We need to let go of this neo-con idea of American exceptionalism. Dissension is the highest form of patriotism. If you don't learn from history then you're condemned to repeat it jackass.
Technically USA is a republic and ancient Greece was really aristocracy and according to Plato Democracy was mob rule so Tea party and Occupy Wall street are more in Plato idea of democracy.
The Greeks never had any democracy. They invented the word but you could hardly call it democracy. Only one in seven people could vote. No women, no slaves. . . there were many restrictions. It was a groundbreaking idea but to say that democracy is a recent phenomenon is accurate as theirs is barely related to ours on a practical level.
the Greeks had democracy, 1 in 7 is not no slaves or women. How many slaves do you think there were? they voted on everything even ostracizing their greatest citizens.
The United states is not a democracy. its a constitutional republic.
@Dkouts57 Well, half the population was female, and then you add the male slaves who don't vote until you eventually get to 1/7. I'm not sure if the middle classes voted either, but I did read 1/7 in my history book. That said, it could be wrong.
A constitutional republic is simply one form of democracy. I don't think the two are mutually exclusive in that sense. My main point is that democracy (as we know it) is a recent phenomenon.
I agree completely. Reteach the Enlightenment ideals that our Founding Fathers used to establish the greatest country in the world. We need to remember that we are all Americans, and that working together to reestablish old principles will allow for a brighter future
@AmericansWakeUp - plus, this has a devastating impact on new and fragile democracies like my country!!!, What Mr.Dreyfuss is talking about relates not just to US but the rest of the world as well...
Yay, good for Dreyfuss. I am, I suppose, moderately conservative and I'm totally with his pro-American, pro-liberty, pro-open debate stance. Why can't we always talk in solid, common sense terms like this without having to call everything 'conservative' or 'liberal'? We'd be more productive if we did.
@agentjoeblack Actually just say "Put aside our differences" doesn't work. The US first must learn what is a liberal, a conservative, socialism, and capitalism.
Europeans understood it fully and created a strong hybrid of Socialist Capitalist model that worked very well. The first step is not put aside our differences, but learn about our differences. Europeans often say Americans don't understand what is liberal and what is socialism, and that is absolutely true for many.
lol its actually quite simple; in order to make good decisions a person must be:
a) informed and b) able to judge rationally on the basis of informations presented. So here is the problem: if ppl lack the information, or are not taught to think rationally they wont be able to make good decisions, ie they'll choose incompetent leaders, or fail to make good judgments about the direction their country should move. And thats the main problem of todays democracies, most ppl lack those 2 things...
"An Uneducated Electorate Promotes Democracy's Demise" -> Well, not exactly right... A part of it could be adsorb out of school, so you still need some cultural mores that promote something as being more important, in some ways, than democracy. Example today are to be rich individual pushed to the extreme of the tea party and the individualistic life show in the Jersey Shore...
Therefor, Education could be a optional guarantee, but is not necessarily needed. However, I'll opt in.
".. unless we teach the ideas that make America a miracle .. a miracle that everyone knows is a miracle .. you will lose it to fundamentalists .. you will lose it to stupidity .. you will lose it to the darkness."
The dumbing down of Americans has been well underway for some time ..
At what point do Americans wake up and smarten up?
i bet you have neo conservatives in your country as well. except unlike american politics which affect the whole world, swedish politics are more domestic centric or european. so what i am trying to say is that, you dont have a right to judge our political system, becouse you are a foreigner; therefore you dont understand our country, by the way once your country elects a minority, someone whom represents only 10 million people or so (mixed race), then you can judge us, and our democracy.
dazzagazza6969 if it wasnt for america, your precious perfect independent "country" of new zealand would not exist, as with many others(countries) that declared their independence after america. no matter how imperfect america is, it is a place where people from all over the world have found refuge. if your country had the power the usa has, i doubt it would do differently...by the way, fuck you.
Come on, mate. Don't be ignorant. You can't just selectively chose the good parts of a country, and ignore the bad parts. You the refusing to see the complete picture. dazzagazza6969 has a point. Besides, you're talking about an America gone since many many generations. The current America with it's current people doesn't stand for anything admirable. The people are fat, uncritical, xenophobic and have embraced a culture of ignorance that admires people like Sarah Palin.
@simpleandeas Oh let's all get real. This bullshit of America being a "miracle" and everyone knows it, BULL crap! Gee, what a miracle! The last country in the world to ban slavery, and they needed to PRETEND that's what their war was about! And quite frankly, it's obvious they're still as backward as ever! They can't stand the fact they have a black president, they are against gay marriage, they're more bible thumping than the Catholic Inquisition...yeah, what a "miracle"!
Let's be real about it. How good can the electorate be if they think that somebody like George Bush should rule the country? How good can they be when they agree with such statements as "People are just jealous of her. I'd rather be beautiful than smart." (talking about people who critisize Miss Teen South Carolina 2007 and her infamous blabbering in the Miss USA 2007 pageant)(you can watch it here on Youtube). The american people have made a virtue of stupidity, it seems.
@simpleandeas Quite right and well said. The predictable American reaction is that we foreigners do not understand their country, which is a laughable irony when checking the levels of education for comparison.
@detroitmetro101 Get off the crack buddy. For your information, Portugal for one (oh, that's a tiny country, the western-most end of europe, which happens to have the oldest borders in the world) declared it's independence from Spain in 1149! Got it? That's just one country that declared it's independence before America was even a brain fart! Get off your soap box and go back to school... preferrably in a country that actually TEACHES you something.
I have the entire episode.. However, youtube will most likely remove it like they seem to do with all the important posts I put up even when I use a work cited.
Wow. Dreyfuss really impressed me with his thoughtfulness. If more Americans were so thoughtful, we would be in far better shape. Face it--it's not the Democrats, it's not even the Republicans, for that matter, the real threat is not even Al Qaida. The biggest problem we have is ourselves. Americans have become lazy, self-absorbed, greedy and selfish, unable to understand the concept of a common good, and profoundly, even willfully, ignorant. The hard cold truth.
I loved what Richard Dreyfuss said and he was spot on about it. But the tragedy is you can teach all you want but this generation is not willing to learn it. They're more concern about putting a wacky video on youtube so they can get their 15 minutes of fame. The Monster of Fame is more important than teaching and maintaining what Dreyfuss was saying. When people like The Kardashians, the Jersey shore, and Sara Palin are considered mainstream entertainment then we are fucked for good.
@jstoecker53: I see you're a fan of the late George Carlin. Good for you! (If you never heard of George Carlin, check out 1min 10sec into this video on YouTube: "George Carlin ~ Owners of the country")
It's funny when Americans praise their wonderful freedom....'the USA greatest country on earth'.
This is the country which was founded on slavery, mass genocide, capitalist greed, empire building, racial segragation in ghettos, insular fearful foreign policies, and 'Nazi' like patriotism.
The USA caused this global depression and the great depression. Has caused more wars in the last 50 years than any other country and is bombing civilians at this very moment.
This statement really makes you wonder about people who always talk about how the "educated elites" are the bad guys and the ones who go on and on about how you don't *really* need education to make lots of money.
The most recent Supreme Court decision to give corporations 1st amendment rights (See my video Supreme Court Death Blow to Democracy) that will drown out the rights of citizens, is one clear example of how our uneducated and uninformed electorate, is enabling and/or causing the death of our democracy.
