Why is The Dumbing Down of America Happening
81We Better Put a Stop to
A Sad Reality
My fellow hubber tony0724 commented on my hub “Because you asked for it”. His comment reads:
“Petra, the dumbing down of America has been a long and going on process. To me the enormously popular "Jerry Springer" show is the equivalent of gladiator battles with trailer trash.
Most people know who is in the lead of "American Idol" before they know the congressperson in their districts name. I just wrote a hub about celebrities and politics because I contend there is a contingent of people who base their voting decisions on what their favorite celebrity likes.
And I for one hold out hope that now, since we are in the midst of calamity, people might finally get off their ass and get engaged. After "Dancing with the Stars" of course.
Look at the Google and Yahoo search engines and see what is trending. It is a sad statement of what is important to people!”
This “dumbing down” expression Tony used kept on playing in my mind and would not go away. The more I thought about it, the more I agreed with him and tried to understand its implications.
The light came on
One of the reasons the communism has collapsed much faster than expected is because the government put extreme emphasis on education and parents’ involvement. The education system was free of charge from kindergarten all the way to a PhD, so many of us took advantage and got a solid education.
The more you know…
the harder it is for anyone to manipulate you. No matter how hard the government tried to keep us uninformed, we found ways to learn about what was going on in the world. We also perfected a technique to read between the lines and select truth from propaganda. “A lesson America should learn” is a hub that you may want to read
Since we had TV programs only a few hours a day we emerged ourselves in other activities: reading the classics, learning foreign languages, developing practical skills, participating in physical activities. As a consequence most of us grew up healthy mentally and physically us well (I first saw obesity after I came to America)
We also knew about Gandhi and applied his non violent system successfully; it was called sabotage and we became masters. The most used phrase in Romania was: “they pretend to pay us, we pretend to be working” or its other version: “I am working proportionally to pay”. Any doubt why has the communism failed and ultimately collapse?
Whether intentionally or not, America is dumbing down its children.
The education system is substandard and our children can’t compete with third world countries.
The Media is keeping all of us “entertained” with the most despicable garbage and, being controlled by the big business is spinning off the agenda of the few, including the “politically correct” view of the government
The credit card industry plays on the brainwashing of “buy now and pay tomorrow”. The entire country lives in mounting debt and the Scarlet O’Hara philosophy is alive and well in more than 70% of households. We teach our children that instant gratification is alright, but we are surprised to see when they are having a sense of entitlement second to none.
Living in the dark
serves the interests of the few who want to manipulate the many through keeping them ignorant, scared of losing the little they have and are too busy with trivia to care about important things or try to improve their lives.
So Who is profiting from dumbing down America? Your guess is just as good as mine
Who is at fault?
See results without votingPetra Vlah
- Because you Asked for IT
We dont often get a chance to see democracy at work, but when it happens it is really great. It gives us the satisfaction to know our voices are being heard and our opinions matter. The most...
By Petra Vlah
- Two Imperfect Education Systems
For a very long time now, all politicians running for office have emphasized the need for more and better education. We hear about our students not being able to compete in the new and ever growing...
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Petra, very well put. This younger generation is not so willing to sit down and read a book when video games and reality shows are much more fun. Keep Hubbing!
Petra- The couch potato is well and living in America. Education is no convenience,if it an't convenient, it an't American. Sad this state of affairs we share with our compatriots. The pain of life in and of its self is educational.It is the nature of people to take the easy path; our educational path is worn and barren, it stunts growth and sustains childhood beyond reason.
Hello zzron,
Sorry to say BUT the few you are talking about represent over 70% of Americans; if this is not a majority, than you and I went to very different schools
Hello jiberish,
Thank you for your comment. While I agree that TV and video games are part of the problem, I am also asking; where are the parents? Why are they not monitoring what is going on?
Hello niall.tubbs
All you said is true and sad, but I still want to know who is profiting from this situation
Petra first and foremost I thank you for the shout out. And I always appreciate your thoughtful commentary that you consistently put forth in your hubs ! I am not sure who might be making all the profit in the dumbing down of America, but I know who is losing. And that would be our society as a whole ! Thanks again for the Inclusion in your writing , I consider it an honor !
Hi Tony,
You are very welcome and I give you a lot of credit for insiring me to write this hub. We are all losing by the dumbing out of America (children and adults alike).
The ones to profit from this are the same ones that want to control us and manipulate our lives
Keep writing Petra! The perspective that you have on such issues because of your background is so important to share!
Thank you RT,
Always a pleasure to have you around. I guess that having a term of comparison makes it easy to notice things and understand their implications
The concerted effort to not teach our young the Constitution started very many years ago. The generations of 'all about me' sealed it. We are seeing the result of that today.
Our schools are passing kids that can't read or do math and then wonder why we are angry at the public schools. We don't teach our youth what is really important.
I voted in your poll that it is the government who benefits the most. Clarifying this, I would add that it is those with the attitude that government should run everything. Keep the masses ignorant so they can do what they think is best without the hassle of questions or dissent.
Great hub.
Hi Joni,
Thank you for reading and voting in this pole, as well as clarifying your possition regarding the vote.
