Just How Stupid Are We?

[USFullOfLies]

they plotted the 9/11 themselves ( US Government )

[wiltester]

You are a moron. and this is all kind of "Not Interesting"

you should be ashamed... You are doing nothing more than playing to these idiots.

stop trying to educate adults.

[Botie2]

@wiltester Interesting enuff for you to coment. What you really mean is yopu dont like what he says.

[TheFreeFlow]

@Hithard177 & GTRrocker666

at least a few people make sense and actually have a brain, wow. What ur saying is absolutely right. U should start a revolution, the goal should be eleminating corruption and development of education and knowledge. First of all the corrupt people and system must disapear, then focusing on education to prevent another corrupt system from upcoming would be the best u could do.

[anatoli00716]

You people are missing the entire point.Just because you have no interest in politics doesn't mean you are immune from it all. One day walking down the street you'll notice a newspapers headline "GOVERNMENT ANNULS CONSTITUTION" What are you going to do then... believe the next president is going to reinstate? guess what, It's all over the governments did what the hell they liked because NO ONE GAVE A SHIT.(This is not just happening in America)if it makes you feel any better & THAT IS THE POINT

[GTRrocker666]

You missed the point of my entire post

[anatoli00716]

My overall comment was incited by another comment.

Politicians are not celebrity nor are they your average Dick and Jane from next door. The public do not need to relate or sympathize with them.on personal matters...maybe one does need a PhD to understand that.

I don't believe I've missed the point,but if you still feel I have please enlighten me.

[GTRrocker666]

What I was saying is the common man or woman, has little to no say what goes on with the government. Sure they can go out an symbolically vote for who they want, but our voting system is corrupt. Also many of the people that vote, vote based on party and charisma, and not policy. Voting in this country is a shell game anyway. Garbage in, garbage out. We are voting for a face to look at, no change. So now we have Obama, slightly better than Bush, but not by much. I'd rather vote for myself and do

[Hithard177]

@GTRrocker666 You are absolutely correct, but the reason is that corporate wealth has overwhelmed the political process and elected officals are forced into compliance on most issues. With the recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of "unlimited Corporate speech" corporations can now purchase unlimited amounts of advertising to defeat any candidate that doesn't PLAY BALL. We're done unless we revolt. More to follow...

[Hithard177]

@GTRrocker666 The original American Revolution didn't involve voting for change. The colonists disrupted ordinary business (Boston Tea Party) and eventually resisted British Occupation with force. We can use a variety of tactics to resist without violence, primarily in the form of massive disengagement - i.e. don't buy ANYTHING from corporations, don't go to work, don't pay taxes, disrupt commerce. Risk = reward. Complacency/apathy/ignorance = FAILURE

[robbierings]

this guy would probably be smarter if he didnt spend his time thinking about candidates private lives. who cares. i dont care if so-and-so snores or how they get it on.

[GTRrocker666]

What does locating Iraq on a map or knowing how many senators there are? If you hate the government there is no point being indoctrinated with their bullshit. Also I would love to see this guy try to paint a picture or play an instrument. Most people don't know how to do that, but I am not going to make someone feel like shit because their interests lie elsewhere.

[takeiteasyplz]

No but painting a picture or playing on an instrument wont prevent poverty or do anything about the climate changes.

[GTRrocker666]

Neither will knowing that we have three branches of government.

[yourbrainrots]

How can you hate the government if you know nothing about it? Playing an instrument is a hobby. Knowing about our country and how it is ran is not an interest, it should be common American knowledge.

[GTRrocker666]

...and I don't think making generalizations is really helpful in any way. This guy's commentary is filled with stereotypes and ignorance. Besides voting is bullshit by the way, not on the local level at least, but presidentially speaking it is complete bullshit. Most older folks like the self-important douche-nosil in this video needs to realize this.

[jesuistahmid]

GTR, if voting is bullshit, then why have freedom? why liv ein a freeworld where you HAVE a choise? why live in a democracy? if you allow to governement to do whatever the hell they like with their lies? explain please.

[GTRrocker666]

Voting in this country is a shell game. It doesn't matter who gets in. Same shit, different party. If you can't see that you are delusional.

[jesuistahmid]

i see it... but what other choices would we have? and i'm sure as a citizen you should do something about it:P

[MunkDaMunk]

Voting doesn't change anything,

U can change smthg getting into politics, but - even if u start with lofty ideals - by the time u get to the top u'll be yet another corrupted shmuck. Cuz to make it in politics u'll have to make dirty deals no matter if u like it or not. And the circle is complete: ur another politician not worth voting for.

And no! i don't think i'm cynical.

[GaolisVideoLog]

I'm not American but the Germans taught me this: "Every country get's the government it deserves". Meaning, if you as an American don't like your government system, than change it. Think about it, how many people are in your government, and how many people are the "ordinary Joes and Janes" are there?

[jethrodassam]

I wish it was as easy as all of that.

