This is what happens when government has policies which don't encourage education. 70% don't go to college, I wonder how many don't go high school as well? They can may be become a plumber or clean windows and make a killing but... [video=youtube;WALIARHHLII]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WALIARHHLII[/video] [video=youtube;fJuNgBkloFE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE&feature=related[/video] Discuss
I don't agree that the USA government doesn't encourage education. I have noticed that quite a few Americans are clueless when it comes to geography and history. This doesn't necessary makes the stupid. They just don't give a shit . Also quite a few Americans think that they have so much freedom and the rest of the world don't enjoy the same rights they do. Most of these people haven't traveled anywhere and many of them haven't left the boundaries of they own state.
Come'on! We have had a ton of guys saying that education is a waste in US in another thread. That educated people with post graduate degree end up ruining business and etc. Regarding the USA government..it doesn't discourage education but it doesn't give a shit either. I guess an uneducated population which doesn't know the disasters of Vietnam, issues in Middle east is just the kind of prospective voters the politicians would want. Are you saying the people in the Videos are not stupid?
I think that the girl on the first video is a complete dumb-ass. As for the second video they are stupid when it comes to history and geography . You cant possible say that they are idiots in every aspects of life. As for the education system i would rate this way : Elementary school : 10 out of 10 Middle school : 9 out of 10 High school : 1 out of 10 University : 10 out of 10 The public high schools in America are a complete joke in my opinion. I really don't now why.
And only 28% make it beyond that.. If someone asked me about biomechanics I certainly would make myself look like an idiot by talking through my hat. BTW saying "I don't know what United Kingdom is" or "I don't know where Kentucky Fried Chicken is from" is not related to geography or history. They are ofcourse not dumb in every aspect of life, they probably learned how to fix a pipe and they are very busy on weekends. Rob Jones tells me.
If you think these youtube videos are representative of the average American's intelligence then I feel sorry for your lack thereof. They obviously were looking for dumb answers beforehand and after enough interviewing and editing out, were able to find them. This applies to every country. You can also find a lot of college professors that lack common sense or other aspects of intelligence that could make an appearance in a youtube video. The irony here is that you hold everyone to these high standards of intelligence yet this very thread reflects your awfully poor use of logic. Yes, most of these "weaklings" have jobs in the private sector, or in other words, aren't leaches of society. They are out working so they can fund the uneducated make an uneducated guess about the level of education of everyone else but them, and ways they can squander other people's resources to solve the "problem".
Dude no need to be sorry coz I don't think so, but Obama does so take it up with him? Also please explain what you mean by "average american". http://www.education.com/magazine/article/obama_math_science_tech_ed/ Now, lets talk about the pageant winner? No irony, I was pointing out that a nation which doesn't place importance on proper education just because there a a lot of pipes and taps that need fixing churns out a lot of dumb citizens. Flaw in my logic? If everyone was so qualified there wouldn't be 20% unemployment? And yeah, Happy 4th of July BTW
You don't think these vids are representational of americans, even though you implied otherwise... but Obama does think that? Wtf? Average american as in those who lie in the middle of a bell curve on a measurement of intelligence. I don't care about Obama or his plans. He's all talk; I stopped reading about him a long time ago. The pageant winner? You think all americans are like her? I don't watch tv or read about that gossip sh!t but it's safe to say that those that do involve themselves with it are airheads. You think her education had anything to do with that? Yeah I know, it would be nice if market forces didn't respond to demand and instead people could just go off and do whatever they want and still make a handsome living. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way or else I'd major in Sitting On My Ass All Day. Your language reflects your collectivist mindset so I know that any use of reason will fail. I'd suggest you get a basic understanding of economics before you make highly absurd economic opinions. Yeah whateva, you too
What? You want there to be unlimited demand for plumbers and truck drivers? Come on, if the wannabe plumber had a degree in engineering he could maybe work for BP, you know fixing the oil spill.. An average american may not be as dumb as the one in the videos but he/she is definitely dumber then ROW, not because their brainpower is low but because its not put to use, I didn't make that up. Studies says so and The President agrees.
Doesn't the saying go something like, those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones? Educated Indians source I suppose the conclusion we are to draw from this is that the people on your videos are brain surgeons compared to the average Indian. Helvetti, I realize my position on globalization would impact your country's bottom line. I realize that it is probably a very personal thing to you. If you want to have a discussion about the merits and effects of globalization, I'm all for it. If you want to create ad hominem tripe, like this entire thread, I will be forced to loose all respect for you. Uneducated people exist all over the planet, including the USA. Calling them "Dumber then ROW", wherever they exist, serves no purpose other than to stir up sh*t. Our plumbers and truck drivers will have demand for their services as long as there are pipes to be plumbed and goods to be moved. So long as we don't allow our population to explode out of control like it has in your country, natural rules of supply and demand will keep the uneducated plumbers and truck drivers earning a decent wage. Perhaps therein lies the lesson for your country. And regarding working for BP, they can go f*ck themselves.
