How stupid are Americans

[Middle finga]

Run time: 05:48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE   Posted on YouTube: January 25, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: February 15, 2008 By DU Member: Middle finga Views on DU: 2149

 
Video time - 5:48

And you wonder how do Bushco get away with so much BS. This video should answer those questions.

[melody]

1. Would you find a video humorous that talked about how Polish people are stupid?

I wouldn't. I would find it deeply offensive and I'm not Polish.

This video displays more ignorance than the Americans being interviewed.

[iamthebandfanman]

3. well

you can live in your world where people outside the U.S. dont see us this way if you want... but it is.

if you also cant see the everyday ignorance that goes on in the USA, youre just as ignorant.

such blind complacency.

to suggest, after weve been in a un-needed war for 5 years, that people actually know whats going on in the world is crazy.


it amazes me at just how many blissfully and intentionally ignorant people we have. weve grown up in a society that didnt encourage you being interested in the workings of our government and afraid abroad. we do for ourselves, get what we want, and only worry about whats to come of us ... because for some people its just impossible to think beyond their own needs or wants. for alot of people, if its not about sports, music, or food... they dont give a shit.

[melody]

11. On Godtube, there's a video meant to show how "stupid" black people are

They use the same technique to support their bigotry. That is all this is.

You're attacking the American people, not the US government. You want to talk the government,
I'll rip into them worse than you will. But this attacks my PEOPLE.

[iamthebandfanman]

13. i think thats different

being an american is something you can choose whether to be or not to be...

its not attacking the american people, its attacking ignorance.
if its not pointed out, when will it ever get corrected?

being silent and pretending it doesnt exsist isnt going to do anything.

the majority of americans arent like people here at DU. they could give a flying F about politics, especially world politics. geography just kinda comes along with that, since really politics has defined it.

you know, people didnt start using the phrase 'ignorance is bliss' in the united states for no reason.

[melody]

15. Does a human being only have value if they can't be what you are?

My family has been here 350 years. I'm only an American. This kind of bigotry is the exact same intellectual
error as the one that brings us anti-black racism (and every other form of prejudice). Racists think their
bigotry has a rational foundation, too.

[iamthebandfanman]

19. i really fail to see

what being against ignorance has to do with race ? also, what does being here for 350 years have to do with it also ? does that mean you dont actively make the decision to stay here?

im really failing to understand what form of bigotry it is to wish people cared more , payed attention more, and took the time to look into things.
so wanting people to be better educated is bigotry?

[melody]

24. You're not against ignorance, you're against Americans

If you want to be against ignorant people, fine, I am, too, but you're asserting ALL Americans
(by virtue of using the term "Americans are stupid" you are saying ALL Americans, including yourself)
are ignorant. You would first need to define what "ignorant" is -- all people are equally ignorant,
we're just ignorant about different things.

Those looking for reasons to feel superior to others will cling to the idea that *They* know the "right"
things. That is elitism.

[iamthebandfanman]

35. im not asserting ALL americans

infact ive even used the words most or majority. not all.

yes, i am against AMERICAN ignorance. how is that different from ignorance in general?

so now wanting people to not be ignorant is not only racist, but elitism. wow.


shut down the department of education, its an elitest and racist government agency! let the people be free to be ignorant if they wanna! yay!

its one thing to not be educated because you didnt have the ability to be, and another to not be because u simply chose you didnt give a shit.

if i was sitting here calling americans STUPID, thatd be different. that would imply they are incapable of learning things, but im not.

if you find the fact that people say americans in general are oblivious and ignorant offensive, then i only have one thing to say to ya....

truth hurts, dont it ?

[melody]

36. asserting all Americans are ignorant if they don't conform to your notion of "informed" is elitist

I think that's fairly obvious. You're obviously at this point reacting out of emotion because I've disagreed with you
and not because of the topic at hand.

