Occupy Idiocracy
I picked up a copy of the student newspaper from my alma mater. There was a story about a local Occupy rally. I am blessed to live in a part of the country where Occupy has been a Saturday-only event, and has been pretty small (according to the article, the crowd was "thirty or more"; why the author was unable to either give an exact count of such a small crowd, or use more appropriate language like "about thirty" I'll leave to your imagination). There are some great quotes, as might be expected. From a history professor, we have
"The government sold us out; sold out the American people with free trade and free market capitalism."
and
"We need to protect the workers' rights and student loan debt needs to be forgiven. Thinking and acting globally is the first step. This event is going on everywhere and we are not alone. Change happens when America demands it."
I can only assume that this type of gibberish is typical of the average college history professor. I thought the slogan was "Think globally, act locally", though. Perhaps the student-journalist made a mistake, as elsewhere I see collective bargaining referred to as "collecting bargaining". Another quote, from student A
"If we are already paying for the schools through taxes, why do we have to keep paying an absurd amount of money when we attend? It should be free."
This student also yelled the following into the microphone
"I'm just tired of all of it."
Surprisingly, there were some students who disagreed with student A. Student B had this to say
"If we want to be middle class, we need a college education. The economy made a transition between a manufacture base economy to a technological base economy and having a college degree makes a difference."
Student B also believes that "a college education should be cheaper and more accessible, but not necessarily free" and he suggested that "there should be no interest rate on a student loan". I would point out that the in-state tuition at this university is slightly over $3000 per semester.
Finally, a quote from student C, who organized the rally
"Our voice is the only resource of the masses; our vigilant action and enthusiastic spirit are the only means the lesser of society can garner attention and occupy their part of the finite freedom people will always struggle to maintain. Demonstrations of independence such as this one are not just a right, but a responsibility to our free society."
Take note, fellow Americans: it's not just a right to stand out on the street holding a sign with a nebulous slogan on it, spouting nonsense, it's a responsibility. I mean, what will we do if our government sells us out to free market capitalism?
Occupy: it's got what plants crave.
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Comments :
Feb '11
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
"The economy made a transition between a manufacture base economy to a technological base economy and having a college degree makes a difference."
A manufacturing-based economy IS a technologically-based economy; steam engines, power looms, and machine tools are technologies as much as are computers. It is really bizarre the extent to which "technology" has become in the popular and media mind a synonym for "computer stuff."
Dec '10
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
Mothership_Greg: ... There are some great quotes, as might be expected. From a history professor, we have
...
... because government bailing out banks and corporations with tax dollars is what free trade and free market capitalism is all about!
Grrrr. Pass the duct tape.
Jun '10
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
So we must "think globally" while getting rid of free trade. Am I wrong in suggesting that this is cognitive dissonance?
Edited on Dec 11, 2011 at 10:43amNov '11
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
tabula rasa: So we must "think globally" while getting rid of free trade. Am I wrong in suggesting that this is cognitive dissonance? · Dec 11 at 10:43am
Edited on Dec 11 at 10:43 am
In this context, "think globally" means tell your friends how Republicans hate Muslims, and maybe read a book by Edward Said or Noam Chomsky. There is no cognitive dissonance in Oceania.
Oct '11
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
Like everybody else here, I'm always having fun trying to predict the political process. And like everybody else, I have a hard time understanding people who don't think like us.
Now, y'all help me out here. Just how many people, nationwide, are really #Occupy-stupid? I don't mean average (I hope) or disengaged, I mean gene-deep irredeemable morons like A, B, and C above. How many?
Nov '11
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
Barfly: Like everybody else here, I'm always having fun trying to predict the political process. And like everybody else, I have a hard time understanding people who don't think like us.
Now, y'all help me out here. Just how many people, nationwide, are really #Occupy-stupid? I don't mean average (I hope) or disengaged, I mean gene-deep irredeemable morons like A, B, and C above. How many? · Dec 11 at 12:41pm
I am not inclined to write off the students as morons, although from a practical standpoint, they certainly don't seem to be very bright. The problem is that there are far too many professors, history and otherwise, who do not teach critical thinking, but instead practice propaganda and sloganeering. The absurd beliefs and lack of precision in language evinced by so many young people are certainly not a genetic problem.
Oct '11
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
Mothership_Greg
I am not inclined to write off the students as morons, ...
...not a genetic problem.
