Idiocracy came true
Out of context: Reply #9
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- nb8
Idiocracy did not come true. The movie is a cynical hyperbole, a satire of America at the time, and is still hyperbole.
But hey, instead of suggesting INSANELY bad ideas like an IQ-based voting system (or any kind of privileged-only voting system) there is something you can do every day to prevent Idiocracy and help your country: promote education above all else.
Encourage kids to try hard in school, and to go to college. Vote for lawmakers that are trying to reduce entry barriers to college. Read books, not blogs. Stop watching campaign coverage and pick up a book. Stop watching YouTube and start using your public library. Find a kid in your neighbourhood and mentor them. Ask them about books, ask them about what they are learning in school. Get excited about learning with them. If you have kids in your extended family, or your own kids, encourage them to read. Read with them. Buy them books. Every time you get a kid a gift, that gift should include a book. Get them a Raspberry Pi. If all they want to do is play video games, give them the resources to make their own video games. Tell them they might get rich off it. Show them how to code websites. If you don't know any kids, volunteer as a Big Brother/Sister or other mentoring group. Try not to be cynical around them, try not to make sarcastic jokes that they may not fully understand. Don't say things like, "the system is rigged." Say things like, "you can make the world better."
If they're getting to the age where they just want to be rich, show them how the most educated people are the richest people. Look up the numbers, show them that Taylor Swift has $300 million, LeBron has $300 million, while Bill Gates has $80 billion, aka $80,000 million.
There are many things that can make a country great. But, in my opinion, the only thing that is GUARANTEED to make a country great is a well-educated public.
A well-educated population naturally brings along a wealthier, more powerful, more equal, more democratic, safer, more free and more successful country.
- agreed, education is the key, but there are entire US cultures who are hell bent on destroying that system, unfortunatelymonospaced
- it's really sad, really, to see parts of the country moving backwards in science education.monospaced
- But it's not a binary, it's a continuum. Fight back by reading more books, educate yourself & others, as much as you can. You'll slowly tip the scale.nb
- Also, try not to mock people who are less educated than yourself. That just pushes people into their own corner. Instead, encourage everyone to be smarter.nb
- If they won't listen, well, fine. Move on. But mocking people isn't going to help. You'll get better results by helping people who want help.nb
- school and college do not promote intelligence. Knowledge, sure, but not intelligence. Also going to university is no longer a financially intelligent decision.set
- I agree mono, it's sad to see that. But, at the same time people like Bill Nye & Neil deGrasse Tyson are considered "cool" by lots of people.nb
- @set, What else is there? University in AMERICA is no longer a smart financial decision, which might be why America is "losing" as Trump puts it.nb
- I'm living in a well educated micro-community and everyone is for the "IQ-based voting system" at least they understand the concept ;)sted
- Plus, lots of what I suggested does not involve college, but rather simply reading books and teaching kids about things. You can always help in some way.nb
- @sted. Whoa!! I don't support IQ-based voting, but I'm VERY curious about your micro-community. Can you post about it? Or link to something?nb
- oh man, 2 (suburb) villages with people average age 40, 2-3 kids per family, almost everyone with 1-2 college or university degree. we moved 4 years ago herested
- I'm not disagreeing with you nbset
- I'm just saying it's not a problem that's going to be solved in two minutes on a qbn thread. It's a tricky one...set
- @set Yeah, and it's not really something to "solve". It's just a constant way of being, of looking at ourselves and contributing. Make America Smart, Again!nb
- Of course it's something to solveset
- What I mean by that is: there is no end to it. There's no "we're finished" moment. Society can and will always be struggling to be smarter, better, etc.nb
- True thatset
- So @sted, are the people supportive of IQ-based voting within your community? Are the lower-IQ people inside your group happy to lose their own voting rights?nb
- @nb I agree with most everything you say, except for what you strongly believe in (judging by the use of ALL CAPS here: GUARANTEED)chukkaphob
- There is no doubt that education contributes to the overall well-being of any society, but by no means does it GUARANTEE to make a country great.chukkaphob
- The communist block in Eastern Europe was VERY highly educated, yet the countries were insanely corrupt and far from "great."chukkaphob
- @nb the don't lose they right to vote. use your education and do some research :)sted
- f.dentist made me an idiot for the day. so please do some research on this subject, and nobody is losing anything, it's more like a revaluation of the votested
- agreedgeorgesIII
- @chukkaphob, that is a good point. We might agree that better education usually leads positive outcomes, but is not a guarantee.nb
- I've been telling people to watch this movie quite a bit lately.CyBrainX
- Some of what you said is good but I dont know if people are ready. I originally tried to prevent idiocracy by posting on qbn but I dont think people are ready.yurimon
- people are going to get the society they create by their choices and intelligence. dont mistake corruption or stupification in education as well. its vague wordyurimon
- that people use but are we really educated? your idea of just society may sound good but is the consciousness doesnt seem to be there from what im observingyurimon
- in reality the result is people run from truth. from real education. its an ideal that one is getting educated and feel good and special about it.yurimon
- I think overall its always a small percentage of people that see things for what they are and not afraid to journey into real knowing. society tries toyurimon
- Ostracize many forward thinker or the nutty ones. everyone walking around thinking they are the smart ones but are in the boxyurimon
- "I originally tried to prevent idiocracy by posting on qbn" another day, another obnoxious condescending yuri post...inteliboy
- well done nb. i have the same criticism as the others of your text wall. the world needs tradesmen. the insistence on higher education for everyone has worryingterry_cloth
- implications. one could get carried away and postulate that you need people to have a certain level of indoctrination in order to pull the crazy stunts that youterry_cloth
- may have in mind. maybe you are just naive and think that you would get along fine without any plumbers, or maybe you think plumbers should have to go to univ.terry_cloth
- ersity and study gender politics so they can vote the same way as you. . . but yea, it was a thoughtful post all in allterry_cloth
- I didn't mean to insist that everyone must go to college. Just that we should encourage kids to, but if they don't that's ok. I don't look down on tradespeople.nb
- I have many friends who are tradespeople. Most of them read books and are politically engaged. They're thinkers. Others aren't, and remain willfully ignorant.nb
- I actually consider web & graphic design to be the same kind of career/education path as plumbing, electrical, carpentry, and trades in general.nb
- you still need to define in truth what an enlightened society is like. requires more detail. everyone could be smart but without a level of morality or otheryurimon
- elements such as spirituality, etc, its not going to work, my challenge for you is to define it in detail on all levelsyurimon
- what is the consciousness of the people in a free society where people flourish? what does it look like in truth. not your personal truth but in universal truthyurimon
- *rolls eyes*nb
- I would like to see children being encouraged to find their passion, less scholarly enclined kids are treated like remedial cases wor underachievers because theterry_cloth
- I agree with yurimon that spiritual enlightenment is just as important as education (if not even more important...)chukkaphob
- -y fuck up the school districts' college acceptance rates, pushing kids into useless lib arts degrees so they can go be proffesional bloggers and baristasterry_cloth
- Is not doing the country any favors. More technical programs in high schools, less Sat prep garbage for kids who would be better off working with their handsterry_cloth