Don't Forget About the Stupid People

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”

-John Steinbeck

I don't want to come off as a pessimist, but here's the thing...

I'm frustrated. I'm pissed off. I feel disenfranchised. I feel ignored.

… and here's why...

I've written letter after letter to politicians, and more than a few to political parties. I keep telling them one thing. In a nutshell, it can be boiled down to this:

Don't forget about the stupid people.

… and here's what I mean by that...

The great George Carlin once said, “Imagine how stupid the average person is... now, realize that half the people are even dumber than that!” I've found this philosophy very useful in understanding the reasons that things are so bad right now.

You've got a bunch of evil, rich douchebags (like the Koch brothers) who understand how stupid people are, and have a subordinate organization (the Republican Party) to push their agenda and make it sound reasonable to said “stupid people”.

On the other side, you've got a bunch of people (the Democratic Party) who are so smart, they're stupid as well. These people, however, aren't stupid in the same way. Unlike the Republican stupid people, they possess the ability of CRITICAL THINKING! Unfortunately, that means that they think EVERYONE possesses the ability of critical thinking. As a result, they expect that the Republicans will have a sudden bout of rationality.

The fact of the matter is, if they are not able to think critically, then they will NEVER have that much-desired bout of rationality! The Democratic Party wants to give the stupid people the “benefit of the doubt.” They think that people will suddenly just "wake up."  They also, unfortunately, think that talking down to people is rude.

It's not “talking down” to people, though, if you're talking to them in a manner that they can relate to. If you talk over too many people's heads, they'll be more offended. They're more likely to think you're calling them stupid if you say things they are incapable of understanding, than if you HUMBLE yourself to speak to them in a way they can actually fucking relate to.

Remember during the 2008 elections, Republicans were referring to Democrats as “elitist?”

That's what they meant. “Elitism” means something different to Republicans than it does to Democrats.

Democrats see “elitism” as wealthy people talking down about poor people, as rich "Affluenza cases" are want to do, and have been increasingly verbal about.

Republicans see “elitism” as people who talk over their heads. Don't forget... these are people who OPPOSE education! Remember this?:

They think that education is “Liberal Indoctrination,” so they REJECT education readily! Therefore, when someone is more intelligent than them, they must be talking down to them like a snob! On top of that, if someone is more educated than them, they must be a filthy, stinkin', no good, Socialist, Fascist Liberal!

LET'S STOP THERE FOR A MOMENT, AND I'LL POINT SOMETHING OUT:

Most people WANT intelligent people leading them, don't they? After all, aren't smart people going to make better decisions? You'd think so... right?

Most of US would make that distinction, but when you see intelligence as the ENEMY, you're not going to vote for intelligent people; you're going to vote for people you believe to be more on YOUR level.

Let this serve as evidence of my previously posed assertion as to the lack of critical thinking skills of the people in the Republican Party. You or I READILY see the blatant failure of logic in abject hatred of intelligent people. Why do you think so many “facepalm” memes are floating around social media?

Consider Ken Ham, curator of the “Creation Museum.” He will never abandon his beliefs, because he has absolutely NO way to weigh one set of facts against another. Ergo, it really did nothing for Bill Nye to debate him, other than giving people more ammunition to laugh at the Creationists with. Very few positions will change.

NOW LET ME STOP AGAIN AND POINT SOMETHING ELSE OUT:

This is a perfect example of the stupidity of intelligent people. The notion that debating indoctrinated people who completely lack reason might actually accomplish something, depicts the inability of intelligent people to realize HOW STUPID the stupid people are, and the lack of understanding as to why.

How often do you hear people ask, “Why don't they learn?” or “Why aren't they getting this?”

These questions often accompany facial expressions of pure confusion. The people asking these questions (usually news commentators) sit there, DUMBFOUNDED to the stupidity of things people say or do, never realizing that they're reporting on people who have NO ABILITY to change at this point!

ON A DAILY BASIS, I see or hear a talk show host, or a journalist, or another intellectual type person PULLING THEIR HAIR OUT because the person they're debating simply has no ability to challenge their knowledge or understanding, and the host completely fails to understand this fact about them. It should be noted, however, that in the case of politicians, they may be saying these things because they're PAID to say these things, regardless of what they truly believe.

On social media, if they feel they're being forced to challenge their beliefs, they talk over the person they're debating, attempt to change the topic, and ultimately resort to insults; many of which make no sense, as the person using them has no concept as to their meaning, but they've been told that these are BIG, BAD, DIRTY, LOW-DOWN things to call people, like “Socialist,” “Marxist,” “Maoist,” “Fascist,” and “Liberal.”

Think about it... haven't you noticed these things, yourself? Haven't you encountered people that are both incredibly stupid and incredibly hard-headed? Haven't you encountered REALLY stupid people who believe whole-heartedly that they're smarter than everyone else?

Too many people are either too stupid to know they're stupid, or so smart, they're stupid.