Reply #10: you realize that you contradict yourself, right?

[sir_captain]

you can't have it both ways--either modern America is dumb due to the things you clearly don't like, or people have been dumb due to "those seeking power" since, as you put it, "the dawn of man."

Are Americans (and most everyone else as well) less intellectual now than they were 100 years ago--almost undoubtedly. I would argue that the reasons for it are far more complicated than you make them out to be. I'd even point out that your seeming distaste for religion is part of the closed-minded attitude that is part of the problem.

Further, in regards to your last point, history does not agree with you. As recently as the JFK administration in this country, intellectualism was highly prized. There are countless other examples throughout history.

The main point being, it is not so easy to reduce large historical trends to mere platitudes.