I have no doubt that the government is the one who benefits the most from the ignorance of the masses, however I believe that parents should be more involved and teach their children some values, including respect and responsability.
It is not necessary to educate everyone in a global economy. You do not need a college education to dig a ditch. I have dug ditches and know this for a fact. It is only necessary to have a few well educated people to run corporations and maybe one or two in government. Everyone else needs to be a good consumer. Here is the best part, in a global economy consumers do not have to be in the same country as the corporation that makes the goods sold. They can live in any country and still buy from the corporation. In too many edcuated people cause problems. They want fair pay for one thing. Plus giving everyone a good education is expensive. Corporation cut unnecessary expences. Edcuation in the USA has become an unnecessary expence. Also we are not good cunsumers anymore because we have too much debt. Welcome to corporate world.
Hello Nelson,
I hope to God you are just being sarcastic.
If not, you should run for President since you have the "right" ideas and share the goals of governments that most people should be ignorant and good consumers so we can use more of the BS they are giving us in a daily base
This 'dumbing down' is rampant, Petra, and I am glad tony asked you to write of it. I voted 'all of the above' since all are that you mentioned are clearly to blame. One more culprit that I just thought of is the overwhelming nature of basic survival these days-people don't seem to think higher education is a necessity any longer. It is.
Hello Lorie,
We are all at fault one way or another; by lack of awearness and indolence, by lack of eductation and apathy we make the job of politicians so much esier. All they do is taking advantage of a situatuin created in purpous and monitored by the Media through the power of brainwashing
I also voted "all of the above". No one is allowed time off for good behavior and a quick smile. It is everyone's responsibility - now a rather long "4-letter word", it seems. And all politicians may not have bad motives, but the system forces them to act like - politicians - ie: serving self, government and big contributors.
Our natioinal dumbing down is one of the major facts that must be faced at the grass-roots level in order to salvage our nation in time and yes, it is a decided majority who are succumbing to dumbing down. If one isn't succumbing, then pat yourself on the back, & for you, it shouldn't be difficult to look around and see it.
Even to read what people write is often sad testimony showing that there are humongous gaps in what was once considered evidnece of decent education, (and not even at the "higher" level): simple mastery of usage of grammar and spelling (it's notable that the "foreigners" for whom English is a second language, often have better command of it than our own citizens who have supposedly been educated in it!); abiltiy to add and multiply (say, to be able to notice that if income is less than outgo, the figures won't work out equitably); attention to details (so as to question why most all the store promos & coupons from food processing empires are for the junky foods they manufacture and not for fresh produce and healthy fare, and never for any organically or locally grown); preserveran to 'do the do' in priority order and finish a task (say, stick with a project till its completion BEFORE giving oneself permission to rush off to watch "So You Think You Can Dance"); knowledge of current events and whom has been elected to office (beyond the highest office which is always in the news and on the tips of detractors lips on TV and radio); interest in how things work and why (maybe going so far as to replace a missing screw in an appliance before throwing it out to clutter the landfill, and figuring out how to operate the high-tech stuff one had to acquire without always dialing customer service the first time there is a hitch & then complaining that the service person had an accent); and a healthy curiosity (beyond wondering which drug-infested celebrity is dating which other one and who is cheating on whom among the high-profile folks - I typed high-provile - should have left it!); and most of all, a sense of right and wrong which settles arguments ratonally rather than pulling a gun and shooting; and an awareness of others, rather than the oblivion one witnesses in every parking lot where lumbering pedestrians seem not to notice that their liesurely stroll, non-glancing in any other applicable directon for that situation than down at text messages, while walking and talking on cell phones & preventing a line of cars form proceeding forward, - which is just one of many examples of self-focused oblivion of everything and everyone around. Pity the shopper looking for a parking space who toots a horn at this retinue!
Petra - since childhood I've questioned things I saw which made no sense. Many of the issues then are either resolved or have been fought out in Civil Rights battles, etc. but I continued to try to weigh the "sacred cows" all around against reality and have now become genuinely more and more alarmed.
It's become obvious to me that to fail to recognize and fix the growing real and discomforting problems undermining our way of life from inside out - is suicidal. I don't know what it will take to awaken the sleeping eagle and get our country in flight again but the alternatives look dismal indeed.
All advanced society throughout history got to a point when comfort took precedence to anything else and that was the beginning of the end.
High technology is like Prometheus fire; it can be used for the good of humanity or for the wrong reason.
Calculators made it easy for children not to put in the effort to know by heart that 8x8=64 or 20% of 80 is 16; spell check made it easy for them to get lazy and never use the dictionary; the list goes on.
Rational thinking is a function of the brain and as we have less and less need to use our brain, there is no wonder we are losing it. Who will benefit from it? The ones that know it is easier to manipulate ignorant people and even easier to manipulate the ones how fear losing their "privileges"
We are constantly complaining of not having enough time, because we don’t know how to manage time or waist it in the most ridiculous way in the name of comfort; my grandmother did not have a washing machine or a dishwasher, did not have sprinklers or any other benefits of the modern life and she still found time to take care of 9 children and see them through school
My mother didn't have all that, either, for most of her adult life, Petra. She was born in 1892 in rural Indiana before any of those things were part of the "way of life". People traveled by horse and buggy. Her father died when she was 12, leaving her mother a widow with three little girls on a farm.
