Most people are dumb. The older I get, the more I realize this.
Its not their fault, at least in total. Television and Radio especially have taught those in our country that there is no room for nuance. The other side of any discussion has nothing relevant to say. And the way to win an argument or debate is not by deconstructing the ideology of the person with whom you are debating, but to drag illogical conclusions from what was said previously. For example:
Student at Ezell Harding: I don’t want to go to Vandy because I don’t agree with their beliefs
Me: What beliefs do you not agree with?
Student: [Silence] You know, their beliefs
Me: Like religious beliefs, cause I’m pretty sure its just a normal Liberal Arts school
Student: Yeah, I don’t like Liberal[ism I’m a conservative….
Me: Well, all schools are Liberal Arts schools, unless they are technical schools. At least that’s my understanding
Student: Well I don’t like Liberals. They don’t support our troops. They are fighting for our freedoms.
Me: Can you not support the troops and disagree with the foreign policy? ( I continue to talk about secular and religious reasons to oppose the war in Iraq)
Student: I saw a quote on facebook that says if you aren’t gonna stand behind our troops, then you should stand in front of them.
Me: That’s a funny little way to tell someone you wish they would just get killed, but it doesn’t answer any of the questions…
I’m finding more and more that this is how these types of conversations go. I don’t know if there has been a shift amongst people, or if I was sheltered to some of that (I admit, that I did say some of those things before, but my argument was a little more nuanced than I seem to be finding these days) but what happened to the Republicans who, you know, were intelligent. Have their given up on their party because its become ideologically bankrupt? Or are people just becoming less intelligent because of mass media?
Any thoughts?
6 responses so far ↓
y // May 10, 2008 at 3:52 am
A question that I still don’t understand is why supporting your troops must always equate to wishing them to be in harms way. It seems like if you really didn’t support the troops and wanted them to be hurt or killed simply because they are the troops, then you would WANT them to go to war so they would have a greater chance of being hurt or killed. This is a classic example of how extreme conservatism is excellent at defining th terms within popular culture. It’s pro-life versus pro-choice. Why isn’t it the split defined as “pro-big-government vs pro-small-government”. If you define it that way, the pro-choice option seems much more palatable. I think it is because covservatives figured out that they want a huge part of their voting block to be relatively unintelligent, and to reach them you must win the war of the sound byte.
Jerry // May 10, 2008 at 4:18 am
So discussions such as “all government is bad” are an example of nuance? I’m just saying it seems like you’re arguments tend to be a bit reductionist at times…
rogueminister // May 10, 2008 at 8:10 am
I feel like this more than you know. However, I think it is really most people’s choice and their own laziness, not the mass media, that leads them to this kind of stupidity. I would also give a little of the blame to a faltering education system that doesnt challenge people the think critically as long as they can regurgitate information for standardized tests. Finally I think people need to travel more, both within and their country and beyond its borders. This has challenged my thinking a great deal over the years.
Shalom
justinmundie // May 10, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Jerry,
I think I can make a pretty nuanced argument that government is bad. I’m not talking about making statements that sum up my belief without making an argument, I’m talking about people who have no argument. They recite cliches, and they dodge tough questions by repeating platitudes. I don’t think I’ve done that in a long time. Platitudes and cliches are worthless. If one can’t support their position on the iraq war or universal health care with more than a soundbite, then that person is stupid. Plain and simple.
y // May 10, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Justin, I concur that it would be mistaken for someone to say that you regularly make reductionist arguments like “all government is bad”. You have room to be a bit more nuanced, but I think it was unfair for Jerry to say that about you
Jerry // May 12, 2008 at 12:01 am
“I’m talking about people who have no argument.”
That’s definitely what I was referring to. I’m pretty sure you ignore a lot of pro-government information reading through your recent blog titles, it’s clear that you reduce your politic ideology to “capitalism=all good” and “government=all bad. There’s no nuance there, so you fall victim to your own complaint in this post.
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