Perhaps rather then decrying supposed corporate misues of the 1st Amendment, people need to understand what the 1st Amendment means. Without the right of expression, both of interest and of conscience and the right to debate ideas, our knowledge is limited, hence our rights are limited. While corporations may attempt to concentrate their voice, enabling the government to silence voices either of individuals or institutions, the court found, presents the greater threat to freedom.
@AmericansWakeUp And how! Not surprisingly, Maher's clip of the American stupidity appears in the suggestion column. This clip has some age on it even today, and regrettably, it may very well be timeless. Republican court and republican candidates that cannot name a sup. ct. case The majority of the electorate have no idea what's in Citizens United much less bush v. Gore.
The thing that Dreyfuss leaves out is that the task is more difficult than he lays it out...we can hardly work on these virtues of democracy when half our young students can barely read. As a liberal i think its a tragedy how poorly our schools are performing.
As a liberal, it should be NO WONDER to you that our schools perform so poorly. It is the liberal mentality that erodes the need for structure, the need for morality, the need for intolerance of those that would break an integral structure so vital to learning. You ARE free to think - however, you are NOT free to act, if said action violates the freedom of others. THAT is what a liberal ALWAYS FAILS to accept, FAILS to understand. Free thinking - SURE! Free acting - not without consequence.
@RationalPrejudice According to your "speech", George Washington, and Hamilton were "liberals". I would suppose the corollary to your thought is so long as our schools teach the "right" thing, and learn the "right" way, and ACCEPT your "morality", then it's "OK". For yours is the power, and the glory, in heaven and on earth...AMEN! Who should "counter" your ability to have personal notes with God Almighty! God spoke to you, and now YOU disseminate God's word, single-handedly, to us mere mortals
Richard Dreyfuss suggests that the current inattentive, apathetic and uninterested nature of our citizenry will eventually doom U.S. republican democracy. He discusses Jeffersonian views and how the future survival of our freedom and democracy is dependent upon an educated and inquisitive citizenry, not those who accept administration rhetoric, or Fox News propoganda.
With civic education, it's vital to integrate a hands-on learning structure, so that the abstract governmental subjects seem directly relevant and concrete to students and engage their energies. Through that, innovative approaches can be applied to a multitude of disciplines.
I have a feeling the U.S gvmt would rather issue martial law and become a totalitarian state than fall. Then and only then, will the american ppl understand. It will be too late by then tho. we will have handed them all our rights on a silver platter and people like us will be unheard of
Dreyfuss hit the nail on the head! He was also incredible as dick Cheney in Oliver Stone's movie "W". The scene where Cheney is infront of a map of the world, and explains his plan for American domination, is worthy of an Oscar and the best reason to see this movie.
This is what SHOULD be known as a true AMERICAN! Everyone thinks that being good little boys and girls, and supporting your Officials no matter what, and praying to Jesus is what being American is all about. WRONG! Question your government! WAKE UP. We have been slowly lulled to sleep as a people by our 24 hour fast food, and our safety, and Television! Just about anything they can get us to do to take the focus off of them (the powers that be). FIGHT THE POWER EVERYDAY
Its true man, but most places based their democracies on america in some way. Im not saying this as a patriotic thing, I am not even american. But the two great beacons of light and hope in history are Rome (at the start) and America.
his logic is a lot of what Randall Robinson has been saying for decades now. If you want change and are tired of being fed "controlled news" then you have to take it upon YOURSELF to inquire about what your government, even if it means that you're harrassing them (senators, congressmen/women). We elected them to work for us...not the other way around.
He is absolutely right and here's why Democracy is in trouble. Our schools look down their noses at people who teach history and civics, it's a fact. Their status is somewhere below a P.E. teacher, and somewhere above a janitor. Social Science subjects are no longer counted as significant in our quantitate knowledge. It has been reduced to the level of a consumer economics class. This is why most Americans are culturally illiterate. Our want for technology and corporatism is killing democracy.
Reason, logic, clarity ect...need to be relearned...I totally agree. It needs to be taught outside of the partisan views.....Truly taught so that everyone can make a more educated and calculated decision about what they believe in and act accordingly. =)
For all who think that mistakes in our lives cancel out all future contributions, stop reading now. I feel that what he is saying here and now, makes perfect sense. Is it too late to make a difference? I guess we will have to find out.
Democracy are those tiny Oasis in history which we have not much information about cause those cultures where wiped out. like Greek democratic culture was by the Macedonian repression. so far America has being the one that has linger the most. every time man re-discover Democracy there's the need to preserve that Democracy from outer-and-Inner threats, cause it is not a right it is a priviledge that needs to be exercised in the case of Greece it was an Inner threat.
thanks for the tip you are Right they where the first Modern Democracy although I still state that Democracy most be Guarded of outter and-Inner enemies. another thing that bugs me is that many ppl confuse Capitalism with Democracy,thats not right.I think is the Education we all have through the media.
I think a balance is for everyone to have an education available to them, but they are denied a vote unless they can pass a civics exam to demostrate they understand the issues.
I can't stand this idea that everyone SHOULD be entitled to vote. Bullocks. Everyone should be entitled to the opportunity. But if you're ignorant to the field, you should NOT be deciding on it. How the hell can you have any reliable result if 80% of the voters don't fucking know anything?
We do not have free thinkers anymore . Most people are brand-loyal consumers! Thinking and discernment has been replaced with jingoism and sound bites!
Being in England I think the issues presented by the Royal Family on Economics and foreign policy within the United Kingdom are a prospect of democracy which Prince Michael of Kent can further speak of concerning the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs uses of the US Department of State and American citizens. Thus, further adulterating, perhapes in jest, American freedoms with Russian politics and economics. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation might be able to do a news editorial on this.
Fact is, no matter what we teach our kids, they will find some other truth and if we taught them well they will come back to the truth. I say this because, You don't have to think about what the truth is, if you do it is a lie.
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an uneducated electorate is a natural bi-product of small un-obtrusive government, which is what America has and Bill hates-
when government was small and people were free, half of the people on the street coundn't tell you who the prsident or vise president even were, which is beiing smart, not ignorant
Thank you. In other words take Personal Responisiblity for our own actions. Who we vote in? What are the important issues. What are our strenghs as a nation? What are our satisics? What can we do to improve or enhace the betterment for our country to improve our satistics? Teach values that are important to our familes & nation. And accountability of Government acitons most be demanded & reportated.
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Bill Maher is wrong about democracy being 2000 years old and practiced in ancient Greece. I challenge him to produce one shred of evidence where democracy was discussed as a practiced political form in ancient Greece. In fact the ideas of democracy were never discussed by Plato or Socrates as they preached philosopher kings that would choose who should be a poet, teacher or musician.
I am certain that you are mistaking about Socrates and Plato. In fact, Socrates chose death over betraying the very ideals of democracy that he preached to his students.
Socrates pissed off the leaders of the Athenian democracy (rich males could vote) and was killed for it. As a result, Plato was against rule by the demos and for rule by those who knew the Good, viz. the Philosopher-Kings.
What an amazingly well said and crucial to understand point made by Richard Dreyfus, made all the more amazing considering who he plays in Oliver Stone's W.
Great Post ! JFK also spoke about the need for Personal Responsibility as , 'We are the Boss' in a Democracy. Teachers must put this into practice themselves;before they can Instruct others !
Richard Dreyfuss is absolutely right in that we need to relearn the lessons from our high school civics classes ... we have to understand what it means to live in a democratic republic ... education is the key, not only for the next generations, but for yourself as well ... failing to do so means that we will lose our democracy to another theocratic monarchy ... PS, this video really needs to be transcribed ...
