I’m tired of political commentators who depict the voting public (except their own circle) of being stupid. Both sides do it and it makes me sick. Listen, Barbara Streisand isn’t brainwashing young dumb impressionable voters to vote liberal. Also, conservatives aren’t dumb war mongering racists who don’t want a Muslim (yeah I know, I know) in office.
I’m more tired of people buying into this sentiment.
There are plenty of news videos and YouTube videos of stupid Americans who don’t know how many states there are or how many senators there are, etc. Do you think they keep or cut footage of everyone who answers right? Don’t you think they are sensationalist for ratings? How fun would it be to watch a video of people answering correctly? So they cut the boring footage, produce the video, and then publish it for the enjoyment of “highly intelligent” finger pointers. Plus, and a BIG plus, I bet a lot of the people who don’t know how many states there are aren’t even registered to vote–or know when Election Day is. These hand-picked sound bites don’t represent every American! C’mon!
There are outliers on both sides. If you draw conclusions based on them, well then you are generalizing. Shame on you!
Seriously look around you. I know my friends and family aren’t stupid. People in my social/work/neighborhood network aren’t stupid. Sure I disagree with others’ views. But I don’t think any of them are stupid. A few may make me go hmmmm, but I don’t think they are dumb.
If you think anyone who doesn’t share your political views is stupid or misinformed, then well you are viewing the world through a narrow, arrogant, pretentious, and ignorant lens. And no matter what side you favor, it makes you a hypocrite.
Deducing that people think the way they do because they are unintelligent is a lazy cop-out and defeatist as well. It’s easier to label someone stupid or uninformed than trying to figure out what really makes them tick and what makes them think the way they do—their background and values. It’s easy to throw your arms up and blame everything on these stupid people.
If Americans were stupid, then how would companies run? How would anything get done? America isn’t perfect, but it isn’t stupid.