You Can't Fix Stupid...

The inspiration for this blog was the lack of intelligent political discourse among myself and my peers. I was pondering on this lack of discourse and have decided that the level of uneducated opinions in this country has reached epidemic levels. There are villians on both sides of the aisle, but for the most part, the stronghold of voter stupidity seems to be concentrated amongst those that identify themselves as "liberal."

Take for instance this exchange between myself and a rabid Obama fan (I don't call them supporters, because they aren't really supporting anything, they seem to just want to vote for the guy because they like him):

Me: Why are you voting for Obama?
OF: Because he's for change. That's what we need, change. Bush has ruined this country and Obama will change things for the better and fix the mess that he [Bush] made.
Me: Well what will he change? What "mess" is he going to clean up?
OF: He's against the war.
Me: Ok, so what does that have to do with change? Is he going to end the war?
OF: Well, pulling out immediately would be a bad idea, but he will change the course of things.
Me: Right, well what else is he going to do?
OF: I don't know, I haven't read his platform.
Me: I have, and I'm not going to vote for the guy. Shouldn't you read the platform of someone you are going to vote for?
OF: I don't have time for that.
Me: Then how do you know what he's going to change, or that he is for change? Are you really going to vote for someone based on something you heard on TV or read on a bumper sticker?

At this point, the OF made some excuse like, "I hate talking about politics," and then went to get a drink at the bar.

I have had repeated exchanges with people about politics that mirror this "conversation." These are the same kind of people that will call me "ignorant" or "uneducated" if I advocate a position contrary to their beliefs.

How can anybody call me "ignorant" or "uneducated" when they haven't even read the platform of the guy they are going to vote for!?!?

The stupidity in our population really troubles me. Everything is dumbed down to a nauseatingly low standard nowadays.

We are at war, the economy is nearly circling the drain, energy prices keep rising (unchecked), now food prices are rising and there are citizens of this country that spend more time on TMZ & perezhilton.com then educating themselves on the issues of our time.

These same idiots are going to line up at voting booths in November and cast ballots that will ultimately decide who will be the commander-in-chief of the most fearsome fighting force on earth; the person who will have the key code around their neck that controls our nuclear arsenal.

The next President is going to be chosen by idiots who have no idea what the social security crisis is about, but will vote for a Democrat because they promise to "protect social security."

The next President will be put into office by people who know more about what color Lindsay Lohan's underwear is, or how many times Suri Cruise had to be changed, or who is dating or not dating some celeb and why said celeb was at a certain club/bar/restaurant with another celeb... the thought of it all literally nauseates me as I write.

If it's election day, and you have done NO research about the issues or have not at the very least read your candidates platform in a manner that will allow you to articulate 3 salient issues he/she stands for- you don't deserve the right to vote. You have effectively breached your part of the social contract that makes representative government work.

Who's to blame for this crisis of stupidity? There is plenty to go around.

Schools don't teach the fundamental civics lessons that they should be teaching. Too much time is spent on bullshit matters than discussing the Founding Fathers, their philosophies and writings, etc.

The media carries so much blame for this that it is almost criminal. First you have the bias- which is rampant. Liberals screech and howl about Fox News and how right-wing it is and what a disgrace to journalism it is, but they never have anything to say about CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, or the countless other major outlets of news that are blatantly left wing. A recent study of "global warming" coverage over the course of 2007 was particularly damning in this regard. Or the failure of the media to mention to citizens that the Senate released a list of 400 scientists that are skeptical of global warming and the hysteria surrounding it (consensus? debate is over?). This topic is only one major issue that faces us during this election- this type of irresponsibility and bias is extremely damaging.

But aside from all the institutional villains, the real blame is on us. We have done this to ourselves. This goes back to the very heart of this blog's purpose. No one wants to talk about politics anymore. It has become a matter of faith, especially for Democrats and liberals. Certain mantras are spewed out and people line up for them at the polls. Social Security reform is heresy; any reasonable regulations on abortion is treated as if it will put women back in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant... there is just no reasoning with them. There is simply no reasoning with anybody these days. Reason, logic, critical thinking- these have all been replaced with emotional (irrational) appeals to our most unevolved and basal instincts (race baiting, gender bias, class warfare) and we have willingly let it happen.

Maybe the electoral college in its original sense was the right idea. Let political elites decide who should hold the highest executive office of our land. At least they know about the issues and will debate about them openly. The public seems to be wholly unfit and entirely unwilling to bear the great responsibilty it has.