Idiocracy came true

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  • antimotion
  • Hayoth0

    Yup. People can not critically think.

  • yuekit0

    Watching Republican debate, CNN just asked Trump when he will be building a wall across the U.S. Canadian border.

    • You can answer the question yourself by asking which border will I feel safe walking alone and unarmed. pick one.yurimon
    • What did Trump answer with?utopian
    • im trying to get a live feed not sure. sounds like waste of time just from a few clips.yurimon
    • Lol Trumpsea_sea
  • bezoar1

    We need electrolytes

  • utopian0

    The primates are running amok, stop the madness!

  • _niko1

    here's a clip from tonight's proceedings:

  • hotroddy-6

    We could fix it if voting was a privilege and not a right. Below is a quote that resonated with me.

    "These candidates are possible because of the deeply flawed and naive mechanism in Democracy called Universal Suffrage. Big enabler of ignorance, fear, blind simplistic ideologies, tribalism, polarization and manipulations.
    If we think of Democracy as an App it would be crashing all the time, ridden with Bugs, Malware and Virus. The worst part is that it never gets updated to get fixed.
    While the USA still remains functional it has mild signs of decay and seems drifting slowly into a Plutocracy and Political gridlock.

    The World would be a much better place if Democracies would come to their senses and manage somehow to get rid of low information voters yet maintain legitimate representation. That simple compromise would change everything ! Because it shouldn’t be about Charisma but Competence.

    You can tell something is wrong when even China, not a Democracy is getting ahead, at least in terms of Economy and Politics. They simply don’t have to deal with the hysteria, the BS and the gridlock that goes on with deeply polarizing populist systems."

    • Does any other country spend YEARS having candidates campaign, either?ETM
    • +1 what a great quote!utopian
    • Yes, it's much easier to rig a game when you don't have to also pretend to the players the whole time that the game isn't itself a nasty affairterry_cloth
    • question is - how do you get rid of low information voters yet maintain legitimate representation?hotroddy
    • Starship troopers!!pango
    • denise richards has my votehotroddy
    • America is a constitutional republic the media and political parties continue to destroy for democracy.Hayoth
    • You never want to live in a democracywhich is rule by majority, because when you are in the minority trouble happens.Hayoth
    • Apply Georges' 5'10" solution and you will have a better world.SocieteAnonyme
    • only tall people get to vote? Tall people are leadershotroddy
    • Some people are more equal than others.SocieteAnonyme
  • georgesIII4

    Holly shit, no offense hotroddy
    but you just describe totalitarianism and got upvoted twice,

    even citing china as an example, you should check their great leap forward

    think about it guys,
    man you are cracking me up,

    so we should go back to have a select part of the population decides what's best for the rest,

    I'm sitting here sipping my coffee, shaking my head at those who agreed with "voting should be a privilege not a right"

    holly shit, are you guys for real? so voting should only be a right as long as your candidate is the front runner, but as soon as he isn't, democracy isn't working, we should go back to an autocratic form of government,

    the US went to war in the middle east to destroy the system your are advocating..

    and they call me a troll

    • both sides are using populist politics.
      sanders w wealth distribution,
      trump w religion & immigration
      hotroddy
    • trump and china toohotroddy
    • the only time i'm sure georges is not trolling... or is he..... •__•pango
    • I DON'T FUCKN KNOW ANYMORE PANGO,

      pleez clap
      georgesIII
    • http://i.imgur.com/a…pango
    • http://i.imgur.com/a…pango
    • arrrggg fuck this shit!pango
    • upvote.set
    • time for an IQ based voting system.sted
    • ^ I was entertaining the same idea, thinking how people can destroy themselves by voting.yurimon
    • It's funny/scary how many people think a hypothetical "IQ voting based system" would include them.nb
    • nb everyone should have the right to influence the outcome of an election, just not with the same weight.sted
    • a basic intelligence test like spelling the name of the candidate you're voting for would probably cancel out 50% of the votesMilan
    • If you are truly smarter, then you already should be capable of having a greater influence on the outcome. You can write, donate, influence others, etc.nb
    • ^ thats an ironic statement and but if you look at whats influencing not true. people avoid the real. i tried it failed.yurimon
    • ^^ replace smarter with richerMilan
    • That video is a much watch.Hayoth
  • yurimon-1

  • 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
  • pr2-3

    Democracy, as in how it was practices in ancient Greece, doesn't exist. We have representational democracy so that we can can feel we make a difference once every 4 years. The Greek Democracy was based on active continuous participation of the people. Even calling it " Greek" makes no sense as back then a state was perceived as "people" not physical space enclosed by borders. Even Plato and Socrates was pissed at this kind of system as it was prone to nonsense when an eloquent orator would take the stage and swing the vote - thus their fantasies about Utopian state lead by the vise men. [read more of Castoriadis - it's actually very fascinating]

    Right now i'm working on a sci-fi script set considerable time into the future and in that society you get to vote based on your intellectual and status level. Lower on the scale you get to vote on small issues pertinent only to your immediate surrounding, while the higher you go you get to have a say in broader issues. As in case you haven't read it yet, it's good to revisits "Brave New World" as the book clearly doesn't speaks of the future but uses the future to shine light on our current affairs. Indeed, no matter how uncomfortable it sounds, we do have various strata of society: factory workers, bureaucrats, managers etc (yes, book was written in England - where social strata are clearly defined - but so is true in America). Those strata represents vastly different perceptions of the world and with that different needs and expectations. The source of our discontent is that we are made to believe that we are all the same. And so we, the more-or-less educated middle class, get pissed that the mass of under-educated will have a significant say in who will lead "us." In return the under-educated class is pissed that we - the educated middle class - are reaping in the benefits of globalization while they are left in the dust.

    So... On one hand it IS about education on the other hand it isn't as a vast mass of under-educated will always exists. And, to once again use Huxley's book as an example, we all belong to some kind of strata. The educated bureaucrat - as many of use fall under this definition - isn't exactly more sophisticated to pick the leader over the proverbial factory worker.

    • I hear what you're saying but putting that much power into the hands of a small elite group will lead to a great abuse of power.
      Pretty much what we have today
      _niko
    • but the people in the lower castes will never be able to move up._niko
    • pr2 if you like a brave new world you should read amusing ourselves to death. some excerpts from it https://www.goodread…deathboy
    • -niko - not a problem if the lower casts don't want to advance.pr2
    • deathboy, yeah there is a lot of great stuff out there about the issue - will check out this guy. Thx!pr2
    • Its not fiction, but opinion. And it more accurately advances Huxleys views I think. It doesn't focus on social/econ just pure human incentive in living.deathboy
    • Its seriously a very great book and sad in that I can't really find any holes in the guys reasoning, which will likely end bad, but begin again thingdeathboy
    • His other writing on the end of education and disappearance of children are pretty good reads too. again spot on in simplicity of it all.deathboy
    • what i meant is that there is lots of great non-fiction out there. "One-Dimensional Man" is probably the best.pr2
  • Bennn0

    Poorly educated people have the majority. So.

    • This statement can not be true. "Poorly educated" is a relative term. Without comparison or limits it is meaningless.nb
    • The majority has the average education within the country, by definition. The point is that you can push the average up. You can move the baseline over time.nb
    • The mass of the population is low and middle class people that care mostly about entertainment or finding money to pay the bills.Bennn
    • They have a basic level of analysis and are easily influencable.Bennn
    • influenced*iCanHazQBN
  • err2