General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Are You Dumber than an American? [View all]The Wizard
(12,541 posts)is by design. Keeping the masses just smart enough to operate the means of production but unaware of who is exploiting them works for a greater bottom line profit/bonus.
The radical extreme greed driven policies of the wealthy elites have successfully influenced enough of the electorate to vote against their own best interests by appealing to the worst fears and lowest instincts, hence the unwarranted profits resulting from the deliberate dumbing down.
Fox News and hate radio have convinced enough people to vote for a guy because it might be fun to drink beer with him. It's kind of like casting fear at those who've dedicated a part of their lives to expanding their understanding of the world.
Republicans have turned the words education and liberal into invectives. In Republican code liberal and educated means heathen Jew. And it's easy to cast aspersions on the Jews because Jews have been blamed for killing Jesus as part of the common mythology used by religious demagogues for most of our history. This misconception has been ingrained in the unconscious of the Christian majority from birth. It's much easier to blame a scapegoat than actually working on realistic solutions to the day's real issues.
With our corporate media giving myth and fact equal credence so as to present a "fair and balanced" narrative, the average American is just as likely to believe nonsense as sense.
We have a chance to get beyond the stupidity if we change back to teaching critical thinking in public schools and get away from wasting education hours teaching to the "test."