20
POPSThe Dumbing of America "Deliberately dumbing down the message works well with the Republican base because, compared to average Americans, the GOP rank-and-file tend to be poorly educated and dogmatically Christian, living in a culture that is hierarchical and rules based."
9
POPSKeith Olbermanic Foaming at the Mouth Just doesn't get any more true than this: "Beck has done something with his audience. He’s turned them into engaged ( and informed, may I add ) activists, while Olbermann is dumbing down his audience and treating the rest of America like Janet Leigh in the shower." I have no hope for anyone who watches Olbermann. Truly the idiots among us.
14
POPSThe Dumbing Down of America At times I feel fortunate that I live in a large metropolitan setting. But the veneer of intelligence is running mighty thin these days. Increasingly, the wink-wink politics of yesterday is once again raising its bigoted head around the south. As far as the Republican policy of late of pandering to the white male vote, I hope they keep at it. The deeper the hole they dig for themselves, the longer it will be before they gain power and start dismantling the gains the Dems have instituted. Yet, it is nauseating to watch.
2
POPSAmerican capitalism gone with a whimper 
Found in Russian newspaper Pravda. The author hits on some painful truths. The American population is dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather than the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas than the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. We care more for our "right" to choke down a fast food burger than for our constitutional rights. Then we lecture the world about rights and democracy. We so desperately wanted a change from Bushco that Barack Obama looked like the obvious answer. Be careful for what you wish for. His first three months has been devoted to spending money faster than at any time in American history. If this keeps up for another year America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe. To top it off, there is a planned redesign of the tax system, by the very thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, loses and swindles of hundreds of billions of dol
8
POPSBack Door Censorship The Frankfurt School was dedicated to the destruction of the West. One of its founders, Willi Munzenberg, stated explicitly that its goal was to: ...organise the intellectuals and use them to make Western civilisation stink . Only then, after they have corrupted all its values and made life impossible, can we impose the dictatorship of the proletariat. According to an article by Timothy Matthews in Catholic Insight, key strategies to achieve this goal were: 1. The creation of racism offences. 2. Continual change to create confusion. 3. The teaching of sex and homosexuality to children. 4. The undermining of schools' and teachers' authority. 5. Huge immigration to destroy identity. 6. The promotion of excessive drinking. 7. Emptying of churches. 8. An unreliable legal system with bias against victims of crime. 9. Dependency on the state or state benefits. 10. Control and dumbing down of media. 11. Encouraging the breakdown of the family. Munzenberg stated
2
POPSThe dumbing down page (Mu-sick) This site provides information about shops, companies and public services using piped music (aural pollution) in the spaces occupied by their clients or customers and it encourages you to complain about this abuse. It has also this page about dumbing down. I heard people saying that "dumbing down" means "accessibility". I guess "piped music" could then mean "freedom of speech", and the same could be said of leafleting. I still wonder where's the limit that would allow us to distinguish information, comunication, creativity and opinion sharing from noise, enviromental and mind pollution. I love infographics. Some could be saying that's dumbing down information, I guess. (once more sorry for my poor english)
6
POPSAn ‘Age of Commodified Intelligence’ continues: “Facebook is devoted to cataloguing this cultural rebirth,” he adds. “Here people curate their personas and project them at the world.” Yes, the lights are on, but is anybody home? [More Intelligent Life
4
POPSPoll: Too Much Coverage of Phelps, Octuplets They dumb down the news content until it is infotainment instead of information. Then they blame the dumbing down on the audience saying it's what we want, in spite of the fact that the audience actually craves information, not crap.
