitarian Thug
Nov 2012
#4
It is a translation done by a volunteer from Swedish. But if you want to get all freaked out by it,
Egalitarian Thug
Nov 2012
#10
well then all bets are off. do you read swedish? because all we have is the english
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#12
thank you. "av" is what is translated as "beside"? what are the various senses of "av"?
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#27
care to expound on what you find so stupid? or perhaps contribute your own summary?
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#88
Nice post!! I just saw it after posting my own attempt at translation through German. n/t
xocet
Nov 2012
#123
Greetings...(now to the "I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet"-segment of the thread)
xocet
Nov 2012
#121
I deal with Americans every day. It's rare to find one that can speak in complete sentences
Egalitarian Thug
Nov 2012
#35
what "we do as a nation" has nothing to do with the intelligence of individual
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#42
your post? i read every word. i'm not outraged. you appear to be the outraged
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#45
i think it's pretty easy not to to so. i think israel, as a nation, does plenty of shitty
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#57
Which one of those nations has a military equal to the rest of the planet combined?
Fumesucker
Nov 2012
#59
none, but that seems to me irrelevant. or perhaps relevant in this way: if they did,
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#60
how many other places have you lived? it's not that different from anywhere else.
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#68
Try not paying attention to that stuff and then having social conversation with people
Fumesucker
Nov 2012
#73
i haven't found it such a terrible minefield if i discuss rather than lecture (contrary
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#80
Or try not watching television and carrying on a conversation with the majority
Egalitarian Thug
Nov 2012
#178
i've heard the "only in..." line from people from every country that i've met.
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#302
"Only in America" refers to a Horatio Alger type rags-to-riches story. Not generosity.
Romulox
Nov 2012
#309
none of the people on this thread are the dumb ones, of course. the dumb ones
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#99
Nice try, but this pathetic attempt to re-write what was written to suit your defense will not fly.
Egalitarian Thug
Nov 2012
#194
It's "rare" to find an American who can speak in complete sentences? What does that say about
cherokeeprogressive
Nov 2012
#215
hardly. it's a function of location and economics, nothing to do with intelligence.
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#158
The Scand. languages have also conveniently simplified verb conjugations
Jackpine Radical
Nov 2012
#124
i'm not pissed. i think the article's stupid, at least the title & excerpt i read in
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#49
i understand where it comes from as well. it comes from selective media reports,
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#76
You may be right. However, in which country is it that average citizens don't
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#119
sweden 1st ventured into neoliberalization decades ago, and not just in ed. not something new, e.g.
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#160
really? so you actually think that sweeping generalizations are an intelligent way
cali
Nov 2012
#25
Really? I don't see Cali making that assertion & I don't see her name on the link you provided.
whathehell
Nov 2012
#89
however, it has the merit of truth value. which the propositon that americans are
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#37
I just find it humorous that cali of all people denounces sweeping generalizations
Fumesucker
Nov 2012
#44
Television, the drug of the nation. Breeding ignorance, fear, and anti-intellectualism. n/t
Egalitarian Thug
Nov 2012
#6
Yep. No country in the world has the superior marketing strategies of the U.S.
BlueCaliDem
Nov 2012
#63
have you seen commercials in other countries? they do just fine. they have all the
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#103
Yes, actually I *have* seen commercials in the other countries of the world. Lived in some of.
BlueCaliDem
Nov 2012
#108
there may be a real journalism still alive in europe, i actually don't know. but the right
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#113
There's a difference between Guest Workers and your average German employee.
BlueCaliDem
Nov 2012
#251
There aren't many of us that recognize that, although since LCD displays have become nearly
Egalitarian Thug
Nov 2012
#174
No, because I grew up in Massachusetts, or as the Tea Party calls it "The most liberal Country in
pam4water
Nov 2012
#13
Ah, thanks. Know of polyamory; please use the word not the abbreviation except in contexts
Bernardo de La Paz
Nov 2012
#230
discussion groups are poor places to explain the intricacies of a situation such as mine.
tavalon
Nov 2012
#267
.Well, thanks for telling us that, Tav, especially since it's not especially apparent.
whathehell
Nov 2012
#105
Did you not get the part where it's merely a pipe dream and not going to happen?
tavalon
Nov 2012
#268
no more so than any other nation. you have the educated and uneducated. the curious,
seabeyond
Nov 2012
#26
yep. no difference. i heard palinesque stuff 30 years ago from a pair of canadians
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#32
Oh, so now you think anecdotal evidence proves sweeping generalizations. Logic much?