.. communication, and compassion are needed to allow for improved and efficient cooperation between scientists and increase open-mindedness towards revaluation of stifling archaic scientific concepts
Well, don't get me wrong I think what he said needed to be said but it's not brilliant. What's sad is that people think it's brilliant. This concept, which he essentially said 3 times in different ways, should be part of "common sense" and the reason why it isn't is b/c we "lazied" it out of our minds.
What would have been brilliant is if he would have proposed a way we could actually get this into our public schools b/c the gov't sure as hell doesn't want us to be free-thinking active citizens
The question is, at one point do we stop saying 'the government doesn't want us to do that' or the 'they won't let us' and just do it regardless.
I'm playing with the idea of an organized and efficient internet based education system which, once instituted, will not allow for the objections related to monetizing the school system, because someone would pick up the torch no matter what after that point.
The internet has already granted us access to endless amounts of information...
We need a stronger sense of community and compassion. Advertising the benefits of the internet and the extent of it's potential would encourage people to teach themselves. Arranging lessons in a sort of course progression format could teach discipline.
There are folks more interested & trusting of their own half-assed means of living than the initiative to collect info and the necessity to comprehend one another w/o superstition or stereotypes.
"Communication and compassion" alone, no. We need to PROVE it (I rather you bold than caps, but oh well). Show these nuts the positive & tangible results of our methods then they'll act.
If people are educated with a basic higher standard for knowledge they won't be so apprehensive about trying methods if they can actually calculate and grasp the problem and solution being offered. There needs to be a new mindset of understanding that conventional science can and should be questioned and tested continuously to optimize the potential for innovation and massive ground-breaking discoveries that can redefine our understanding of physics and the universe in general. Respect...
Imagine learning any language you want, even if only enough to get you by. Doing math problems and english lessons. Both advanced and simple methods for expanding vocabulary or increasing visual spatial skills. The most efficiently organized methods for augmenting the mind. Presented in a way that not only encourages practical application but directs the sciences in such a way that encourage the students to evolve new ideas and question imperfect theories.
I hope one day more people will be as honest, and brave as him. All I see when I look, is cowards, and selfishness.
We should have a lottery to select our public servants, and not corrupted, lobbied, no good lying public servants. This way, anyone can win, and bring with them their different exsperiences to help others. Think of how this would spark hope in the eye's of those who are watching.
No one has any outrage because no one has any morals.
Hollywood and the entertainment industry have bred morality out of us to make us dumb so that we won't be outraged about the government that has total control over us.
If nothing is immoral then everything is okay and therefore no one will become outraged against the immoral tyranny and evil perpetrated by these corrupt politicians in both parties.
Liberals have purposely perverted society in order to control us.
You Know, Rosie is all about speaking the truth. Why do you use here name in such a way. I think you are here to scare people. Anyone who speaks so loudly usually is an afraid little person intimidated by others who are healthy minded.
Rosie, and Drefuss are the kind of neighbors I would rather have.
"It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts...it is to teach them to think."
Robert M. Hutchins. American educator and writer, active in forming the Committee to Frame a World Constitution (1945), led the Commission on Freedom of the Press (1946), and vigorously defended academic freedom, opposing faculty loyalty oaths in the 1950s, 1899-1977.
holy crap! well put! especially the part about people being afraid of teaching their children civil discourse for fear that they may turn away from their hot-headed and dogmatic manecheanism. progressives in particular require children to be ignorant of what liberal republicanism is - how it's constructed and how it operates - so they can be directed towards acts of numb nihilistic deconstruction. "rage against the machine" if you will.
We've been taught, wrongly, that we're a democracy - the word 'democracy' isn't even in the Constitution because it is majority rule with no rights put into place as 'protected' in spite of majority rule. We are supposed to be a Constitutional Republic. We do need to teach that in school.
Dreyfuss is right. We allow ourselves to be told what to do; we follow along like three blind mice scampering after the last bit of cheese only to find it's poison. Each and every one of us has a responsibility to take care of our Liberties for ourselves, for each other, and for our children. We're all so busy talking about what a good thing we have, we are not bothering to hold on to it. That would take educating ourselves; work, effort, and acknowledgment of our heritige.
America wont last a super power forever.This is why the elites are trying for this NEW WORLD ORDER so that it may control one government over the people.They want to kill as much as 1/2 of the world's popluation so we are more easily controlled. They hold secrets from us, enslave and rob us and most importantly they seperate us with religion.They know that UNITED we are unbeatable
They divide us with immorality just as much as with religion. Why shouldn't everyone be moral? Why should they all be dumb and ignorant and immoral and perverse and corrupt and criminal like the Satanist politicians in both parties?
The politicians have a Satanic religious agenda. They are devil worshipers.
Bush and Clinton made speech out of the subject of a new world order but what type of new world order? I don't want to be in a Bush kind of new world order, I would call it more like an Old world order.
"When we are successful,and we will be. We have a real chance at this New World Order. An order in which a credible United Nations can use its peace keeping role to fulfil the promise and vision of the UN's founders."
George Bush Sr - September 11,1991
"and After 1989 President Bush kept er said,and it's a phrase that I often used myself, that we needed a New World Order."
There have only been 2 or 3 "straight-up" democracies. Most nations in the world follow a "liberal democracy" system which is a representative democracy - which is part of what Richard Dreyfus says is now hurting us more than helping us.
yes people talk about democracy as if it was a given right. you can cross the border and learn how it really is out there... tough... my regards from Costa Rica.
Good stuff, but I don't competely agree with all that he has stated, in my reasoning. Democracy is governance for people of said Country, etc. This is accomplished through voting, etc. The majority in voting will always represent that of the average person on a bell curve. The extremely intelligent persons are not the majority of persons voting. Therefore, we end up with average persons voting in average persons, not necessarily those that are the most intelligent.
Nuclear threat fabrications islamo-terror and all that propaganda shit are just made up foes to justify more wars! ALL Political bastards are killing people for wallstreet to get rich and to inflate the economy into a slavery system.(THEY CALL IT DEMOCRACY) All AMERICAN politicians do in life is kill and enslave people and set forests on fire!! ENLIGHTEN THAT HEH
in general i see a huge movement to keep this modern civlization alive ... but i say civilization is like a human being, it reaches ld age and die eventually, you can try to prolong its life with medicine, give it a cosmetic boost with surgery, botox etc but evetually she will die and a new young civilization will spring
I met Richard Dreyfuss today at Borders Book Store in San Diego, CA TODAY...he was very down to earth, very personable and funny...and he talked JUST LIKE THIS. Very deliberate...very intellectual...and I got to help him hook up his wireless mobile in the cafe. :)
Acient Greece (i.e. Athens) doesnt count becasue it relied on slaves- only 1/3 of the population could take part in democractic things. The point of British enlightment is that EVERYONE was free. Having slaves in Britain has also been banned since the 1200's, so we've never had a society with slaves in, although we did trade them.
I think it's a question of degree. The "freedom" of English subjects in 1200 wasn't quite what you or I would call true political freedom today. The peasantry wasn't "owned" in the way slaves were, but that was not much more than semantics. They still had to follow the kings orders, whatever they were.
Well actual freedom is different from your technical freedom in most cases. Even today few people are as free as they are technically supposed to be (poverty/welfare traps ect). The point is that in Athens slaves were technically unfree, and Metics were the equivilant of Blacks in the 60's; second class citizens.