Mother worked her way through school by ironing other girls' frilly dresses with a "flat iron" heated on a wood-burning stove, and went all the way through earning two degrees - one from the Univ. of Chicago in "Domestic Science" and simultaneously in 1917, another one from the Chicago Art Institute in Fine Art.
After graduations, she married my father who had encouraged her to get her education when it was almost unheard of - and before women had the right to vote. They struck out on their own without any backing and triumphed through several difficult challenges, wherein she literally went out into the wilderness of west Texas with her husband and three small children, living in tents, sleeping on bedrolls, cooking on open campfires and with a "carry cooker" which featured stones heated on the open fire and then placed in deep insulated pits in the device, and cooked the pots of beans or whatever they had out on the most rugged and rough of terrains, hundreds of rugged miles from the nearest small town and supplies.
Meantime my father, who also had a degree from the University of Wisconsin, and a history of overcoming obstacles, including the death of HIS father when HE was 12, leaving his mother a widow with 4 little boys - was drilling all the very deep water wells in that arid, barren land, many of which still pump the life-giving water for humans, livestock and wildlife. The well on my ranch bears his monogram and the date - 1927, and the depth - 712 feet.
By their own work, they managed to buy land and work it. They literally built a house from rocks hewn by them from the canyons. She washed laundry outside with water heated on an open fire, scrubbed with a scub-board with lye soap she made herself. She cooked in the house on a wood-burning stove. Her memoirs she was writing were to be titled "No Pampered Pet" and yet indeed, she became a known artist, was a full-time homemaker (no dishwasher or washing machine) and was probably the most interesting person I've ever known. Of course she sewed and made all the clothes for the family - the three older kids and then I was born much later - when she was 40, and some of the hardships were behind them. Their goal was to send all of us through college, which they did, as well as some other unfortunate deserving kids who otherwise would never have had a chance to go in those times and in their situations then.
They instilled in me the meaning of what it means to be a real contributor and how to manage without all the accoutrements and niceties. And I had ample chance to put it into effect in a very difficult first marriage.
They were the real American generation who made this country and the heros of its real ideals.
Even so their example was outstanding among their peers, many of whom "folded" under pressure of the Great Depression and lost their lands because they didn't know how to economize and meet the challenges.
But Mother sometimes made the older kids clothes for school from old clothes which didn't last more than one wearing & she just made them more. Few people were willing to "do whatever it takes" in the face of real challenge. But many did. Adversity separated the workers from the softies.
Of course -those with the purse-strings who had extended the loans amassed a lot of the land when people failed to meet their payments. Greed was brewing.
Anyway - there are heroic stories here. There surely still are. Not everyone is soft and dumb. Unfortunately the "majority" which has emerged missed the lessons which teach the rigorous endurance and the strong determination which are essential and needed desperately.
That is a beautiful story of your granddmother and mother and the way they fought adversity; I wish you would write a hub about it. I did one in both my granddmothers - two very strong and very different personalities (it won the hubnuggets about 2 months or so ago) http://hubpages.com/hub/hard-as-a-rock-soft-as-fea
Very nice Petra and very true. The majority of Americans (is it that 70%?) are delighted to argue about the macaroons they elect into public office. I don't get TV. I try to filter out the brainwashing or brain-deadening!And- the capitalism we "enjoy" is putting sales over our environment, quality food, air, etc. Unbridled capitalism can be as bad as any type of system. Thank you!
Hello again Micky,
Statistically speaking over 90% of world population are mediocre at best. It is a premeditated effort of ALL governments to keep people ignorant so they can manipulate them efficiently
"the interests of the few who want to manipulate the many"
How spot on you are. I used to have offices in Romania immediately after the revolution and I know what was going on. And by the way, I also know that the 12 office staff in Constanta were the most competent and willing employees I ever had :D
Thank you De Greek,
If you get a chance please read http://hubpages.com/hub/a-leasson-America-should-l
People have been always manipulated by the few; the apathy and ignorance of the many who would not bother to look beyond the slogans is carry and they will get what they deserve
Petra, what an interesting and thought provoking hub you wrote. I certainly wish I had the answers. My best guess is that it is a combination of several things. Certainly, we the people, share a lot of the blame. It amazes me how many people complain about politics or politicians, yet they have almost no factual knowledge on the subject (and are sparsely involved in politics). Blaming “we the people” is probably not the popular approach but it is one that we should explore. Americans in general are in debt, stressed, unhealthy, etc. In most cases, it is a choice. We simply choose to live life this way. I credit my parents for teaching me to be wiser and not get caught in this trap. That may be another area to explore…are parents less involved in their childrens’ lives? Is it easier to let the TV or internet raise them?