2
POPS Voters Fail the Test Not only would citizens be smarter, but also newspapers might be saved. Announcements of newsroom cuts, which ultimately hurt quality, have become routine. Just this week, USA Today announced the elimination of about 20 positions, while the Newark Star-Ledger, as it cuts its news staff by 40 percent, lost almost its entire editorial board in a single day. What's behind the dumbing down of America? Out of 2,500 American quiz-takers, including college students, elected officials and other randomly selected citizens, nearly 1,800 flunked a 33-question test on basic civics. In fact, elected officials scored slightly lower than the general public with an average score of 44 percent compared to 49 percent. Only 0.8 percent of all test-takers scored an "A." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/25/AR2008112502104.html
11
POPSAnti-intellectual Presidency book review
One might also question whether public engagement with policy issues was, in truth, significantly higher when presidential speeches were pitched higher. How many ordinary Americans could wax eloquent about the pros and cons of the gold standard in the 1890s, despite the fact that orators of the level of William Jennings Bryan were making the rounds? The electorate that listened to Wilson went on to elect Harding, partly because he was handsome and partly because he made speeches high on pathos. Moreover, his “return to normalcy” mantra used a word many considered not even to exist. Nevertheless, amid the impressionistic plaints so common against the dumbing down of American culture, The Anti-Intellectual Presidency is a useful empirical demonstration of one facet of a larger cultural transformation. In our come- as-you-are America, Dick Cheney’s response to an interviewer’s observation about widespread public opposition to the war in Iraq with “So?” is business as usual. We might di
0
POPSDecline of civilization Political Correctness. Dumbing down of society. Big Brother. Is the country crazy to elect a socialist like Barack Obama? Probably. Read this at your own risk. The truth can scare you to...
5
POPSThe Would-Be President Intends To Blackmail Congress. . . . . . . . . Into Falling In Line With His Climate Agenda . What about those carbon off-sets? Will Obama give us a chance to discuss it, or will he simply propose blanket changes that will destroy our economy? From the Wall Street Journal: Obama's Carbon Ultimatum http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122445812003548473.html Wizbang has the best discussion of the plans. http://wizbangblog.com/content/2008/11/02/audio-obamas-cap-and-trade-policy-so-aggressive-it-will-bankcrupt-coal-powered-plants.php Flopping Aces has information about what will happen to energy prices. http://www.floppingaces.net/2008/11/02/obama-told-paper-he-will-intentionally-bankrupt-the-coal-industry/ No Quarter has additional information about the idiocy The One is planning. http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/11/02/obama-send-some-price-signals-to-change-behavior/
7
POPSThe Dumbing down It continues... Palin is the poster-child for low expectations in politics. Not only syntactically, but intellectually.
2
POPSDumbing Down of the GOP Palin is an insult to our intelligence. Choosing her as someone who supposedly represents the American people is an insult.
7
POPSFive People Reality Shows Hurt The Most "And we don't want them to be obsessed with watching Tila Tequila to see if she's ultimately going to choose a guy or a girl to be her partner, either. Boys have plenty of time to learn about bisexuality; they do not need some MySpace whore in a sting bikini and stripper heels encouraging them to think about girls on girls. They'll waste enough time thinking about that when they're good and ready." My sentiments about Tila EXACTLY. Bi's already have enough stigmas to deal with!! Thanks to "The Bachelorette," little girls grow up seeing that if they can't find a husband on their own, they can just go on TV and make out with 25 different hot guys to magically find their Prince Charmings." *sigh* Moral of this story? Children are not small adults but adults can be small children sometimes.
2
POPSBooks: America's Dumbing Down A conspiracy theory as to why liberals get any votes at all. Insightful in that it gives one an indication of the level of fear at which some people live and the lengths they will go to to avoid cognitive dissonance.
0
POPSChemical Dumbing Down of America More on the flouride debate here: http://www.fluoridedebate.com/ "Even though the ADA is an association, not a governmental agency, it has a great deal of influence on dental matters through its lobbyists in Washington, DC and the almost universal and dominant presence of its members on State Dental Boards. These Boards have the power to remove a license from a practicing dentist in the state, and thus can keep dentists in line on controversial issues like fluoridation." It also states that " Fluoride is more toxic than lead and like lead in minute doses, accumulates in and can be damaging to brain/mind development of children, producing abnormal behavior in animals and reducing IQ in humans." another video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_P0golJFac
3
POPSObama Responds To McCain: "Strong" Presidents Aren't Afraid To Meet With Enemies I am more convinced every day that Obama is the most eloquent and relevant speaker of my lifetime. It's almost overwhelming that a man of such intelligence could possibly be running for president. I've grown so used to the dumbing down of elections that I feel ashamed. Obama is making me feel something in my country that I have never felt before, true pride.
2
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update