Agreed. However to provide an example to the contrary, consider Henry VIII. His treatment of his wives (King Henry the Eighth, to six wives he was wedded: One died, one survived, two divorced, two beheaded, as the saying goes,) The 70,000 plus politically motivated executions during his reign, declaring himself head of the church, and threatening execution to any dissenters...it just makes it hard to say you've had civil liberties there since the 12th C.
I know, but nobody else did either, the middle ages we're very authoritarian times given government structures werent developed. I think the original argument was over whether America was this father of MODERN liberty and democracy (i.e. liberty as defined in the englightenment)as it claims to be. The point is that it isnt, Britian was, and in my opinion still is.
Well, I've always heard in school that the reason colonists came here was to escape religious persecution in England. Of course, textbooks here have proven to be highly biased, so I don't really know. What's the general consensus about that over there?
Catholics were getting a bad deal, puritans thought the protestanism of UK wasnt good enough, general hearsay about things being better, cheap land, many reasons. Dont forget though, this was 1500/1600's, Im arguing we're the father of liberty becasue of the Enlightenment, an 18th century thing. The mondern concept of individual liberty was born then. Nation States, modern govt's and the position of the individual in regard to govt., was only really implimented from 18th C onward.
Got it. A fusion of comments occured in my head, and I thought you meant enlightment occured there much earlier. I (like most of us here,) never really learned much (anything) about Britian during that time. That's when American history started, so Britain only made cameo appearances as the bad guys in our history classes on that period.
We need to let go of this neo-con idea of American exceptionalism. Dissension is the highest form of patriotism. If you don't learn from history then you're condemned to repeat it jackass.
vietnow87 4 days ago
Ignorance is the enemy of democracy.
3089280288 2 weeks ago
American democracy is 2/3 dead so it won't die "in our kids lifetime", rather in ours.
PktMma 2 weeks ago
Richard Dreyfuss IS Mr. Holland. He talks exactly like this!
88mphsss 2 months ago
Technically USA is a republic and ancient Greece was really aristocracy and according to Plato Democracy was mob rule so Tea party and Occupy Wall street are more in Plato idea of democracy.
J5MARLON 2 months ago
Thank you Mr. Richard Dreyfuss
J5MARLON 2 months ago
America is NOT nor has it ever been a democracy! Democracy is bullshit!
ROTTENDEADCORPSE 3 months ago in playlist Politics
The Greeks never had any democracy. They invented the word but you could hardly call it democracy. Only one in seven people could vote. No women, no slaves. . . there were many restrictions. It was a groundbreaking idea but to say that democracy is a recent phenomenon is accurate as theirs is barely related to ours on a practical level.
jgonsalk 5 months ago
@jgonsalk
the Greeks had democracy, 1 in 7 is not no slaves or women. How many slaves do you think there were? they voted on everything even ostracizing their greatest citizens.
The United states is not a democracy. its a constitutional republic.
Dkouts57 4 months ago
@Dkouts57 Well, half the population was female, and then you add the male slaves who don't vote until you eventually get to 1/7. I'm not sure if the middle classes voted either, but I did read 1/7 in my history book. That said, it could be wrong.
A constitutional republic is simply one form of democracy. I don't think the two are mutually exclusive in that sense. My main point is that democracy (as we know it) is a recent phenomenon.
jgonsalk 4 months ago
I agree completely. Reteach the Enlightenment ideals that our Founding Fathers used to establish the greatest country in the world. We need to remember that we are all Americans, and that working together to reestablish old principles will allow for a brighter future
Bulldogs5595 9 months ago
Hawt diggity dawg! He even gave Maher the shit towards the end about the length of democracy.
overether 10 months ago
So True...
TheEsotericDesi 11 months ago
@AmericansWakeUp - plus, this has a devastating impact on new and fragile democracies like my country!!!, What Mr.Dreyfuss is talking about relates not just to US but the rest of the world as well...
ilirbajri 1 year ago
Yay, good for Dreyfuss. I am, I suppose, moderately conservative and I'm totally with his pro-American, pro-liberty, pro-open debate stance. Why can't we always talk in solid, common sense terms like this without having to call everything 'conservative' or 'liberal'? We'd be more productive if we did.
agentjoeblack 1 year ago
@agentjoeblack Actually just say "Put aside our differences" doesn't work. The US first must learn what is a liberal, a conservative, socialism, and capitalism.
Europeans understood it fully and created a strong hybrid of Socialist Capitalist model that worked very well. The first step is not put aside our differences, but learn about our differences. Europeans often say Americans don't understand what is liberal and what is socialism, and that is absolutely true for many.
Knowledge first.
Neosaigo 7 months ago
very very nicely said... the god tells king who tells us.
campaz83 1 year ago
lol its actually quite simple; in order to make good decisions a person must be:
a) informed and b) able to judge rationally on the basis of informations presented. So here is the problem: if ppl lack the information, or are not taught to think rationally they wont be able to make good decisions, ie they'll choose incompetent leaders, or fail to make good judgments about the direction their country should move. And thats the main problem of todays democracies, most ppl lack those 2 things...
DKzgd 1 year ago
"An Uneducated Electorate Promotes Democracy's Demise" -> Well, not exactly right... A part of it could be adsorb out of school, so you still need some cultural mores that promote something as being more important, in some ways, than democracy. Example today are to be rich individual pushed to the extreme of the tea party and the individualistic life show in the Jersey Shore...
Therefor, Education could be a optional guarantee, but is not necessarily needed. However, I'll opt in.
therrydicule 1 year ago
".. unless we teach the ideas that make America a miracle .. a miracle that everyone knows is a miracle .. you will lose it to fundamentalists .. you will lose it to stupidity .. you will lose it to the darkness."
The dumbing down of Americans has been well underway for some time ..
At what point do Americans wake up and smarten up?
MelioraCogito 1 year ago
God talks to the king and the king talks to us...?
Wasn't Bush talking to God?
WolfEyesatNight 1 year ago
Kiss what ...godbye??
WolfEyesatNight 1 year ago
The Teaparty will do to the US what the Taliban did to the Russians.
Make us incoherent and eventually lead us to bankruptcy.
saadasim 1 year ago
Is that Tom Morello on the far left?
bluesboy25000 1 year ago
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The USA is not a democracy it is a REBUBLIC. Republic means rule of law.
Democracy is MOB rule. Nothing more and nothing less. You wanna be ruled by a mob? Carefull what you wish for, it may come true.
bugsz1 1 year ago
this guy is brilliant!
JImmy4336 1 year ago
You cannot be truly free without being truly just at home and abroad
America loves the accumulation of profit more then it does justice and reason
George Orwell warned against the threat of both Marxism and hyper-capitalism
Obasiliasfilosofos 1 year ago
America is NOT a Democracy. It is a CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC.
TheAutumnExpresso 1 year ago
@TheAutumnExpresso
America is a Continent.
WolfEyesatNight 1 year ago
One of the Smartest men I have heard.
mcam51 1 year ago 2
i bet you have neo conservatives in your country as well. except unlike american politics which affect the whole world, swedish politics are more domestic centric or european. so what i am trying to say is that, you dont have a right to judge our political system, becouse you are a foreigner; therefore you dont understand our country, by the way once your country elects a minority, someone whom represents only 10 million people or so (mixed race), then you can judge us, and our democracy.
detroitmetro101 1 year ago
What miracle is he talking about? There are only two parties and none of them seems to be able to run the country too well.
