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talkpolitics...This one may've turned true. I'm talking of Idiocracy. Now in hindsight, and with Trump's ascent to power, it seems almost prophetic.
As one article says,
"Believe it or not, it’s been exactly 10 years since Mike Judge’s Idiocracy debuted here in the good ol’ US of A. The question, which we ask ourselves year after year, remains: Have we, as an American society in the year 2016, finally reached peak Idiocracy? Arguments have been made on both sides, though well-reasoned debates occur much less often than simple Tweets, movie quotes, or other protestations proclaiming the arrival of the Idiocracy and the downfall of utopian society after some flash-in-the-pan news headline. Then along came Donald Trump."
Mind you, the creator of the Idiocracy movie, as stupid as some of the jokes inside might have been (although that was obviously done on purpose), has admitted that the documentary might have even been a bit too optimistic at the time. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/328609-idiocracy-creator-says-it-might-have-been-too-optimistic
Of course, Trump isn't the first idiot to occupy an office of importance (just think of Bush, and minor guys such as Ben Carson, Sarah Palin, etc etc). But the pattern has become quite visible at this point. Idiocracy started among the public, the media, and in ordinary life. Then it trickled up the food chain, and into politics. Now it reigns supreme in Washington. A government of the stupid by the stupid and for the stupid, run by con artists, designed for the swindled. From insane speeches and rallies to inept cabinet members.
Is there a way back from this point? And how?
As one article says,
"Believe it or not, it’s been exactly 10 years since Mike Judge’s Idiocracy debuted here in the good ol’ US of A. The question, which we ask ourselves year after year, remains: Have we, as an American society in the year 2016, finally reached peak Idiocracy? Arguments have been made on both sides, though well-reasoned debates occur much less often than simple Tweets, movie quotes, or other protestations proclaiming the arrival of the Idiocracy and the downfall of utopian society after some flash-in-the-pan news headline. Then along came Donald Trump."
Mind you, the creator of the Idiocracy movie, as stupid as some of the jokes inside might have been (although that was obviously done on purpose), has admitted that the documentary might have even been a bit too optimistic at the time. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/328609-idiocracy-creator-says-it-might-have-been-too-optimistic
Of course, Trump isn't the first idiot to occupy an office of importance (just think of Bush, and minor guys such as Ben Carson, Sarah Palin, etc etc). But the pattern has become quite visible at this point. Idiocracy started among the public, the media, and in ordinary life. Then it trickled up the food chain, and into politics. Now it reigns supreme in Washington. A government of the stupid by the stupid and for the stupid, run by con artists, designed for the swindled. From insane speeches and rallies to inept cabinet members.
Is there a way back from this point? And how?
(no subject)
Date: 26/7/18 16:28 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 27/7/18 08:17 (UTC)But politicians are all politically expedient liars, I hear you say; and I would have to agree with you. I suppose the judgement of idiocy comes with having to deny overwhelming scientific evidence.
For a "literal" brain surgeon, Ben Carson manages to attain the position of perfect cognitive dissonance in being anti-evolution, in accordance with his Seventh Day Adventist beliefs.
There's a lot of strange things going on there. He seems a pretty complicated character, as are we all no doubt; but in his case the breadth between the conflicting beliefs which he has to reconcile seems vast. I'd suggest he is somewhat atypical of the cultural notion of "brain surgeon", for all that he is a noted one.
(no subject)
Date: 26/7/18 22:36 (UTC)It's a long road.
You must convince people about objective truth, or at least a consensual version thereof. If the US denialists can get to grips with climate change we may just scrape through.
(no subject)
Date: 27/7/18 06:08 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 27/7/18 07:19 (UTC)And we have to convince folk of this too, because the inertia in the thinking of large groups of people means it isn't easy to reach a point of momentum. The weather may help with changing denialist opinions about climate change. What can be done about changing other equally unfortunate opinions about other things is debatable, but I'd suggest a return to the ideas of facts and objective truths might help.
The fact that not all narratives are equally valid seems to escaped most post-modernist thinking, and maybe this has to be hammered home. When a large group of people refuse to believe their inductions have been slain by facts you know you're dealing with a selective madness.
Maybe we just need to really rub the denialists noses in their appalling opinions, and how wrong they've been. Having buried their heads in the sand over climate change, maybe we should kick their offered arse over the results of their opinions.
More accountability personally. I'm quite nasty to folk of such opinions on an individual basis when they complain about the heat. But I'm going to be a lot nastier about Brexit. And personally. People are responsible for their opinions and must be held to account.