And my uncle (who is a racist and loudly so) tells black people the same thing -- he sends around that video with African-
Americans being asked questions culled out of white culture ... he loves quoting that pinnacle of idiocy called "The Bell
Curve" ... he has cherry-picked clips for another video of African-Americans saying things he thinks makes them sound
"dumb". He tells them (and me) when we argue back, "the truth hurts, doesn't it?" It's very odd that you'd choose that
exact phrase. He doesn't know more than two or three black people -- in fact, he doesn't even know them. He sees through
his own illusions and preferences, making reactionary assessments of people he doesn't know based on his own emotional need
to see them that way. He cannot talk with any degree of correctness about all or even most African-Americans because he has
never met them. If you make a mass assessment of Americans you don't know based on your own emotional preferences, that too
is prejudice.

This is the exact same form of bigotry used in this video. The same form of ignorant, primitive, simple-minded thinking.
And trying to back away from prejudice with notions of "most" Americans is just a disingenuous form of prejudice. It is
prejudice. Now if THAT truth hurts, you should ask yourself why. That's the only kind of absolute assessment you can
make -- one that addresses a single person you know. It's not nearly as emotionally gratifying but it's the only truly
accurate one.

Beyond that, further discussion with you is pointless. Welcome to my ignore list.

[iamthebandfanman]

37. full circle

and yet again you are linking ignorance with racism. the only linkage i see is that yes, the majority of racist people are ignorant as well... or they wouldnt be racist.

MY notion of informed ? im pretty sure 'informed' has a pretty distinct definition.

i really wish youd stop calling me a bigot for thinking people should seek out knowledge when given the chance.

emotions ? just remember, ur the one that got defensive, not me. funny i didnt put you on ignore simply for disagreeing with u, did i ?
and IM the one reacting with emotions. haha.
*rolls eyes*

if u dont want to explain to me how exactly its racist or bigotry to wish people would know more thats fine , but im all ears if ya do.... honestly. cause all i keep seeing is you calling me a bigot. i think ur turning this into a racial/ethnic issue when it doesnt need to be. frankly i think its racist that you keep insisting in drawing the link.

for certain tho, i dont give a crap what ur racist uncle thinks, and i really fail to see what his opinion hasta do with anything. he thinks blacks are ignorant because...wait for it... HES A RACIST and probably doesnt even think they are capable of learning such things.... versus me thinking americans are ignorant because they choose to be. stop using his racist rants as validity to why we should try to prevent ignorance. sorry, i just dont see it being the same thing.
im sure there are alot of racists that say certain races are more stupid than other ones... but dont put me into that catagory because what im saying is completely differen.
im not saying any race is inherently stupid.
im saying that a majority of people WHO LIVE IN THIS COUNTRY(Not because they were born a certain way or how they look) WILLFULLY choose to ignore anything that doesnt directly effect them. how you can deny that it happens is beyond me.

good luck with that ignore button.
it must be nice to just run away from arguements when you cant defend what you are saying.

remember

de'nile isnt just a river in egypt.

[Middle finga]

17. "Your People" I assume you are a progressive since you hang out

on this site. Well do you know there are people "your people" in parts of this country that hate your guts simply because you are a liberal.

[melody]

25. Yes, I'm a progressive -- my people are all Americans

Of course there are people who hate progressives, but there are progressives who blindly hate other people,
too. We have to stop judging and generalizing if we're EVER going to get past the roadblock we're at now.
Bigotry is always ignorance. Ignorance itself is the problem, not race, creed, color or nationality (or
sexual preference and gender).

[BeHereNow]

5. I seriously disagree with you...

Americans ARE that stupid.
Trust me on that fact.
I appreciate that the video makers
took the time to expose just HOW stupid
we are as a people.
Completely ignorant about the world
outside them.
It's shameful really.
But until a problem is identified
there's not much hope of fixing it-
So kudos to the people who took
a step in identifying the problem.
BHN

[NOLALady]

8. These are the people responsible for voting for the most

powerful leader on the planet.

[melody]

14. And global powers have supported the regime meant to murder our educational system

They've created an illusion and sustained it from the inside.

[Middle finga]

20. Laziness has a lot to do with it also. Most of the people interviewed

probably have computers in their home but they most likely use it for only entertainment. Just because you didn't get a good education doesn't mean you have to stay ignorant.