Another argument for blaming ‘we the people’ is our general attitudes. I’ve got called “anti-American” for saying this but I believe it makes me even more of a proud American. The attitude that ‘America is never wrong,’ ‘America should never apologize,’ ‘America is the greatest,’ etc can be destructive thoughts. We can learn a lot from our mistakes and learn even more from other cultures, countries, etc. As the saying goes, ‘a wise man can learn from a fool but only a fool can not learn from a wise man’
Hello LRC,
I so agree with you! It seems that every time one tries to point out something wrong with “the greatest country” on earth, the anti-American label is attached to it. We became the fools of the world since we strongly believe we have nothing to learn from others and still believe that everyone should learn from us.
What we are teaching our children is that Mediocrity is acceptable and conforming to ‘norms’ will ensure easy pass. The norm is; keep quite and don’t make waives, look for the easy way out and do not care
What we are teaching the world is; there is my way or the highways – take it or leave it, but better be prepared to deal with the consequences (military invasion, economic embargo, etc)
Petra- The rich control the economy and its ideology. Political + Social = economic control.Rich capitalist investment dominate social and political institutions;capital mobility requirement manifest means and ends, close circle circumscribed capitalist investor minority.Well organized minority issues economic policy and virtual democracy.No knowledge! No democracy! Dumb is profitable!
Hi Niall,
In a few words you painted the perfect picture and gAve the perfect answer. Thank you Sir, nothing is more profitable than DUMB
Wonderful hub. The dumbing down of America started after 1967. Standards for education went down, children who couldn't read were given credit just for trying and the process began. We now are paying the price for this travesty. Parents, teachers, school boards and just about everyone else are to blame. We need to raise our standards and if we do children will rise to the challenge We also need to expect more from the people we put in office .Enough is enough, clearly the handwriting is on the wall.
Thank you Pop,
I missed you, but I hope you enjoyed your vacation. Yes we know standards have been lowered and we can see what the results are. The question is what was the intent on dumbing down America?
Could it be that our government saw what happens when people are highly educated and do not put up with BS? Did they learn from the fall of communism? It may very well be.
Great article but I would have thought that more people here would understand and know by now that their government together with the other New world order promotors have a plan!!!
Surely you are aware of this by what is happening throughout the financial system and the world.
This is because they are looking for more control as we go towards the Event Horizon of 2012 - a consciousness rising event in itself and with more expected catastrophic earth changes.
The elite rich families of the world have been moving towards this time for decades. You either realise this or you do not. Educating yourselves now of these facts will be powerful in whether you survive or not.
The way to avoid their games is to increase your own levels of consciousness and awareness and connect with the universal energies which anchor our planet.
If you are playing catch-up with this information, which it seems many are, then go to sites like www.projectcamelot.org and work your way thru their library of whistleblowers from the government, scientists, astro physicists etc.
It is the truth that will set you free, questioning why the US is being dumbed down it is only part of the equation - why is the world population being dumbed down is more to the point, come out of nationalism into the world situation and you will get clues.
Namaste
Linda
Hi Linda,
Thank you for your comment. It is easy to understand that this whole situation has been thought trough and is not just an accident. We may even have a chance and I admire your hubs for raising awarness about the problems. Thank you
This hub is most thought provoking and the comments equally so. I'm Canadian and things are not all that different north of the 49th. Our education standards have plummeted to the point where a 4-year general arts degree means about the same as a grade 12 education did a few decades ago, except that back then people could read and write at the end of it.
The media has been dumbing down everything it produces for decades now. It's been written for 12-year-olds. That is not an exaggeration. It's long been the accepted level of attention, skill, and knowledge of the average American in the eyes of television program producers and others in mass media. However, with the advent of shows like "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader", apparently we're slipping from the 12-year-old slot. Should we be worried about our ineptitude? No, we should pick up a bag of Doritos while we laugh at the next contestant who is now being beaten in knowledge by a 10-year-old. And so on and so forth.
We speak poorly and use slang. We are lazy. We are rude. We are obese. We think we are right and entitled by birth. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us are now uneducated (or should I say under-educated) in addition. Several years ago, an economist predicted the demise of America and said that one day soon Americans would become the itinerate farm workers of Europe. What a sad statement! What is sadder is that nobody is listening.
Hello SilverGenes
I very much agree with you. I can also see Americans being the illiterate farmers of Europe rather sooner than later. High school graduates that can’t place Austria on a world map, or have never heard of Latin America?
For most of them Napoleon is just the name of another dessert; not to worry!
Every time America invades another county we learn at least which continent that country belongs to
I have serious doubt that Bush has ever heard of Babylon and I know for sure that the American soldiers who vandalized the museum in Baghdad never had a clue of the irreplaceable treasures they have destroyed.