Crinderman 1 year ago
dazzagazza6969 if it wasnt for america, your precious perfect independent "country" of new zealand would not exist, as with many others(countries) that declared their independence after america. no matter how imperfect america is, it is a place where people from all over the world have found refuge. if your country had the power the usa has, i doubt it would do differently...by the way, fuck you.
detroitmetro101 1 year ago
@detroitmetro101
Come on, mate. Don't be ignorant. You can't just selectively chose the good parts of a country, and ignore the bad parts. You the refusing to see the complete picture. dazzagazza6969 has a point. Besides, you're talking about an America gone since many many generations. The current America with it's current people doesn't stand for anything admirable. The people are fat, uncritical, xenophobic and have embraced a culture of ignorance that admires people like Sarah Palin.
simpleandeas 1 year ago
@simpleandeas Oh let's all get real. This bullshit of America being a "miracle" and everyone knows it, BULL crap! Gee, what a miracle! The last country in the world to ban slavery, and they needed to PRETEND that's what their war was about! And quite frankly, it's obvious they're still as backward as ever! They can't stand the fact they have a black president, they are against gay marriage, they're more bible thumping than the Catholic Inquisition...yeah, what a "miracle"!
nvieira100 1 year ago
@detroitmetro101
Let's be real about it. How good can the electorate be if they think that somebody like George Bush should rule the country? How good can they be when they agree with such statements as "People are just jealous of her. I'd rather be beautiful than smart." (talking about people who critisize Miss Teen South Carolina 2007 and her infamous blabbering in the Miss USA 2007 pageant)(you can watch it here on Youtube). The american people have made a virtue of stupidity, it seems.
simpleandeas 1 year ago
@simpleandeas Quite right and well said. The predictable American reaction is that we foreigners do not understand their country, which is a laughable irony when checking the levels of education for comparison.
jacksawild 1 year ago
@detroitmetro101 Get off the crack buddy. For your information, Portugal for one (oh, that's a tiny country, the western-most end of europe, which happens to have the oldest borders in the world) declared it's independence from Spain in 1149! Got it? That's just one country that declared it's independence before America was even a brain fart! Get off your soap box and go back to school... preferrably in a country that actually TEACHES you something.
nvieira100 1 year ago
I have the entire episode.. However, youtube will most likely remove it like they seem to do with all the important posts I put up even when I use a work cited.
karlmarx80 1 year ago
Wow. Dreyfuss really impressed me with his thoughtfulness. If more Americans were so thoughtful, we would be in far better shape. Face it--it's not the Democrats, it's not even the Republicans, for that matter, the real threat is not even Al Qaida. The biggest problem we have is ourselves. Americans have become lazy, self-absorbed, greedy and selfish, unable to understand the concept of a common good, and profoundly, even willfully, ignorant. The hard cold truth.
DandAinTac 1 year ago
I loved what Richard Dreyfuss said and he was spot on about it. But the tragedy is you can teach all you want but this generation is not willing to learn it. They're more concern about putting a wacky video on youtube so they can get their 15 minutes of fame. The Monster of Fame is more important than teaching and maintaining what Dreyfuss was saying. When people like The Kardashians, the Jersey shore, and Sara Palin are considered mainstream entertainment then we are fucked for good.
BirthofCharlie 1 year ago
Beautiful! That's what my prof told me the first day of school! Not a lot of critical thinkers out there in the world!
shervman 1 year ago
@jstoecker53: I see you're a fan of the late George Carlin. Good for you! (If you never heard of George Carlin, check out 1min 10sec into this video on YouTube: "George Carlin ~ Owners of the country")
abdulmismail 1 year ago
It's funny when Americans praise their wonderful freedom....'the USA greatest country on earth'.
This is the country which was founded on slavery, mass genocide, capitalist greed, empire building, racial segragation in ghettos, insular fearful foreign policies, and 'Nazi' like patriotism.
The USA caused this global depression and the great depression. Has caused more wars in the last 50 years than any other country and is bombing civilians at this very moment.
dazzagazza6969 1 year ago 4
our educational system is a wreck because our society doesn't value education.
we talk a good game about it, but in school the smart kids are the ones who are made to feel inferior to the people who are good at sports.
rns13 1 year ago 2
This statement really makes you wonder about people who always talk about how the "educated elites" are the bad guys and the ones who go on and on about how you don't *really* need education to make lots of money.
PapaMagnum 1 year ago
The first step to get this back is to realize we're not a democracy. We are a republic.
myheartskry 1 year ago
The most recent Supreme Court decision to give corporations 1st amendment rights (See my video Supreme Court Death Blow to Democracy) that will drown out the rights of citizens, is one clear example of how our uneducated and uninformed electorate, is enabling and/or causing the death of our democracy.
AmericansWakeUp 2 years ago 12
Perhaps rather then decrying supposed corporate misues of the 1st Amendment, people need to understand what the 1st Amendment means. Without the right of expression, both of interest and of conscience and the right to debate ideas, our knowledge is limited, hence our rights are limited. While corporations may attempt to concentrate their voice, enabling the government to silence voices either of individuals or institutions, the court found, presents the greater threat to freedom.
177602 2 years ago
@AmericansWakeUp And how! Not surprisingly, Maher's clip of the American stupidity appears in the suggestion column. This clip has some age on it even today, and regrettably, it may very well be timeless. Republican court and republican candidates that cannot name a sup. ct. case The majority of the electorate have no idea what's in Citizens United much less bush v. Gore.
MrEatonbeaver 1 year ago
The thing that Dreyfuss leaves out is that the task is more difficult than he lays it out...we can hardly work on these virtues of democracy when half our young students can barely read. As a liberal i think its a tragedy how poorly our schools are performing.
tallcoolone1 2 years ago
As a liberal, it should be NO WONDER to you that our schools perform so poorly. It is the liberal mentality that erodes the need for structure, the need for morality, the need for intolerance of those that would break an integral structure so vital to learning. You ARE free to think - however, you are NOT free to act, if said action violates the freedom of others. THAT is what a liberal ALWAYS FAILS to accept, FAILS to understand. Free thinking - SURE! Free acting - not without consequence.
RationalPrejudice 1 year ago
@RationalPrejudice According to your "speech", George Washington, and Hamilton were "liberals". I would suppose the corollary to your thought is so long as our schools teach the "right" thing, and learn the "right" way, and ACCEPT your "morality", then it's "OK". For yours is the power, and the glory, in heaven and on earth...AMEN! Who should "counter" your ability to have personal notes with God Almighty! God spoke to you, and now YOU disseminate God's word, single-handedly, to us mere mortals
rodeojim1 10 months ago
truer words never spoken, this was four year ago. and things have not gotten better.
tallcoolone1 2 years ago 3
Richard Dreyfuss suggests that the current inattentive, apathetic and uninterested nature of our citizenry will eventually doom U.S. republican democracy. He discusses Jeffersonian views and how the future survival of our freedom and democracy is dependent upon an educated and inquisitive citizenry, not those who accept administration rhetoric, or Fox News propoganda.
crawford18 2 years ago
With civic education, it's vital to integrate a hands-on learning structure, so that the abstract governmental subjects seem directly relevant and concrete to students and engage their energies. Through that, innovative approaches can be applied to a multitude of disciplines.
177602 2 years ago 3
I have a feeling the U.S gvmt would rather issue martial law and become a totalitarian state than fall. Then and only then, will the american ppl understand. It will be too late by then tho. we will have handed them all our rights on a silver platter and people like us will be unheard of
clockworkninja09 2 years ago 2
Dreyfuss hit the nail on the head! He was also incredible as dick Cheney in Oliver Stone's movie "W". The scene where Cheney is infront of a map of the world, and explains his plan for American domination, is worthy of an Oscar and the best reason to see this movie.