[GTRrocker666]

I disagree with this video. Younger people have more access to information via the internet than any other previous generations. It is true that maybe some young people may not be completely knowledgable about what previous generations have considered vital information, but that doesn't make us stupid. There is just so much to learn about now that it is mentally impossible to remember everything you read or hear in school. Most people just remember and use what is vital to their lives.

[WarDogLRS]

GOOGLE:

Ron Paul Library

[thrillride27]

If this guy believes the public shouldn't vote he should have moved to Iraq before we were at war. At least we had a choice of choosing this Hussein or not. He may be a professor but is lacking some common sense.

[The1stPoster]

But the public shouldent vote. you have no idea of how dangerous that vote is. You most probably vote for parties you know little to nothing about. And you "thrillride27" are probably one of those fat, stupid americans that this guy is talking about.

dont bother replying with your nazi shit, i wont even read it.

[GTRrocker666]

You are a troil

[thrillride27]

MEDIA. The general public do not choose what is reported, the people with money pushing an idea do. CNN for example will come down harder on a minor republican slip than a democrat making a major one. If you don't believe that then realize money turns people to promoting against their own ideas. In saying that everyone should agree a more informed nation is a better one.

[CCPnoob]

good video, been living over seas for 10 years and now coming back to america the ignorrance is absolutely stagering.

[beachbump]

this is why i have lost all faith in humanity

[hatimali04]

don't lose faith, this is the turning point when ppl start to wake up and search for the truth. don't worry humanity will rise up again.

[R0773N]

This fucking idiot can't even set up his audio, properly.

[amet1980]

this fucking idiot is a university professor in a prestigious university, you neocon idiot..

[thekingofcorsairs]

what about our audio technician's comment leads you to conclude that he's a neoconservative? challenging the awkward comma might have been more appropriate than tossing around a excessively and meaninglessly used pejorative.

[Mattessj]

pay attention to the message not the damn audio. he is talking about people like you....

[R0773N]

I'll match my wits against yours' anyday, plebe.

[alwaysopen]

Reading for entertainment is a gauge to how stupid people are/aren't. Watching TV for often misreported facts as well as the E channel for what's going on in the world is commonplace yet most people are complacent with that knowledge. Duh...

People don't discuss or share thoughts because "politics and religion aren't talked about in public". Is that because people don't know what they are talking about or because they can't listen to other than their own.

How many can do an auto's oil change?

[rush316420]

i agree!

[kuskut]

In the not too distant future when people cannot get their Social Security or Medicare support they will wake up.

We have people who want to teach Creationism in schools just to pander to the religious right.

The USA is on the brink of financial collapse and not very many people are aware of it. Our national debt is US$9+ Trillion.

Too many of us only read material that support our ideology. We are more divided than we have been in a long time and the politicians are loving it.

[bobdefalco]

Americans are preoccupied with the consumerist democracy that John Dewey warned us about decades ago. Prof. Shenkman is dead on - the sheeple want to follow the quickest path to feel good about their country...and that doesn't involve critical thinking or introspection.

[lilianagon80]

I glad that I am European :)

[drmodestoesq]

Is this really supported by historical evidence? My understanding is that presidents like Jefferson had all sorts of salacious libels hurled at him by his political opponents. For instance, they tried to make hay out of the idea that he was producing illegitimate children vis a vis sexual congress with his slaves. My God man, the very thought! I have to take issue with Mr. Shenkman's view that there was a golden age of political discourse before 1830.

[rickshenkman]

RICK SHENKMAN'S RESPONSE

I don't argue that there was a golden age of political debate. In several books I have recounted the lengths even the founders went to to rig the system and to sabotage opponents. But not until the masses won the right to vote did pols begin playing on the Log Cabin Myth and other myths designed to appeal to the common man to manipulate public opinion.

[BigOrangeTitan]

I saw Rick Shenkman on CNN last night. NOT ONE TIME DID HE CRITICIZE THE MAJOR MEDIA for not doing their job. That's a big part of why Americans are so uninformed.

[boyyy007]

Good Point, but most americans (understandable) mistakenly depend on the media to inform about everything when infact that's not the media's job. If most americans really wanted to know or cared about what's going on in their country, they would put it upon themselves to do their research and not rely on bias media news coverage.

[drmodestoesq]

It's not the media's fault that more people would rather watch American Idol than read National Geographic. (A fine publication which I enjoy on many occasions...not just for the wonderful photography; their articles are excellent too.)

[Hopeful71]

The media is completely governed by profit. Gone are the very brief days of the forth estate being a public servent. We let this happen and continue to. Media consolidation is not the fault of the media; they want to make profits as any corp does. We have turned our backs on being engaged to limit their power.

One way or another the buck stops with the ignorant American voter. Letting the FCC shrink the voices and the lack of interest in quality programing; both our faults.

[sintruder]

Americans are not stupid, they are ignorant. I for one support having an un bias free press yet if I want to find out the truth I can not just turn on the television news. I must do the research on my own. This country is in a lot of trouble!

[sintruder]

This duel dictatorship we live allows self serving pun dents to tell us who we can vote for by either forgetting to mention candidates that are still in the running while mentioning candidates who have dropped out.Not to mention candidates from the many other parties who may be better for the country as a whole.