I have 50 year old school books that visually open your eyes to the dumbing down of America. Social Studies , patriotism and even etiquette were taught in these books. We now have manufacturers, huge corporations that write and print these "modern" books and spend millions of dollars on their sales pitches to school boards and parents. In New Jersey , grammar was taken out of the elementary curriculum and was taught inclusively during spelling. That means that we were not allowed to teach the concepts separately but they would be introduced and taught in conjunction with the spelling part of the lesson. Obviously, this never included enough repetition to succeed for any child without a photographic memory. And is really foolish when you evaluate the concept. I brought in supplemental materials and assigned this work in grammar for homework and students abilities improved. I taught special education to resource student. Kids who were only about 2 years behind and my students always learned 9 months of reading or math and they always scored 75% or better in their standardized tests. Was it easy , NO! Did I get in trouble for teaching out of the box yes ! Did I love my work , always. Todays, parents want their child to have fun when they are learning . This is also not always possible . Do I have students who remember me and stop me on the street - to this day ; and that is my report card on me. I feel very blessed whenever this happens and almost can never figure out who this former student was until they jog my memory.
Hello fetty,
There is no better profession in this world than being a teacher who can influence and mold the lives of many students.
A bad doctor may kill a patient or two, a bad teacher will “kill” generations of students and that is a tragedy.
One of the people I like best and has influenced me a lot was my first grade teacher, Madame Pretureanu; I always wanted to be like her and, to this days my nails are short and very red, my hair is short and dark, but what I learned from her was to consider students like being spring waters and help them reach their full potential and turn into rivers.
I completely agree with this hub. Great job. Many americans these days have really no sense of what is really going on in the world, aside from what is being projected at them through the tube. I believe the dumbing down of americans first began wehn the first televisions became available to the regular american household.
TV and media in general is only part of the problem; a failed education system is another and parents who do not care is not less of a problem
A thought provoking and challenging Hub! I have experienced some time now the cognitive dissonance of being an educator, teaching graduate students while watching the standards dwindle over the years. It's hard for me to place all the blame on the students, although students for sure want to exert as little effort as possible to obtain their degree. In addition they want to be told what to think. But the ones that get to me are the professors. Academia is playing itself out for me now. So many of the professors now have an agenda they would rather push than being concerned with whether or not the students can think for themselves. Education has become politicized, agenda-driven, and consumed by political correctness. I think now one has to carve out a life for him- or herself in spite of what is occurring in the culture. I know that becomes more and more difficult as time eats away at the fabric of free thought.
Hello again jvjones
Students want to be told what to think because it is easier than making an effort to use their head and also because they have been brainwashed by the media who is controling our lives.
Professors are forced to teach the "politically correct" nonsense, so I do not blame them at all. I have friends who are teacher and they live in fear if they go one inch out of the "norm".
In the best interest of our politicians Free though is to be feared, Dumbness is to be celebrated.
A single vote is to simplistic. We are all quilty of these issues. It is our country. The government we who do vote elect. And when we allow ourselves to be mislead, distracted, discouraged, etc... it is our decision. YOu want more then get engaged. This is our lives, our country, our government. Do not sit on the sideline and cry it is unfair, or I can't do it. If we(the american people) truely want to improve our lives, country, government, education system, etc... then we will find the will, the voice, the way to effectively make our collective voices heard. Vote people vote. But first KNOW who and what you are voting for.
Would be nice to have a voice and to be heard. The problem is people did not vote for the bailout of the ones who created the financial disaster in the first place and people did not vote for the war either.
We elect representatives, but they DO NOT represent us; they serve the interest of big business and are concerned with being re-elected, so they can keep their life style and lower our standards of living.
If that is what you believe then continue to speak out and when you vote for your representatives make sure you know who their $$'s backing is, and pay attention to the things they have said. Learn, challenge, get involved, stay involved. That is the responsibility we accept when we cast a vote for anyone.
If any of you believe your educations system is not up to par get INVOLVED. When was the last time you went to a school board meeting? Do you know the views of the board members you voted for? Did you vote? IF you are over 18 then you have the resposibility to be involved. If you choose to sit on you butt and not get involved you have made a choice. You may not be proud of your choice but it is your choice. We each own a part of these problems we are facing. I accept that and encourage each of us who would like to see change to get involved, stay involved. The revolution that needs to take hold in this country is not the taking up of arms. It is the acceptance of our individual responsibilities and holding ourselvs accountable for the decisions we have made on our execution of those responsibilities.
If you still trust ANY politician, then fear not; there are still plenty of bridges for sale in America
Only when we hold ourselves accountable to fulfill our responsibility as citizens will we be able to hold our representatives accountable for their responsibilities.
There is nothing to sell here. We the citizens of this nations need to accept as our responsibility. Casting stones is a old practice which needs to be eliminated.
Until each of us holds ourselves accountable for our actions (or inactions) it becomes ludicrous for us to hold those we vote for accountable.
Thanks for making this hub. You are an inspiration and another great American. More people should see this. Keep up the fabulous work.
to: IsThatRight?
We do need to accept our responsibility. The constitution orders Americans to renew the government if it turns into a tyrannical beast.
Hello VizFact,
Thank you for your comment and I am glad to see that most people understand the problem begins with the politicians that are representing only special interest.
I completely agree, it's almost like the US just found some huge money tree and everyone can spent whatever they want. The people and the government have no value of money anymore. I hope this chnages because I'll be the one paying this huge bill in 10 years. grr
And it's not just America. Much of Europe is not far behind, though I think France still retains a healthy interest in more cerebral things. As to who is benefiting, it would seem to be only the big corporations in whose interests we consume worthless goods and services. Keep spreading the word :)
Hello Molson,
Should only take 10 years to pay the bill, we would still have hope; it is most likly it will take a few generations.