Bernardo de La Paz
Nov 2012
#147
not at all. where did i say such a thing? but you know, there's a logical gap from "half the
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#172
The half that voted for Romney sure do drag the average down severely.
Bernardo de La Paz
Nov 2012
#176
Thank you. Like many others here, I get very tired of the obligatory Five Minutes of Self Hate.
whathehell
Nov 2012
#193
yep. most of the memes come from the "brilliant elite" themselves, and are used
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#34
I've tried to make it through watching Idiocracy, but never have, one of my failings in
RKP5637
Nov 2012
#54
You're right, as a comedic film it is awful. But, as a social commentary, and possible
Egalitarian Thug
Nov 2012
#186
None taken, and I have always, on occasion, enjoyed a little pain. n/t
Egalitarian Thug
Nov 2012
#305
I find most of humanity pretty stupid, so I don't think America has the only leading role when
RKP5637
Nov 2012
#53
and where do you stand in this hierarchy of smartness? as you are standing back
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#65
HA! I would like to think that I am in the top 1/2, but doing so probably qualifies me
ncgrits
Nov 2012
#130
For all the consternation the Swedish author is causing in this thread, I have to get a
CTyankee
Nov 2012
#62
I thought so too. I just can't understand the utter outrage here about what she wrote in this
CTyankee
Nov 2012
#77
If she had inserted "conservative" in the title we'd all be applauding this.
Barack_America
Nov 2012
#79
It's great that we have elected a person of color to President, yes and good for us!
CTyankee
Nov 2012
#262
Yes, it is and of course I know that it's not "everything", and as a progressive democrat
whathehell
Nov 2012
#264
I feel that we are "evolving" on the social programs faster than we have on the
CTyankee
Nov 2012
#266
What many under a certain age don't realize is that this idiocy, this "rejection of science", etc.
whathehell
Nov 2012
#310
lol. yeah, it's all those stupid people serving as worker bees and managerial personnel in the
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#170
i agree with the general thrust but i'd just like to say that america never scored
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#102
"I stand by my theory that we are much more disillusioned than stupid." I agree.
HiPointDem
Nov 2012
#166
US became most powerful economy in large part by attracting highly educated intelligent immigrants.
Bernardo de La Paz
Nov 2012
#148
Thank you. Although I've learned to expect a lot of knee-jerk anti-Americanism
whathehell
Nov 2012
#323
It is due to our misguided belief that disputation and argument lead to the truth
FarCenter
Nov 2012
#93
Correct, and the dummies eagerly embracing this self-hate shit sandwich would be excoriating
whathehell
Nov 2012
#198
No, "American" is not an ethnicity. It's a nationality. They are not the same thing.
Spider Jerusalem
Nov 2012
#227
In regard to Melody's point, It's a distinction without much of a difference
whathehell
Nov 2012
#257
You're correct, lalalu, but the drooling europhiles here will likely ignore that
whathehell
Nov 2012
#285
And, what? You imagine that a majority of the rest of the world's populations are Brilliant?
whathehell
Nov 2012
#288
Yes, and I'm sure there is no "ignorance" in Sweden where, as another poster pointed out
whathehell
Nov 2012
#265
I just recently watched the Helen Mirren Prime Suspect series, from the early 90s
valerief
Nov 2012
#253
Bwahahahaha! Well, I've been duly finger-wagged over an issue I really don't care about.
valerief
Nov 2012
#289
Wow, I didn't realize Euro TV was so damn important. Why it is, I don't know.
valerief
Nov 2012
#298
Wow, you must really feel guilty about finger-wagging me over such a petty issue. nt
valerief
Nov 2012
#311
Wrong again...You didn't think it was "only tv" when you wrote a rather lengthy post
whathehell
Nov 2012
#317
No, Val...I haven't blocked. you. Check and see if you're sending your post to the right person.
whathehell
Nov 2012
#318
I don't even have to click on your link to know what you said is true. It's axiomatic.
randome
Nov 2012
#293