LeoMikey80 2 years ago 5
This is one of the most intelligent statements I've heard in a long time.
I believe that all of these subjects are the most necessary elements of improving the education system in the world.
Teaching our children to apply logic to their thought processes, and as much as possible removing emotion would be most beneficial.
Also teaching, and promoting compassion is an essential part of education.
Improvement in technology will eventually
CHANGE the world.
billrah 2 years ago 10
Amen!
Stonemansteve 2 years ago 2
This is what SHOULD be known as a true AMERICAN! Everyone thinks that being good little boys and girls, and supporting your Officials no matter what, and praying to Jesus is what being American is all about. WRONG! Question your government! WAKE UP. We have been slowly lulled to sleep as a people by our 24 hour fast food, and our safety, and Television! Just about anything they can get us to do to take the focus off of them (the powers that be). FIGHT THE POWER EVERYDAY
clockworkninja09 2 years ago 7
I was all for this guy until he says the miracle of america. There are other places around this world that stand for freedom.
scottype689 2 years ago 2
True, there are some places Western Europe) that are even freer today. But America was the first to start what today has become fairly commonplace.
Stonemansteve 2 years ago
Its true man, but most places based their democracies on america in some way. Im not saying this as a patriotic thing, I am not even american. But the two great beacons of light and hope in history are Rome (at the start) and America.
Asilaydyingfan15 2 years ago
his logic is a lot of what Randall Robinson has been saying for decades now. If you want change and are tired of being fed "controlled news" then you have to take it upon YOURSELF to inquire about what your government, even if it means that you're harrassing them (senators, congressmen/women). We elected them to work for us...not the other way around.
MisterCrazyLegs 2 years ago 2
What do you mean that becaus he is an actor he can't be smart?
Bearram1 2 years ago 3
Well said
flyfrt 2 years ago 2
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What movie did Dreyfuss remember his lines from to do this speech?
jaroncreed 2 years ago
I was always a fan of RIchard Dreyfuss acting, but now I had not realised that he was also a clear thinking savant ! Way to go Richard !
pique62 2 years ago 5
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Such a clear, concise, EDUCATED argument. You're uneducated, dillweed.
Codackussell 2 years ago
He is absolutely right and here's why Democracy is in trouble. Our schools look down their noses at people who teach history and civics, it's a fact. Their status is somewhere below a P.E. teacher, and somewhere above a janitor. Social Science subjects are no longer counted as significant in our quantitate knowledge. It has been reduced to the level of a consumer economics class. This is why most Americans are culturally illiterate. Our want for technology and corporatism is killing democracy.
riksw2 2 years ago 34
@riksw2 Masses in any country are ignorant. That´s why the powers of government must be limited.
xaviqaz 1 year ago
@riksw2 democracy is dead
kakashi76767 1 year ago
@rick sw2 Democracy ? Democracy is mobocracy . the united states is a constitutional republic ruled by law . learn something fool !
shutupstupid9 1 year ago
Reason, logic, clarity ect...need to be relearned...I totally agree. It needs to be taught outside of the partisan views.....Truly taught so that everyone can make a more educated and calculated decision about what they believe in and act accordingly. =)
meganDY12 2 years ago 24
For all who think that mistakes in our lives cancel out all future contributions, stop reading now. I feel that what he is saying here and now, makes perfect sense. Is it too late to make a difference? I guess we will have to find out.
uttott 2 years ago 4
Good speech, although I disagree with his points on the age of modern democracy and how monarchical systems used to work.
TitanicWarrior 2 years ago
real democracy is even younger, we're just starting to realize what that is right now.
Sshelly34213 2 years ago
Democracy are those tiny Oasis in history which we have not much information about cause those cultures where wiped out. like Greek democratic culture was by the Macedonian repression. so far America has being the one that has linger the most. every time man re-discover Democracy there's the need to preserve that Democracy from outer-and-Inner threats, cause it is not a right it is a priviledge that needs to be exercised in the case of Greece it was an Inner threat.
Chokula99 2 years ago
Iceland is actually the oldest modern democracy in the world
Freshhhhh1982 2 years ago
thanks for the tip you are Right they where the first Modern Democracy although I still state that Democracy most be Guarded of outter and-Inner enemies. another thing that bugs me is that many ppl confuse Capitalism with Democracy,thats not right.I think is the Education we all have through the media.
Chokula99 2 years ago
Very true. In my country nearly half the population can't read or write, but they can choose the president. That is not a informed decision.
SpearTheAlmighty 2 years ago
I think a balance is for everyone to have an education available to them, but they are denied a vote unless they can pass a civics exam to demostrate they understand the issues.
I can't stand this idea that everyone SHOULD be entitled to vote. Bullocks. Everyone should be entitled to the opportunity. But if you're ignorant to the field, you should NOT be deciding on it. How the hell can you have any reliable result if 80% of the voters don't fucking know anything?
Hzqi 2 years ago 3
Great speech by Mr. Dreyfuss.
5 *
- Paul M.
1rishShaman 2 years ago
Can anybody say Fahrenheit 451?
rdrgz93 2 years ago
Hey PapaMag, take reps and dems out of it. Dicky brings up some very good points. I'm worried about our future, political correctness is killing us!
19641924 2 years ago
We do not have free thinkers anymore . Most people are brand-loyal consumers! Thinking and discernment has been replaced with jingoism and sound bites!
monkigun 2 years ago
You are going a bit strong with jingoism... But, extreme and aggressive patriotism exist, and it his... bad.
therrydicule 2 years ago
Being in England I think the issues presented by the Royal Family on Economics and foreign policy within the United Kingdom are a prospect of democracy which Prince Michael of Kent can further speak of concerning the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs uses of the US Department of State and American citizens. Thus, further adulterating, perhapes in jest, American freedoms with Russian politics and economics. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation might be able to do a news editorial on this.
Globalmarketingpros 2 years ago
Fact is, no matter what we teach our kids, they will find some other truth and if we taught them well they will come back to the truth. I say this because, You don't have to think about what the truth is, if you do it is a lie.
uttott 2 years ago
this explains why republicans are so shitty at education policy haha
PapaMagnum 2 years ago 2
interesting point stated
contemporarythoughts 3 years ago
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an uneducated electorate is a natural bi-product of small un-obtrusive government, which is what America has and Bill hates-
when government was small and people were free, half of the people on the street coundn't tell you who the prsident or vise president even were, which is beiing smart, not ignorant
dcjhrj 3 years ago
"We teach our kids what we want them to know. And we don't teach them what we don't want them to know." Smart Man. I always like that guy.
FistInTheAir420 3 years ago 11
Thank you. In other words take Personal Responisiblity for our own actions. Who we vote in? What are the important issues. What are our strenghs as a nation? What are our satisics? What can we do to improve or enhace the betterment for our country to improve our satistics? Teach values that are important to our familes & nation. And accountability of Government acitons most be demanded & reportated.
hmmyeah 3 years ago 4
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Bill Maher is wrong about democracy being 2000 years old and practiced in ancient Greece. I challenge him to produce one shred of evidence where democracy was discussed as a practiced political form in ancient Greece. In fact the ideas of democracy were never discussed by Plato or Socrates as they preached philosopher kings that would choose who should be a poet, teacher or musician.
behzadbayati 3 years ago
Have you ever read the republic by Plato? I have I majored in philosophy and you don't know what you're talking about.
evange03 3 years ago 3
i agree with oyu however, claims on the internet mean nothing.
i could say that Im Barrack Obama and you couldnt prove me wrong
Blechoz 2 years ago
I am certain that you are mistaking about Socrates and Plato. In fact, Socrates chose death over betraying the very ideals of democracy that he preached to his students.
kopan456 3 years ago 4
Socrates pissed off the leaders of the Athenian democracy (rich males could vote) and was killed for it. As a result, Plato was against rule by the demos and for rule by those who knew the Good, viz. the Philosopher-Kings.
ord1711 2 years ago
Amen to that Brother!
edlynnphoto 3 years ago
i'm so glad richard dreyfuss said this.
pa6xylly 3 years ago 3
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uhh wow this video has 2 be one of the Silliest and sexiest vids online. just like me! 6
allietess 3 years ago
What an amazingly well said and crucial to understand point made by Richard Dreyfus, made all the more amazing considering who he plays in Oliver Stone's W.