LOL, you make it look like I was on a hunt for videos that make America look bad, I wasn't even looking for this. I was looking for education in Pakistan videos and somehow ended up with these, and don't blame me, they were so hilarious that I couldn't help but share. =)) BTW from the link you gave I just found out that we have 200 million people with college degrees, isn't that the population of America? Anyways the point of this thread was to bust the american myths about how the rest of the world is a G-d-forsaken place and if they become just like the US, they will be OK, see below for proof. From another site: Europeans believe in being informed about the world outside. Being a well-rounded person is seen as a virtue. In the US, according to Europeans, people are very good at their individual professions and a few of their hobbies. However, studying anything that does not lead to practical results, is seen as a waste of time. That for some reason seems to include Geography and World History. So, as long as a conversation between an American and a foreigner runs along a specific topic such as business or the American's chose field of expertise, everything seems fine. Problems start when a European wants to have a broader discussion on international culture or current world events ( the ones that do not cover America's involvement in some war). Once a discussion like that starts, an American tunes out. He gives his conversation partner a blank look and starts feeling uncomfortable. Some Americans will even say with pride " I don't know anything about ( insert the topic). You might be talking to a five-year-old for all one cares. Don't shoot me. Take it up with CNN: Americans too dumb to understand Obama’s speech I personally have been asked by an American whether all Indians eat chilled monkey brains and worship rats...and I have read about some Indian-Americans complaining that american friends cancelled dinners after seeing Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. 10 years back they used to ask if we had TV's and cars. Sorry but all this is very hilarious to me, don't tell me that all Americans are not dumb.(just like all French-Canadians aren't dumb, read:gworld) I already know that, you guys in P&R are proof of that, but I wonder whether you are self-educated in all that or did you learn it in school? Finally, just stop selling America as the ideal society and economy for the world to copy (have been doing this since 1945) and bitching about it in other "all-american" threads. Have some consistency. This applies to all. http://thinkingshift.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/are-americans-just-plain-dumb/ [video=youtube;ANTDkfkoBaI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANTDkfkoBaI[/video]
Pretty sure I've always said there are idiots here... just like every other country. That doesnt mean they're representative of any country... just as some of the drooling morons in this forum are probably not representative of everyone else in their country. The point I made about plumbers is that here people that have ambition and a skill can in fact become wealthy without a college degree. Opportunity is there if they want to go for it. Not sure what point you're shooting at. The US is easily one of the most prosperous countries in the world. A lot of that can be attributed to a political/economic system that (unlike many others) doesnt officially care what color, sex, religion, (etc) someone is. A lot can be attributed to the fact that our country is still number one in the world at average number of years in school, and to a 99% literacy rate (including a 99% rate for women). If you want to make fun of some of the slowest kids in our class... that's fine, we do the same thing when we watch Jay Lenno do interviews for "Jaywalk All-stars... but it says nothing about the country as a whole. I get a kick outta the people from other countries bounding in here to pronounce that America is obviously inferior due to {insert silly factoid}. LOL. Hey, whatever makes ya feel better.
Just to add to O_nation: You guys are the ones bitching about how 60% of the voters elected a silly monkey as the president, how south carilona is filled with backward people, how they should turn New Orleans into a zoo, how an Australian needs to open his mouth to get a bimbo in California, how there's a 20% unemployment rate, how your regulators can't even manage a banking system and a ton of other things..and then I'm the one throwing stones. A response consistent with your other posts would be, "yeah the Department of education is pretty fucked up, our geography and history syllabus is ridiculous and there isn't enough emphasis on quality education because there are pipes to be plumbed and goods to be moved. Its all Obama's and Mexicans fault!. F*ck the Dems."
The videos are funny, no doubt about it. Its your commentary which I don't find funny. From the same link, only 25% of them are employable. Considering the population of your country, I'd call your education system a failure. The widespread poverty in your country confirms it. Didn't you just say you only posted the thread because the videos were so funny you couldn't help sharing them? I suspect the claim above is closer to your actual motive. Too bad it is based on a straw man. The quote you cited covers a fact you have already agreed with. Uncontrolled growth in the population will drive wages down. Stating the effects of supply and demand on a market, or the effects of allowing Sharia on the personal freedoms of a nation is not selling "American myths". There are more than enough legitimate examples, including India, to back up such statements. I happen to think the above quote is generally accurate. So what? Americans are specialized and focused. Why is that a bad thing? Europeans are well rounded. Can't find fault with that either. We all make trade offs. Europeans are welcome to enjoy their leisure time and socialistic mediocrity. They might actually even be happier for it. Just because I don't want to become like them, doesn't mean I need to call them all lazy. BTW, it should be noted their culture is dying to Islam. Not a model I would want to follow. LoL. Now imagine an average Indian trying to understand Obama(assuming they can read). Seriously man. What are you getting at. First off, I wouldn't make the argument that "not all Americans are dumb". I would stick to the topic and say, not all Americans are uneducated. Speaking specifically to education, your quote above highlights the nature of American education nicely. On specific topics, Americans are very well educated, especially if that topic pertains to their employment. Most don't take the time to learn another language or study up on world affairs because it is not a prerequisite to success. When I told my friends I was moving abroad, most of them looked at me like I was out of my mind. For me, its a matter of personal interest, and exploration(exploitation?) of new business opportunities. Though I don't sell America as an ideal society(it is far from ideal), our entertainment business has been very successfully marketing Ameican culture world wide for a very long time. It didn't start in 1945. Lindberg crossed the Atlantic in 1927 if my memory serves. I can no more prevent the marketing of American culture than you can stop yourself from feeling like you should have a say in our immigration policy. It reminds me of one of the boys at my daughter's school. He really likes my daughter and he shows it by constantly pulling her hair. That chick is hot! I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers. Hell, I'd hand her the crackers. I also might hire her over more "educated" applicants, depending on the job. [EDIT] Bitching about what one finds wrong with their own country is not only the right, but the duty of every patriot. It is you bitching about what is wrong with my country that I find humorous. It invites me to bitch about what I think is wrong with yours. LoL. I never said our education system doesn't have problems. I happen to agree. We should aspire to be the most educated population on the planet, per capita. We are in the running, but there is definitely room for improvement. Just because we aspire to have a country filled with PHds doesn't mean there will be jobs for them all. It also doesn't mean that we wont still need truck drivers who are able to have a reasonable quality of life.