[melody]

21. Probably, probably, probably ... in other words, you're guessing

Should we really damn 300 million people (including the millions of Democrats working hard against Bush) because
of the cherry-picked responses of a few people? Hitler did this same kind of thing to create the illusion that
Jews were inferior. Bigots have done the same thing against black people for ages. Don't think that just because
you're a "good" American that people who think we're stupid will make an exception in your case -- you'll be lumped
in with everyone else including the 51 million people who voted AGAINST George Bush ... almost as many as those who voted against
him. And that's not even discussing election fraud.

[Middle finga]

26. I understand where your coming from but the american public

got to start taking some responsibilties for the actions of our leaders, the president can only get away with what we allow them to get away with.

[melody]

34. It's a large step from responsibility to blame ... the blame rests with our leaders

They attacked our educational system in the first place.

[melody]

12. Once again, there is a video going around that depicts the bigotry of racists about black people

This video is JUST as cherry-picked and JUST as simple-minded. It's every bit as bigoted.
What makes bigotry wrong in ONE case makes it wrong in ALL cases.

The only ignorant person is the one who makes sweeping dismissals of groups of people they've never met.

I'll bet if we came up with a crop of questions to make Australians look stupid, we could do the same
thing -- and it would be just as biased and wrong as this one.

[TheMadMonk]

27. Fairly obviously cherry picked for humorous effect. However,...

...it is a bloody good bed that the overall sample from which those responses were cherry picked was not a large one.

You are right in one sense, Americans are no more stupid (unintelligent) than any other nationality. Pick your subject matter and Americans are perfectly capable of demonstrating their basic mental acuity. What this piece highlights is the woeful ignorance of Americans at large.


Straight out of the gate, there is a huge number of Americans that are proud of their ignorance. People who will dismiss all evidence based reasoning if it conflicts with what they KNOW should/must be the truth.

Then there are the many willfully ignorant who simply won't learn because they have absolutely no interest whatsoever in any subject that does not impact on them in everyday life.

I'm not sure which group frightens me more. Those who won't be reasoned with, or those who can't be, because their ignorance runs so deep that they are literally incapable of recognising a relevant issue even when it kicks their legs out from under them and grinds their face in the dirt.

It is indeed true that unscrupulous lenders with the aid of bought and paid for legislators made the current credit crisis possible. However, it was the willful ignorance (and naked greed) of the borrowers who chose not know/learn what they were getting into who made it actually happen.

[melody]

32. The cherry-picking wasn't merely a matter of the people chosen but also the questions

You're going to tell me there aren't ten questions that could be pre-selected so that someone from
another country wouldn't look equally as dumb? You don't think those same people possess knowledge
that *you* don't have? That's a fairly obvious logical inference that the people who are judging the
people in this video don't seem capable of making. Are they all ignorant?

You'll have no argument with me that we've plenty of politically/socially mud dumb Americans ... I have them in my family.
But they're people who know things that you do not. And the rest of Americans (need I point out how
many wise, intelligent people have come from my people?) don't deserve to be gross associated with them.
On top of this, the people at the top must also be held to blame for any "ignorance" simply because --
since Reagan -- the government has been attacking our educational system. And the degree to which the
international community backed Reagan (and they did, due to his knee jerk anti-protectionism), they should
also be ordered to show cause on an ethical level.

Ultimately we see the only person we have to point a finger at is the person in the mirror. When we stop
blaming some autonomous "they" for "their" ignorance, we might actually accomplish something.

[TheMadMonk]

45. Those so called cherry picked questions were for the most part...

...(at least) very basic general knowledge questions. Some even contained their own answers. What religion are Buddhist Monks? Australia/Tasmania as Nth/Sth Korea FFS?

If you'd read my post properly, you'd have seen that I acknowledged for chosen subjects Americans are no less knowledgeable than others on other subjects. The problem is that the average American's chosen subjects of excellence are all too often entirely valueless. eg. Starting lineups of the Red Sox for every year since their formation. Game show knowledge.

Past laurels to a large extent, and a good many that America claims as its own as leaders in their fields are often transplants, who came to America for the economic opportunities it once offered. Truly excellent people in today's America all to often find themselves forcibly sidelined because they insist on viewing the world as it actually is, and not as industry and political leaders would have it.