Hella Paraglider,
I agree that the dambing is becoming well spred and the new philosophy is "buy, buy, buy" - pay, pay, pay. Quality products are rare and the consumer is replacing everything more frequently, so the big business is profiting and in reality they are controling the world
I toured the USSR with thirty students twice, and I agree that your former home was a place which appreciated education. People do not believe me when I tell them that the longest lines were to buy books off of a card table. One man came up to me and told me how much he and his daughter enjoyed reading "To Kill a Mockingbird," one of my favorites also.
Unfortunately, one of the people who commented previously against education represents a radical, right-wing movement which would send us back to the Medieval Ages. They want to go back to a time when we had a comfortable two-class system, and divinely right-wing annointed kings to run things. This movement began with the Reagan era which began an arc toward anti-intellectualism. This attitude is now a full throated howl from the right. It is most distressing; keep up the support for an educated public. Good hub.
Hello chasingcars,
I agree with everything you said, except that my homeland is ROMANIA and not the USSR. At any rate, all communist countries put a lot of emphasis on education and it was all FREE from first grade to a PhD.
The price of books and opera tickets were the equivalent of a cup of coffee and since we had limited hours of TV programms everybody was reading a lot (the only way to travel the world).
Part of the reason the communism collapse sooner than anyone expected is because it proved to be close to impossible to control overly educated people, so I am sure the dumbing down of America is a deliberate effort to keep people in the dark and manipulate them at will.
Great hub and great conversation. More people need to realize the importance of the points you and a lot of the commentators here are making. I've written before, and I may make a hub on it, about how the media and the entertainment industry contributes to the situation by relieving people of their powers of imagination. What I mean is they do our imagining for us; they, to a large extent, create our reality for us. And when you lose your own capacity to imagine, you lose freedom because you lose the breadth of choice that the ability to imagine new possibilities brings. This is all related to dumbing down and the abdication of personal power by the individual. I think we basically live in a culture of abdication in the modern world. We've become so obsessed with wealth and pleasure that we've lost our grounding, we've forgotten what makes us unique as individuals, and I think many people don't even realize what they are capable of because they get caught up in this from a very early age. A very thought provoking read. Thanks.
Hello McHamlet,
Happy you stopped by and evern happier we agree that the media is doing its part to kill off our imagination. The question remains "who is controling the media?" and we know the answer to that as well.
I wrote a hub about the media - you may want to take a look at http://hubpages.com/hub/because-you-asked-for-it
I am looking forward to your up coming hub and we may want to link them together since they will probably be much related
I think it is difficult for parents to monitor what their kids take in. Media is all around us--TV, internet, radio, magazines. There is more of a need for a person to filter the media he has contact with these days, and that is something that kids need to foster on their own. Teachers can help by teaching that one must think on their own. What solves any kind of "dumbing down" is a free and individual mind.
Hello ocoonocoon,
I agree with you, only a free and indipendent mind can filter the manipulated news and make sense of what is going on. The mind of children has to be helped along the way and that is the duty of patents and teachers.
The media will always put a spin on everything so "reading between the lines" is something we must learn. I have a hub about that "A lesson America should learn" and is about questioning the official opinion, someting we learned by living in a communist country.
As long as our teachers and their classrooms are subjected to meeting some legislated and societal political correctness, as long as schools have to fear profiling and discrimination issues, the education of our children will continue to decline and suffer and get dumbed-down -- a sick twist of compromise on 'No Child Left Behind', just dumb down the educational path of them all, give the children the power of fear to control the classroom, control the teacher -- after all, they're entitled, they have the right to free speech and free love and condoms in kindergartern...much more important than experiencing history through learning.
Lots of good points you've made here, good insight into the factors dumbing America down.
On American's learning to read between the lines, lots of Americans do, the adults who don't now, haven't ever, are usually Democrats in my experience, generations of them whose Dad's were parlayed at the gates of the steel mill, the refinery, by Dems every time an election came around, preaching their message of 'I'll take care of you.'
I agree with everything you said and the dumbing down of America will continue while more and more children will be left behind. Slogans are killing this nation and most people do not even care anymore to find out what to do, except to save their own skin and survive the day
Petra, excellent hub.
You really hit home with this statement,
“Rational thinking is a function of the brain and as we have less and less need to use our brain, there is no wonder we are losing it. Who will benefit from it? The ones that know it is easier to manipulate ignorant people and even easier to manipulate the ones how fear losing their "privileges””
Why else is Twitter and Facebook so popular? The celebration of the mundane is also a victory for the “its all about me crowd” Such large blocks of the population is so enthralled with their own micro life, they allow the government to direct macro events. I shudder to think about the next 10 years. Thank you for sharing an intelligent perspective from inside the frying pan of Los Angels.
Hello Jason
Thank you for visiting my site and leaving a comment. I believe we are on the same page and I just left a comment on your hub about moral values. I have little hope things will get better for America anytime soon. Greed, corruption and arrogance are perfect ingredients for an early collapse.
