Has American Intelligence Tanked with the American Economy?
Where have our brains gone? It’s true, humans have short memories. Case in point, the re-election of Jerry Brown as the Governor of California. (Quick reference; Village News Jerry Brown’s past performance should not be overlooked.) But when did we become so mindless, making reality television such a large source of our entertainment? Of course it’s not just television and film media, it’s the printed media as well. There are very few places you can go where one of your senses is not assaulted by some sort of reporting about yet another mindless event or story.
Rag magazines have been around for years reporting on UFOs and on things such as assassination attempts or conspiracy theories. Those stories are becoming more of the past, which would be fine if they weren’t being replaced with stories such as the size of Kim Kardashian’s tush. Do we really care, and if so, why? Why is there even a discussion about whether she has had tushie enhancement or not? Honestly, doesn’t that sort of journalism make you feel as if you’re getting a bum deal when spending your money on this magazine or others like it?
It seems to me that as our economy continues to spiral downward, the search for a quick, easy buck has also reached an unenviable low…. reality TV. Forget the game shows. Those garner the contestants one shot at a prize that may or may not include money, and there’s always a catch. The catch here is that you have to win the game to win the prize. If you don’t, too bad, so sad. You’ve wasted a day and have nothing to show for it except possibly a little humiliation.
Ah, but with reality t.v., a person can become famous even when lacking any kind of extraordinary talent or skill. It’s as if today’s television show producers have found a way to bring back the circus sideshows that were banned so many years ago.
How did Honey Boo Boo become America’s darling? The show has been great for the cheese ball industry, but probably not very encouraging to those watching the show and trying to stay on a diet. Is it possible to watch that show without a bag of cheese curls in hand? Watching as Honey Boo Boo’s mom lifts her multiple chins to show the camera the crust that has accumulated under those folds of fat is more nauseating than when she’s feeling sexy and throws kisses to the viewers, yet the number of viewers continue to rise. As a matter of fact, Honey Boo Boo’s August 29th episode drew more adult viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 than did the Fox News coverage of the Republican National Convention. Trying hard not to be out done was the September 5th episode which tied in viewership with CNN’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention.
I think you have it backwards, our economic is tanking because we are becoming more ignorant (not less intelligent). We’re celebrating buffoonery, shallowness and discounting reason and intelligence. The people we prop up all the intellectual elites are actually sophists and charlatans who rely on sounding intelligent rather than producing new thoughts or new ideas that can help humanity.
It’s like we’re sliding into a new Dark Age and the few researchers and scientists we have left are the new Irish monks trying to keep (real) progress going. Well, maybe an unevenly distributed Dark Age: where the affluent have access to education while the masses are given bread and circuses to keep them sedated and pliant.
Phooey. You got here first.
Everything you just said I was going to say, but you did it better. Thank you!
Me three.
But it’s not all that new, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public” is an old line.
What’s different now is that the elite seems broken, too.
If it ever wasn’t, …
I think y’all are missing a point. This judgement is based on the popularity of pure tripe that is being aired on television in this day and age.
Some of us don’t even bother to watch television. Last time I watched TV on a regular basis was back in 2003. At that, I tended towards movie channels, Wings, and Fox News. Last television show I cared about watching was the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series, and I got that off the intertubes.
They claim that there has yet to be a mass exodus of people from cable and satellite programming – Yet, I’m willing to bet that the trickle of people leaving paid programming subscription packages added up over the years to be a sizeable amount. Those that continue giving these two-faced companies their hard earned money doubtlessly only watch a rather small segment of what they paid for.
Not everyone can be painted with this huge brush of ignorance that can be derived from this “Honey Boo Boo” show. This is what the above analysis is lacking.
Intelligence vs Intelligentsia
The movie “Idiocracy” would be hilarious if it wasn’t so terrifyingly prophetic.
I felt a little strange a while back when a Zombie post refered to Honey Boo Boo, and I had not one clue what the reference was to. I got the point, but not the reference. Now I know why. Life is too short for this stuff.
– can sing.
the photo at the the top says it all.
dumbing down of America…sad but true
the photo at the bottom is where we are headed if we dont wake up