"...sold out the American people with free trade...there should be no interest rate on a student loan...Our voice is the only resource of the masses..."
This is idiocy that one can't address with reason. As for my "gene-deep" comment, that was hyperbole born of frustration. I could have said "bone-deep", but their bones aren't the problem either. I invoke the Forrest Gump rule, which directly implies these people are stupid. You're right, Greg, these idiots didn't inherit their stupidity - they chose it.
My question was serious, if ill-phrased: how widespread is this rot?
Nov '11
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
Barfly
Mothership_Greg
I am not inclined to write off the students as morons, ...
...not a genetic problem.
"...sold out the American people with free trade...there should be no interest rate on a student loan...Our voice is the only resource of the masses..."
This is idiocy that one can't address with reason. As for my "gene-deep" comment, that was hyperbole born of frustration. I could have said "bone-deep", but their bones aren't the problem either. I invoke the Forrest Gump rule, which directly implies these people are stupid. You're right, Greg, these idiots didn't inherit their stupidity - they chose it.
My question was serious, if ill-phrased: how widespread is this rot? · Dec 11 at 2:20pm
With numbers like this
Nov '11
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
...I would guess that the rot is quite widespread, although I'm not sure how to quantify it, as far as students go. I also can't entirely fault the students for "choosing" to believe in nonsense. If I had been raised in an environment where everyone believed things like "Republicans are racist" and "Dubya illegally invaded Iraq to steal their oil", I probably wouldn't be on Ricochet today. The best we can do is point out the obvious contradictions and lack of clarity in rhetoric such as the above (with a bit of mockery added, perhaps). Ultimately, people need to figure things out for themselves, and as long as higher education is failing to give young (continued)
.
Nov '11
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
people the tools to do this, then we as parents, as citizens, as teachers, must do our best to inculcate critical thinking in the young.
Jul '10
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
Mothership_Greg
The problem is that there are far too many professors, history and otherwise, who do not teach critical thinking,...... The absurd beliefs and lack of precision in language evinced by so many young people are certainly not a genetic problem. · Dec 11 at 2:04pm
The problem is that there are far too many Parents who do not teach critical thinking. The acceptance of "absurd beliefs and lack of precision in language" could be the product of the culture at Home.
Nov '11
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
Jimmy Carter
Mothership_Greg
The problem is that there are far too many professors, history and otherwise, who do not teach critical thinking,...... The absurd beliefs and lack of precision in language evinced by so many young people are certainly not a genetic problem. · Dec 11 at 2:04pm
The problem is that there are far too many Parents who do not teach critical thinking. The acceptance of "absurd beliefs and lack of precision in language" could be the product of the culture at Home. · Dec 11 at 3:07pm
I agree that the ultimate problem is a cultural one. If we had responsible parents teaching their children how to think for themselves, then tons of Marxist professors preaching propaganda wouldn't really be much of a problem. It would still be a problem, though.
Dec '11
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
Who you callin' the "...lesser of society", white boy?
Jul '10
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
To paraphrase Mark Twain..in the first place, God made idiots. But that was just for practice...then he made history teachers.
As a closet history major (I try to avoid telling people what my major is in polite conversation), I can speak from experience that history professors are among the most morally idiotic, pompous, individuals I have ever met. They cannot help themselves no matter what the subject they teach...to somehow relating it to Republicans being stupid/evil/etc. Every single professor to a man was a leftist at the University of Akron. Only one teacher...an Indian immigrant woman with a thick British accent, was non-left. She was an economics professor and of a muddled libertarian bent.
The amount of nonsense I've heard taught in history classes boggles the mind..."Israel commits cultural genocide...the Ukranian famine was a lie...Stalin wasn't so bad...the Soviet Union constitution was the best in history...America's an empire...Jefferson/Washington = evil/slavers/...Constitution made for benefit of rich, white, landowning men..." That last one was from a student and was the most infuriating.
May '10
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
There must be a computer programmer among us who could cook up a "Occupy-Type Comment Generator" in a couple hours. It would save reporters a lot of time since they wouldn't have to actually go and interview anyone.
Jul '10
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
It's called Eliza, it is a few decades old, and it babbles cheerfully to any input. A few minor adjustments to customize a script and voila! The same high quality of dialogue it took thousands of dollars of union money to emulate.
Jan '11
Re: Occupy Idiocracy
"Occupy: it's got what plants crave." It's nice to see someone else saw Idiocracy.