Oscar Wilde’s definition of America seems to fit the picture; “America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadency never experiencing civilization”
Americans just don't care about politics, being educated or what happens to our country for that matter. I believe the bottom line is many Americans just don't care and they have become lazy.
The government does not want the American people to be educated. They want us to be minions who do their biding, never questioning anything that they do to us regardless of whether it may or may not benefit us. It is all about greed and big business controls our government. Bottom line they need to make money even if it is at the expense of the American people.
Hello events,
America should start caring soon and should start understanding who is benefiting from robots programed to never think BUT buy, buy, buy and spens, spend, spend. Being uneducated and in debt is the best combination for becoming a slave that the master will manipulate every each way
Petra - excellent hub. I did done got grayed 12 edjucation so I arent dum... Is I? LOL
For your info - The deliberate dumbing of down America is a (now free) e-book written by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt you can download at http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/
Again my friend - I appreciate and respect your writing. When ya coming to Pt Dover? ;-)
Neil dera,
I hope they did teach you in school what LMAO and BTW means; in case they did not, I WBRT to make up for it.
Read Fokk University when you get a chance and you will know where the high education began. There is a link to it on my hub "I will no longer prostitute myself"
LOL - thanks for the reminder to read Fokk U niversity. The hub and the comments are hilarious.
Love - Light - Laughter
Neil
Hi Neil,
I knew you would love it. Our drbj is priceless; she makes us Lough, she brings us Light and we Love her
To me, as a student the decline of quality education is sickening. With so much available in America today, appreciation for amazing privileges like education and plentiful food is all but non-existent. Americans take what they have for granted and in my opinion, it’s gone way too far. Complaints and illogical demands are all we hear now, and the ultimate justification for inappropriate behavior is simply: I felt like it. The younger generations are saturated with ignorance and arrogance. Sometimes it seems the only way out of this cycle of degradation would be to expose the nation to some of the sorrows, hardships and tragedies that are common issues for the rest of the world. I myself have lived in America my whole life but I don’t support ignorance, arrogance and illogical reasoning and I am disgusted by the concepts that are being tolerated and promoted all around me. I go to school and less than one percent of those around me have ever even begun to contemplate their good fortune. They obsess over the most trivial conflicts and have no respect for intelligence, sophistication or politeness. The vulgar mindset of many people today is outrageous, and every single person is guilty for tolerating, supporting and maintaining it. Thank you sincerely for addressing this crucial matter, perhaps one day, probably well after I’m dead and gone gratitude will resurface in America.
Hello eveangelel,
Thank you for your comment and I have to agree with every word you said. It is true and it is sad as well as it is dangerous to see an entire generation obsessed by the latest gadget and with a sense of entitelment second to none.
Hard times are ahead of us and while the older generation is used to more resonable and economical ways of living, the young ones will have the shock of their lives. I don't even feel sorry for them; between arrogance and ignorance they are perfectly qualified to fail at most everything.
The sad part is that they have been programmed to be what they are today by parents too busy to keep up with the Jones and by a government who does prefer ignotant people around - since they are easy to manipulate. The media is the propaganda tool of the government so it is to be expected they will brainwash and try to promote irresponsable spending and a consumer mentality
Being involved in our school, it's easy to see, we have parents that now both have to work to make ends meet. The kinds on the whole are unsupervised and by the time mom and dad get home, they don't want to deal with anything, so the "you got homework" oh o.k. is more rehtorical than concern. The teachers that teach simply because they like the schedule and don't have any desire to actually teach. (Not all, but I see quite a few every day). The politicians that keep cutting funding to districts that need it most make it difficult to get a proper education, which actually serves their purpose, keep them dumb and they'll believe anything. This midterm election, many people asked "who do we vote for", not why? what do they stand for?
Hello Abecedarian,
I only partially agree with you; yes, I know parents have to work, but that is not a good enough excuse. To often they are spending more time in front of TV or the computer rather than with their children, too often they will buy children stuff rather than takeing them places - like a museum, a concert, the library, etc.
Teachers are being paid a miserable salary compared to any other professionals and what we may think as an easy "schedule" is not that easy after all since they have to work at home, correct papers, do plan lessons and the rest.
The way I see it is mostly the fault of government that cuts the budget regularly and in effect is not interested to have well educated citizens that are too smart and ready to question the decisions politicians make to their own advantage
This hub brings to mind a "Greenday" song, "American Idiot"!
Hi Jeremey,
Love the "American Idiot" , never heard it, but the title is "inspiring"
Petra - some interesting observations. I liked the one "they pretend to pay us, we pretend to work".
Hello jv,
Thank you for reading this hub. Yes, Romanians had developed plenty of ways to defend themselves against communism and perpetual sabotage, at a national level, was one of them. I wrote a hub about communism because I thought some people, and especially Americans, could learn from it.
Petra - I'm glad you are trying to educate people about the shortcomings of communism but I fear you are in the minority. Unfortunately, in my passive estimation, I don't think Americans will ever begin to appreciate how that system of government was so profoundly corrupt, reactionary, and evil.