JRserver 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This dumbass makes me ashamed to be Jewish.
benhur55 3 years ago
wow
chefawkes 3 years ago 2
you right oxford university, possibly the best in the world , should be ashamed fro their reckless choice
amet1980 3 years ago
Great Post ! JFK also spoke about the need for Personal Responsibility as , 'We are the Boss' in a Democracy. Teachers must put this into practice themselves;before they can Instruct others !
LUCKYBROOKS 3 years ago
You are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and BITES YOU ON THE ASS!
josephfwalker 3 years ago 2
Richard Dreyfuss is absolutely right in that we need to relearn the lessons from our high school civics classes ... we have to understand what it means to live in a democratic republic ... education is the key, not only for the next generations, but for yourself as well ... failing to do so means that we will lose our democracy to another theocratic monarchy ... PS, this video really needs to be transcribed ...
AvangionQ 3 years ago 2
democratic republic ? correction... Constitutional Republic..
atwitsend 3 years ago 3
Hah! My high school didn't offer any civics classes. Either you're much older than me or more privileged. Time to hit the books for myself.
Trablo 3 years ago 2
He was good in what about bob.
guyjohn59 3 years ago
i agree. spectacular
Thrice098 3 years ago
.. communication, and compassion are needed to allow for improved and efficient cooperation between scientists and increase open-mindedness towards revaluation of stifling archaic scientific concepts
TerranKyra 3 years ago
Can't wait to see him as Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone's "W"!
AndrewMann552 3 years ago
Eloquent AND brilliant!
slowdive23 3 years ago
Well, don't get me wrong I think what he said needed to be said but it's not brilliant. What's sad is that people think it's brilliant. This concept, which he essentially said 3 times in different ways, should be part of "common sense" and the reason why it isn't is b/c we "lazied" it out of our minds.
What would have been brilliant is if he would have proposed a way we could actually get this into our public schools b/c the gov't sure as hell doesn't want us to be free-thinking active citizens
fctsu2000 3 years ago
The question is, at one point do we stop saying 'the government doesn't want us to do that' or the 'they won't let us' and just do it regardless.
I'm playing with the idea of an organized and efficient internet based education system which, once instituted, will not allow for the objections related to monetizing the school system, because someone would pick up the torch no matter what after that point.
The internet has already granted us access to endless amounts of information...
TerranKyra 3 years ago
"The internet has already granted us access to endless amounts of information..."
Yet a noticeable statistic of users limit themselves to myspace & porn.
I agree with you all the way. I just believe the common American shouldn't be given so much credit & still needs an educated push.
Americans are privileged, we have the sources, yet we never use those to their best extent.
Efferts 3 years ago
We need a stronger sense of community and compassion. Advertising the benefits of the internet and the extent of it's potential would encourage people to teach themselves. Arranging lessons in a sort of course progression format could teach discipline.
TerranKyra 3 years ago
There are folks more interested & trusting of their own half-assed means of living than the initiative to collect info and the necessity to comprehend one another w/o superstition or stereotypes.
"Communication and compassion" alone, no. We need to PROVE it (I rather you bold than caps, but oh well). Show these nuts the positive & tangible results of our methods then they'll act.
Efferts 3 years ago
If people are educated with a basic higher standard for knowledge they won't be so apprehensive about trying methods if they can actually calculate and grasp the problem and solution being offered. There needs to be a new mindset of understanding that conventional science can and should be questioned and tested continuously to optimize the potential for innovation and massive ground-breaking discoveries that can redefine our understanding of physics and the universe in general. Respect...
TerranKyra 3 years ago
That brings us to our nation's issues with education that needs no explanation.
Efferts 3 years ago
Imagine learning any language you want, even if only enough to get you by. Doing math problems and english lessons. Both advanced and simple methods for expanding vocabulary or increasing visual spatial skills. The most efficiently organized methods for augmenting the mind. Presented in a way that not only encourages practical application but directs the sciences in such a way that encourage the students to evolve new ideas and question imperfect theories.
TerranKyra 3 years ago
absolutely brilliant
donkingkong08 3 years ago
I hope one day more people will be as honest, and brave as him. All I see when I look, is cowards, and selfishness.
We should have a lottery to select our public servants, and not corrupted, lobbied, no good lying public servants. This way, anyone can win, and bring with them their different exsperiences to help others. Think of how this would spark hope in the eye's of those who are watching.
1320276 3 years ago
No one has any outrage because no one has any morals.
Hollywood and the entertainment industry have bred morality out of us to make us dumb so that we won't be outraged about the government that has total control over us.
If nothing is immoral then everything is okay and therefore no one will become outraged against the immoral tyranny and evil perpetrated by these corrupt politicians in both parties.
Liberals have purposely perverted society in order to control us.
rosieisahippo 3 years ago
* the IMMORAL corrupt perverted tyrannical government
rosieisahippo 3 years ago
You Know, Rosie is all about speaking the truth. Why do you use here name in such a way. I think you are here to scare people. Anyone who speaks so loudly usually is an afraid little person intimidated by others who are healthy minded.
Rosie, and Drefuss are the kind of neighbors I would rather have.
1320276 3 years ago
Everyone has their version of truth.
Efferts 3 years ago
"It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts...it is to teach them to think."
Robert M. Hutchins. American educator and writer, active in forming the Committee to Frame a World Constitution (1945), led the Commission on Freedom of the Press (1946), and vigorously defended academic freedom, opposing faculty loyalty oaths in the 1950s, 1899-1977.
MauriceFlower 3 years ago 2
wow, bravo!
oz22verizon 4 years ago
holy crap! well put! especially the part about people being afraid of teaching their children civil discourse for fear that they may turn away from their hot-headed and dogmatic manecheanism. progressives in particular require children to be ignorant of what liberal republicanism is - how it's constructed and how it operates - so they can be directed towards acts of numb nihilistic deconstruction. "rage against the machine" if you will.
clemtoe 4 years ago
We've been taught, wrongly, that we're a democracy - the word 'democracy' isn't even in the Constitution because it is majority rule with no rights put into place as 'protected' in spite of majority rule. We are supposed to be a Constitutional Republic. We do need to teach that in school.
BagOfEyebrows 4 years ago
I do believe the framers used the term Democratic to modify Republic.
Hence the Democratic Republican Part of Jefferson and Madison.
