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[quote=Franklyn;5681357]You either have the wrong president or the wrong war, but that's not important. What is striking in what you say, however, is your lack of ability in the area of critical analysis.
He's got the wrong president. It was FDR who knew that Pearl Harbor was going to happen.
The men that saw the invasion force on radar were told not to worry about it. There were plenty of OTHER indications that would lead one to believe that it was KNOWN that Pearl Harbor was going to happen.
One such indication was the sense of isolationism among the American people that would have kept us out of the war UNTIL attacked. The attack was necessary to incite the American people to call for our own involvement in World War II.
Great post, and it is partially true. Honestly, I don't know if America has ever been an intellectual place. The agressors and jocks have always been the popular ones. What were these kids doing in the 50s and 60s that made them so much smarter? Keep in mind I am only 17, but from what my dad tells me, things really weren't all that different when he was younger. I have taken many more advanced classes than either of my parents, and they are always stating I know so much more than they did when they were kids. I still know much more than than about politics.(Ron Paul)
Keep in mind they are both college grads and have well-paying jobs.
Every generation thinks the current one is terrible, and that the future is so bleak.
Good post, but let's do a real comparison:
How many years of Latin were you required to take, and in what grade(s)? How many years of Spanish/French?
What grade for physics and algebra? All these started in 8th grade when I was in school. 2 years of each language. This for all students, not the advanced group.
You either have the wrong president or the wrong war, but that's not important. What is striking in what you say, however, is your lack of ability in the area of critical analysis.
I'm sorry I've mislead you and continued this conversation this long. At one time I thought you might be a rational human, not the troll you've so obviously become.
Probably be better for you to go drink more "conspiracy" kool-aid. I think the satellites might be tracking your whereabouts and reading your thoughts.
Good bye. And to give a definitive answer to this OT, it is because of too many folk who fall for the illogical spam offered up by Morphous01 and the like.
Frank, has your mind become so crystallized that you can't even have a friendly conversation in disagreement? Yes, I did have the wrong president, I meant FDR, excuse me.
As far as "critical analysis," why is it that because you don't agree with my beliefs, the BEST you can do is criticize me? There are 4 paragraphs of criticizing, do you all see this? Frank, why did you chose to respond this way when obviously there is an infinite number of other ways that were available to you; even the option of educating me, but you didn't even give me the chance.
So, as far as I'm concerned, you need to take your own advice because you obviously were not "thinking critically" in regards to our conversation because as soon as you read information that challenged your beliefs you quickly escalated to condescending rebuttals and then proceeded with quick exit maneuver.
I wasn't defending the current state of education, which could use vast improvement.
I was attacking this right-wing kooky notion that education = bad and ignorance = good.
Having actually listened to those "kooky right-wing" radio programs, I clearly understand they generally do NOT think education = bad. They do equate brainwashing students with illogical but politically-correct group-think as bad. They do think that threatening students who dare to think for themselves = bad. And that is what passes for education in far too many schools.
When it was all DOS based, people that worked with computers had to have a modicum of intelligence.
Ahhh DOS...the good ole days Writing my own menus, copying/editing files and all the little key commands you had to know. Every once in a while I get a smile when I see that C: prompt show up Sometimes its good to get back to basics (and I am not the programming language ).
With Mac's and other companies making it easier to do even basic functions it makes it difficult for the average person to understand and fix problems on their own. I actually had my son sit down and build his own computer (I walked him through it). I still find people that don't know the difference between memory and processor speed and hard drive size. It's kinda like operating a car and not knowing if ya got a diesel or gas engine. For something so widely used I find it is rarely understood. But I get there is no stopping it. But who can blame the manufacturers. The easier and more friendly to use the more they are gonna sell.
What has caused the dumbing down of the American Culture? Is it just me or do people in general seem less interested in thinking, learning and knowledge than ever before. I also noticed a general movement towards apathy in many Americans. It seems like we are not really all that concerned about anything outside of our own little world.
Sure there is a share of people who complain about things but they do so with so little knowledge or insight. I can not believe much of what I read on Internet Message Boards. So many people have so little knowledge about the topics of the day.
Look at TV and the movies. The shows are getting more insane and mind numbing every year. This has to be a reflexion of our culture.
Is there an increasing level of anti intellectualism in our culture or has it always been that way?
Some theories.
1) The media myth of the media star - I.e. the Rock Star myth. "Do your own thing man... sling a mean guitar and people will throw money at you. You can grow your hair long, smash up hotel rooms and do drugs and still be rich, man".
I fell for the "individuality" part of that schpiel when I was young. I graduated high school in 1980, so that theory of making it big was all around at the time. In reality, most folks that bit off on that one ended up drugged out. I sidestepped that since I'm a non drugger. But I did grow long hair and had a rebel attitude.
In some sense this one is still going. What girl these days doesn't want to be Hanna Montana or whatever? Why work when all you have to do is sing and look cute.
The fail to take into account that the media doesn't need to many "artists", numerically speaking. Mass media is what let the few that rise to the top make a fortune.
As I used to joke about my era... "The Rock and Roll lifestyle and the Body Building lifestyle were two lifestyle myths that rose to fame in the 70's. Both were based on drugs. Hallucinogens for R & R and steroids for BB. Both were based on products to sell. Guitars and clothes for R & R, wieght sets, supplements and clothes for BB. And why did these lifestyle myths come into existance??? Answer: To make the *promoters* rich! LOL! (I guess that would be Columbia Records and CBS on one hand and Joe Wieder on the other.)
2) Africanization - The gangsta culture got sold in a way similar to the rock and roll lifestyle myth. Since that one's a little more current, no need to recount it here. But same story as R & R above. Only worse. "Be and outlaw and you can have chicks, cars and $$$". And don't forget to *shoot* your competition on the other coast. Funny, I can't recall Mick Jagger picking up a pistol and taking pot shots at Paul McCartney.
3) The Death of the Paternal Corporation - Well, since at least 1987 it's been clear that big companies view people as "resources", as HR people say. So the unspoken contract of "Work hard, don't do anything stupid and rise up through the ranks over time, then retire here" went away.
Most of our education system really was designed to build "organization men" for that system, that since 1987 has pretty much been overturned. Or outsourced, or offshored, or... you get the idea.
In all reality, what it comes down to is that people don't see a way to reach "the good life" via hard work anymore. It just simply looks like those with dyed in the wool advantages, or got lucky, or cheated, get the big deal lives.
So until things change, either because enough people get fed up, or there is some systemic change, it probably won't change.
In short, the class gap has been getting wider, and the belief that one can cross that gap has waned and so people are getting more and more apathetic.
I mean, if you try you @ss off and still get nowhere, how many decades of your life can you spend that way before you get apathetic. How long can any observant person see it happen to others before they say, "Screw it, it ain't worth the effort. Easier to reduce my expectations that fight it"?
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.(Ron Paul
) 
Writing my own menus, copying/editing files and all the little key commands you had to know. Every once in a while I get a smile when I see that C: prompt show up 