Hello jv,
Sorry I have to disagree with you; when it comes to corruption, communists were innocent children as compered to the American government.
Communism was dictatorial and had no respect for the individual (not that the American system has any respect, for that matter), but there were some good points about it and you could find them in my hub about the communism.
As for "educating" anyone, I have very little hope to succesfully fight the brainwashing that has been going on for 200 years
Advertisers and the media have done a good job in America, feeding many people misinformation, distracting people from the real issues. Too many people wish to bury their heads in the quicksand of media and technology to care what goes on around them. If one is not taught empathy at a young age, it usually never sets in unless, as adults, they have a tragedy and understand how the 'other half' lives. Wonderful hub.
Thank you Bobbi,
Very true and very sad. Ignoring the truth is not going to make the problems get better or go away. The erosion of family values brings about the erosion of the society and has a domino effect.
My thoughts always lead me to that zionist media of "ours" and thus, a major part of all the current problems, in the homes, in the schools, and for those unhappy enough to suffer from our abuses abroad.
Hello Wesman,
The media has its own agenda, no doubt about it and here I can borrow your "by design" theory from the comment you left on my other hub.
Who is controling the media? Big money and politics comes to mind. It seems to me as a joined effort to make the American people dumber and dumber so it can be manipulated without much trouble.
We have opinionated news with no fact checking. Air headed reality shows. It bothers me people don't keep up with current events or just don't care what's going on in the world at all. TV and video games are baby sitters. We need to be people first. Like your hub.
What I feel that almost all of the TV programs designed for kids do not emphasis on human values.Instead those specially designed programs help student develop strong inclination for music,dresses,iPhones and junk foods.What I believe that since the beginning of schooling every student should be taught how to develop human values and show compassion for all the living beings-that is the most important part of our identity.One of the most surprising thing to me is that only a few are raising questions like you and to the rest everything is just normal, just a part of life.Thanking you so so much for writing such a brilliant hub.
It saddens me, how people jump on such bandwagons. All I could think of, reading this hub and all its comments was this quote,
"The world is passing through troubled times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress." Peter the Hermit, 1274
Or this one, ""The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." Socrates, 469-399 BCE
Hmm, they sound remarkably similar to each other as well as to many of the above comments.
I think today's Youth are AMAZING and gifted. I think they are far from dumb and are doing things my generation would never have conceived possible. Last month's Time magazine outlined how Youth and Technology are transforming the world. I, for one, am excited to see this transformation WE birthed.
BTW, if you read my profile page, you will see that I mentioned you, dear Petra.
Sorry to find this post so late...but it is a GREAT post...and evergreen. So thanks!
about the best written post I've seen in a long time. So true....the media, TV, even social net sites have the average American brain on unconscious mode. People tend to blame kids....when I've seen firsthand school aged kids in America are more intelligent, insightful, aware of many things adults are not. Adults too busy keeping up with who is on American Idol or Dancing with the Stupid Stars. America's kids are doing in 2nd grade what us MBA educated parents did in 4th+, tested by 2nd grade to the gills, pushed so hard..no wonder some kids drop out by High School, kids with 130 IQ's that have had it with not being allowed to be a kid. When we here "dumbing down" America, I think more of adults....the adults misbehaving (politicians for instance making economic decisions on the backs of kids) with budget cuts in schools to pay for the over proliferated "defense" industry...war and weapons, neither of which "serve our nation". The dumbing down starts at the top
Thank you Mimi,
We all have a pretty good idea of the problems, but it seems we can't find the solutions; maybe we are not looking hard enough
Hello andromida,
as we know, children are learning by example; for as long as parants are too "busy" keeping up with the Jones, the media will re-enforce the "values" that better serve their interest - keeping the advertisers happy and transforming our children into buying machines
Hello storyteller,
When you talk about the young and talented, hard working people of today, you have to agree that they are the vast minority; true, it only takes ONE genius to come up with the idea of Google, but what about the rest?
Thank you Mary Ann
I appreciate the compliment and I am happy you stopped by; hope to see you again
Hi ppeznluv,
What we need (and we don't have) is balance, that magic word called moderation
Philosphically, politically and sociologically, pluralism has wrapped its tenacles around the United States. The doctrine that there is no organic truth, but that reality is comprised of a multitude of co-equal truths has compromised discernment and wisdom, necessary elements in the continued existence of a dynamic culture.
Political correctness is a poor substitute for what is true.
Hello Digs,
Thank you for your comment; I could not agree more. As for political correctness, it is a total semantic nonsense since things are either correct or incorrect so politics of any kind should stay out of the equation.
This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I too am very concerned for the future of the United States and its educational system. Good article!
The dumbing down of American education happened when educators thought it was more important for children to have self-esteem by giving them easy As or no marks at all, by offering easy classes like surfing, by having teachers unions take more of the budget to pay for benefits and union expenses rather than spending it on curriculas. The US spends more dollars per student and has nothing to show for it. That's the dumbest of all.
zzron 23 months ago
Great hub, I agree, we are made to look like we are all stupid Americans but that is only true for a few, not the majority.