Reply #9: I began a thread on a similar theme yesterday...

[Ufomammut]

Only to have it removed by some moderator who apparently took offense at what I had to say regarding how values and political "reality" is shaped or fomented as the key component to thought control in a democratic society.

Yes, it's true; many around the world don't look upon us favorably because they can't understand how given there are so many of us in a supposedly "free" society, we'd stand for and allow the fascist Bushco coup to run roughshod over our constitution, international law, common decency, etc, so, by turn, we do appear either astonishingly acquiescent, or, actually supportive of the Bush doctrine. And yes, an aspect to this of course is that, unlike those outside looking in, the people here are embarassingly clueless as to the true nature of what our own government is doing. So we end up looking rock-stupid.

However, I don't see the one's overall intelligence level, or IQ, being the real determining factor in this phenomenon, because there are many people who appear quite professional, intelligent, confident, trustworthy, educated, etc, yet can simultaneously be completely ignorant of many facts, and this especially applies to what's considered to be "acceptable" views regarding the facts and consequences of domestic and foreign policy, of class issues, and political identification, which ties directly into one's personal belief system.

Basically, it's the direction and flow our society encourages people to move within, with punishments for those who are too independent-minded. Make no mistake about it though, the "dumbing down" of America has/is quite intentional.