4ourthofjuly 3 years ago
net neutrality...please voice your voice or it will be monitored by someone else that has other agendas..
thanks
ohyeahhm 4 years ago
... and just for the record, where are the Civics courses in the universities today? Why is this not required course of study?
carolmarsella 4 years ago 2
Dreyfuss is right. We allow ourselves to be told what to do; we follow along like three blind mice scampering after the last bit of cheese only to find it's poison. Each and every one of us has a responsibility to take care of our Liberties for ourselves, for each other, and for our children. We're all so busy talking about what a good thing we have, we are not bothering to hold on to it. That would take educating ourselves; work, effort, and acknowledgment of our heritige.
carolmarsella 4 years ago
America wont last a super power forever.This is why the elites are trying for this NEW WORLD ORDER so that it may control one government over the people.They want to kill as much as 1/2 of the world's popluation so we are more easily controlled. They hold secrets from us, enslave and rob us and most importantly they seperate us with religion.They know that UNITED we are unbeatable
ChilenoPiscean22 4 years ago
They divide us with immorality just as much as with religion. Why shouldn't everyone be moral? Why should they all be dumb and ignorant and immoral and perverse and corrupt and criminal like the Satanist politicians in both parties?
The politicians have a Satanic religious agenda. They are devil worshipers.
rosieisahippo 3 years ago
Bill Maher's GOD:
"and After 1989 President Bush kept er said,and it's a phrase that I often used myself, that we needed a New World Order."
Bill Clinton
rosieisahippo 4 years ago
Bush and Clinton made speech out of the subject of a new world order but what type of new world order? I don't want to be in a Bush kind of new world order, I would call it more like an Old world order.
c0y0tx 3 years ago
"We are moving toward a new world order, the world of communism. We shall never turn off that road."
Mikhail Gorbachev
rosieisahippo 4 years ago
"We are moving toward a new world order, the world of communism. We shall never turn off that road."
Mikhail Gorbachev
rosieisahippo 4 years ago
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"When we are successful,and we will be. We have a real chance at this New World Order. An order in which a credible United Nations can use its peace keeping role to fulfil the promise and vision of the UN's founders."
George Bush Sr - September 11,1991
"and After 1989 President Bush kept er said,and it's a phrase that I often used myself, that we needed a New World Order."
Bill Clinton
rosieisahippo 4 years ago
what many don't know is that our country and it's powers portray to the people that this is a democracy. We're told that to keep us content.
But we're really under something more like an oligarchy, or a plutocracy, or if you may, an aristocracy.
All in all, it's something of it's own kind - but the U.S. is certainly not a straight-up democracy.
dusteroo 4 years ago
There have only been 2 or 3 "straight-up" democracies. Most nations in the world follow a "liberal democracy" system which is a representative democracy - which is part of what Richard Dreyfus says is now hurting us more than helping us.
Taospark 4 years ago
yes people talk about democracy as if it was a given right. you can cross the border and learn how it really is out there... tough... my regards from Costa Rica.
Chokula99 3 years ago
Good stuff, but I don't competely agree with all that he has stated, in my reasoning. Democracy is governance for people of said Country, etc. This is accomplished through voting, etc. The majority in voting will always represent that of the average person on a bell curve. The extremely intelligent persons are not the majority of persons voting. Therefore, we end up with average persons voting in average persons, not necessarily those that are the most intelligent.
juddiz 4 years ago
This means I have give in and start worshiping Dreyfuss now. Before, I thought he was just a good actor. But he's smart too? Dammit!
zeemillah 4 years ago
Brilliant, thanks for posting!
erkd1 4 years ago 2
Nuclear threat fabrications islamo-terror and all that propaganda shit are just made up foes to justify more wars! ALL Political bastards are killing people for wallstreet to get rich and to inflate the economy into a slavery system.(THEY CALL IT DEMOCRACY) All AMERICAN politicians do in life is kill and enslave people and set forests on fire!! ENLIGHTEN THAT HEH
mobkillaz 4 years ago 2
Richard has been this smart since his first professional & popular peak as a movie star in the '70s. You guys just weren't listening.
psfirst 4 years ago
We've got to get beyond Bush "Administration rhetoric" and "FOX News propoganda (sic)"...we must turn to actors and talk show hosts!
neothomist1275 4 years ago
in general i see a huge movement to keep this modern civlization alive ... but i say civilization is like a human being, it reaches ld age and die eventually, you can try to prolong its life with medicine, give it a cosmetic boost with surgery, botox etc but evetually she will die and a new young civilization will spring
mico2020 4 years ago
I met Richard Dreyfuss today at Borders Book Store in San Diego, CA TODAY...he was very down to earth, very personable and funny...and he talked JUST LIKE THIS. Very deliberate...very intellectual...and I got to help him hook up his wireless mobile in the cafe. :)
sign543 4 years ago
Is that tom morello on the left?
izaak03 4 years ago
Yes, that's Tom Morello.
demonforeveryday 4 years ago
can you post the rest of this episode?
nodbtbetlsfnatic 4 years ago
I haven't heard a political statement I could get behind in ages! But this, yeah, it makes sense.
whateverfloats 4 years ago
Hey - poster - when was this filmed? Very, very good video, thanks!
demonforeveryday 4 years ago
Is it just me, or was Britain the home of the enlightenment? Civil liberties are a British invention.
rmwc 4 years ago
Well, I don't know why ancient Greece doesn't count. Their ideas influenced our constitution far more than British law under the monarchy.
jcffrey 4 years ago
Acient Greece (i.e. Athens) doesnt count becasue it relied on slaves- only 1/3 of the population could take part in democractic things. The point of British enlightment is that EVERYONE was free. Having slaves in Britain has also been banned since the 1200's, so we've never had a society with slaves in, although we did trade them.
rmwc 4 years ago
I think it's a question of degree. The "freedom" of English subjects in 1200 wasn't quite what you or I would call true political freedom today. The peasantry wasn't "owned" in the way slaves were, but that was not much more than semantics. They still had to follow the kings orders, whatever they were.
jcffrey 4 years ago
Well actual freedom is different from your technical freedom in most cases. Even today few people are as free as they are technically supposed to be (poverty/welfare traps ect). The point is that in Athens slaves were technically unfree, and Metics were the equivilant of Blacks in the 60's; second class citizens.
rmwc 4 years ago
Agreed. However to provide an example to the contrary, consider Henry VIII. His treatment of his wives (King Henry the Eighth, to six wives he was wedded: One died, one survived, two divorced, two beheaded, as the saying goes,) The 70,000 plus politically motivated executions during his reign, declaring himself head of the church, and threatening execution to any dissenters...it just makes it hard to say you've had civil liberties there since the 12th C.
jcffrey 4 years ago
I know, but nobody else did either, the middle ages we're very authoritarian times given government structures werent developed. I think the original argument was over whether America was this father of MODERN liberty and democracy (i.e. liberty as defined in the englightenment)as it claims to be. The point is that it isnt, Britian was, and in my opinion still is.
rmwc 4 years ago
Well, I've always heard in school that the reason colonists came here was to escape religious persecution in England. Of course, textbooks here have proven to be highly biased, so I don't really know. What's the general consensus about that over there?
jcffrey 4 years ago
Catholics were getting a bad deal, puritans thought the protestanism of UK wasnt good enough, general hearsay about things being better, cheap land, many reasons. Dont forget though, this was 1500/1600's, Im arguing we're the father of liberty becasue of the Enlightenment, an 18th century thing. The mondern concept of individual liberty was born then. Nation States, modern govt's and the position of the individual in regard to govt., was only really implimented from 18th C onward.
rmwc 4 years ago
Got it. A fusion of comments occured in my head, and I thought you meant enlightment occured there much earlier. I (like most of us here,) never really learned much (anything) about Britian during that time. That's when American history started, so Britain only made cameo appearances as the bad guys in our history classes on that period.
jcffrey 4 years ago
lol. At least you know history, which