And like it or lump it, these people will find themselves lumped in amongst the worst America has to offer, since America insists on showing its worst face to the world.

Reagan and successors set about destroying the education infrastructure of America. Boo Hoo. Why the fuck did you let them do it? Because they began with attacks against those seen as "lesser" in the eyes of mainstream America. Blacks and the poor. "They came for...." Mainstream Americans did nothing, because it didn't hurt then. Now that things (and not just education) are hurting them, the elite are so firmly entrenched and powerful that it's going to take something close to armed insurrection to dislodge them.


I can look at the person in the mirror and I do indeed see someone who knows less than everything. But he admits it.

[melody]

48. There's a vast territory between arrogance and ignorance

If you acknowledge there are things you don't know, then why judge those people? Why the need to see them as
lesser beings? I'd venture to guess there's a good possibility those Americans could field questions about
Mexico and Central and South America that would stump you.

Your angry attack on the US and Americans underscores your own innate prejudice against my people. You're discussing
a different culture and demanding we live up to another culture's definitions. Why did we let them do it? Why do abused
stepchildren not confront their abusive parents? You're judging things about which you have no knowledge or experience.
You can't demand another culture live by the emotional freedoms you have. We simply do not have them. We're not living
in our own indigenous country. We're told from the time we are children that we have no laurels, we only have results.
We are consistently crushed down and terrorized. You don't have that.

That said, if someone was knocking British or Australian people, I would certainly come at them with this same argument. I did the same thing when there were a few people on here who hated the French. It's always an arrogant assumption to pretend one group
of people is better than another ... it is always the ignorant one as well.

But if you need to believe it, believe it all you like. A lot of people believe Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy, too
(just read this on a UK mysteries site, in fact), it doesn't make it true.

[TheMadMonk]

50. Becasue these people REFUSE to know.

I'm sure that there are many many Americans who could field questions on Latin America that might stump me. That they might exist amongst those interviewed is less likely. No matter how you might wish to argue it, the level of ignorance these individuals displayed is frighteningly abysmal. I might not expect people to recognise the island of Tasmania, but any person in the world who has had even grade school level education should be able to recognise AND NAME the major landmasses of the world.

My prejudice (prejudgment) against your people is founded in the behaviour far, far too many of them display whenever they interact with the outside world. In war you are evil destroyers, even as you bring "liberation". As tourists you expect Disney-France. You demand steak in India. In commerce you are thieves. In everything you are bullies.

Are all Americans like this? No of course not. And I don't believe anyone here has tried to claim that. However, the stereotypical American is such a visible phenomenon, that decent Americans find themselves unwelcome in places all across the globe.

Actually the only "cultural definitions" I'm demanding that Americans live up to are the ones they claim for themselves and that they claim to be bringing to others with their guns and napalm.

[melody]

51. You prejudice is based on your ignorance

And your insistence upon seeing us all in one light ... that's the very same form of ignorance idiots in Alabama
express toward anyone not white.

It would be very easy for me to come to knee-jerk ideas about Europeans based on the past and the history of my
family. But we have to set aside people from governments.

Beyond that, there's no point in discussing anything with you. I'm sad to say your hatred of Americans is locked in
and can't be reasoned with. It's only partly based on what our government does. I largely only put bigots and extremists
on my ignore list. Welcome to my ignore list.

[BeHereNow]

29. Problem with your theory- I HAVE met far too many people like that.

BHN

[melody]

31. So have I -- and just as many who *aren't* like that -- that's the problem with your theory

When you say "Americans" you're talking about all of us. You can't generalize about all
Americans any more than you can all obstetricians (in fact, you could more accurately
generalize about them).

[Middle finga]

7. Poland do not have an empire in over a hundred countries

trying to control other people lives.

[melody]

10. You're generalizing about a people, not a country - that's what's offensive

You want to discuss the US government, I'm with you. You want to demean and disparage
my people, I'll tell you that line of reasoning is as ignorant as any other form of prejudice.

[BeHereNow]

2. I LOVE that video...

It's been posted here before but is
certainly worthy of another viewing.

BHN

[melody]

16. And as I've said before, that says more about you than it does about the people in the video

n/t

[BeHereNow]

28. Yeah, like I am REALITY based?

Thank GOD for that.

BHN

[melody]

33. No, you are ignorance based. That's the problem.

And yet you point fingers at other people. People who do that are snobs. I dislike snobs more than I do
stupid people.

Welcome, once again, to my ignore list -- I clearly took you off of it too soon.

[BeHereNow]

41. LOL...

Oh my, how will I ever live another day if I am on your ignore list...
What to do, what to do?
PLEEEEEEEEZE, don't put me on your ignore list!

Seems to me you take this video somewhat personally...
Hmmm.

BHN:rofl:

[iamthebandfanman]

42. that seems to be her solution

to everything. putting people on the ignore list that is. even did it to me too cause she wasnt getting anywhere arguing her dumb points. she also called called me a bigot! haha. she sits there and links ignorance to race and then calls me the bigot! lol!


obviously reality has an ignore button for her as well ;)

[leeman67]

4. Jesus wept

[BeHereNow]

6. Actually, I think he would laugh his ass off if he watched it.

God has a sense of humor you know....
Question is, how long will he tolerate
such willful ignorance and apathy from us.

BHN

[zeemike]

22. It has not always ben so

I would bet you would have had much different results had this been done in let's say 1945.
But then people were not consumed with being enter trained by TV and they read the news paper daily and lessened to news on the radio and in the schools they taught what was happening in the world.
Lord help us if we don't get a handel on this rampant stupidity.

[gaspee]

9. I can't help laughing

At that. I'd never seen it before. I'm kind of shocked... but still laughing my ass off. People are stupid. I bet you could ask questions like that all over the world and get the same results.

[shireen]

18. al qaeda is a wing of the masonic order.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Seriously, i don't think Americans are that dumb, that could not have been a random sampling.

[NOLALady]

39. The first time I saw it

I thought it was a Jay Leno joke.

The drunken guy who was ready to take out half the planet was priceless. Must be McCain's black sheep cousin.

[BlueJazz]

23. Look People..If anybody EVER asks you "Are Americans Stupid?"...Look them...

...right in the eye and say. ...Who has been the President for 8 years?

[fenriswolf]

30. I know this video is here to show how dumb americans are

but I know that not all americans are not that dumb. But my god, relabeling australia as south korea and no one noticed? jeezus.

[iamthebandfanman]

38. exactly

not all americans are that dense, but to deny that there isnt a lot of people who are like that in the USA is just silly. and frankly, its ignorant in itself. just because u wish something wassnt so and tell yourself it isnt , doesnt make it that way.

im being called a bigot in my posts with the OP because i think its true that a majority of americans willfully ignore things that dont directly effect their life on a daily basis.

[fenriswolf]

40. their are many bubbles of knowledge

knowledge of self, of family, of neighborehood, of societ, of culture, of your nation, of different nations.

Alot of people only wish to live in a few of those, most rely on outside sources (pundits) to tell them what the issues are that they do not wish to learn for themselves.

[provis99]

43. did anyone else notice these stupid Australians sneering at Americans

couldn't even spell Mississippi right? Look again carefully at the video. I believe something about the pot calling the kettle black applies here? Ignorant Aussie assholes. Oh by the way, most Australians can't find Tasmania on a map either, and think its is an independent country, so let them point the finger at themselves first.

[iamthebandfanman]

44. lol

thats pretty funny :)

but watch out, melody will say youre a bigot for saying australians are ignorant! lol

[ForeignSpectator]

46. Obivously these are cherry-picked answers but

hell that's funny! Sure, stupidity transcends borders but I wonder what effect the crap-worth corporate media might have had on people... among these answers were sure some of the 30% (!!!) still supporting Bush.

[liberal1973]

47. I agree

I think that most of those people were republican in that video. It also seemed that most were from Texas. There is other footage from that video that I think clearly shows that these are your typical Faux news viewers.

[rAVES]

49. Call the Video "How stupid people can be" stoopid effects all races/nationalitys equally. nt