Just keep in mind that the dumber you assert that we are... the worse it looks for countries that are less powerful and less prosperous than this band of drooling idiots you've painted us to be.
Now these aren't my words but I tend to agree with each one of them: Being uninformed about the rest of the world does more harm than earning the title of being "dumb". People who think that they live in paradise while unaware of the many social and technological improvements that are always taking place in other countries will eventually fall behind in many areas. They will not be able to adopt many exciting innovations that are being introduced around the world all the time. Japan had video- cellphones as early as late nineties and Sigapore solved its race problem once and for all by very ingeneous quota systems that seem to benefit rather than harm. Many countries, such as Slovenia ( Where is that?) have small per capita prison populations and have much better programs to rehabilitate prisoners. However, if Americans do not know about them, how will the country improve? Specially these: They will not be able to elect good leaders and will support international campaigns of dubious usefulness which drain US resources by diverting money from home to some overseas ventures in which patriotic Americans always die.Such ignorance creates suffering and death and stalls progress at home and abroad. And changing that requires improving the education at home and creating a new generation of highly intelligent, worldly citizens. None of this is my concern but since you asked (so what?) the demerits of "not giving a shit" about the ROW..... Sorry but I couldn't help but share this too: BTW have you heard of a site called http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ =)) Regarding your claim about poverty in India, we inherited it from the British, we have done a pretty good job in the last 60 years of independence and the world bank says that India and China will overtake US as the largest economies by mid century.http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/01/12/357912/index.htm I don't know what US was doing 60 years after independence, but I remember reading that they were fighting against the introduction of the tractors in farms in the 19th century. Regarding overpopulation being a curse, thats simply untrue. I'll give you an example, currently we have 500 million mobile subscribers in India growing at 10 p.c. annually, because of economies of scale the call rates here are 1 cent/minute nationwide and messaging is almost free and still all the telecom companies (20+) make a handsome profit a such dirt cheap rates. Airtel (a 15 year old company started by person who ran cycle repair shops) recently became the world 5th largest operator by accuiring Zain Ltd for 11 billion dollars. The population can certainly be used as an assets if all of them can be turned into paying consumers, it won't happen next week but its a bright possibility.
lol. You seem to act as if demand is something we can all vote for. Like the president or congress sets the level of demand for everything each year. What goes on in your collectivist fantasies isn't reality. Take some courses in econ maybe? my friend's brother owns that site... small world.
That is a dramatic "BTW". France will also be a part of this as they have taken up a dislike to having children. It is an invasion by "displacement". Does that remind you of any certain areas of the good ol´ USA ?
More generalizations based on bullshit. Japan and Taiwan both had better broadband infrastructure in place before the US. Given the size of their landmass and the demographics, they focused on a single area. Europe has issues tearing out old buildings to lay underground fibre which many Americans have piped into their neighborhoods at the house level. The whole thing has little if anything to do with ignorance of advancements being made abroad, and making such an argument is ridiculous. Regarding diverting of American resources from home to fund misguided military adventures, keep in mind that the US spends more than 50% of all money spent worldwide on military. We are the defacto world police. As you so cleverly pointed out earlier, US business interests are heavily entrenched in US Government interests, and the military and foreign policy initiatives have always been used as an extension of US business initiatives. I'm not saying I'm a fan of this, but to make such a claim and then to later claim that our military misadventures work against American business interests is to argue against yourself. Pick a side and stick with it. Sorry but I couldn't help but share this too: Whats your point? Unions have had it in for Walmart for a very long time, as they refuse to hire Union. I'm not a particular fan of Wal-mart due to some of their unscrupulous business activities, but Union busting is one of their activities I actually applaud. Given that you are a such a fan of the "right" of every citizen to cheap sh*t from China, I'm surprised you would ever promote an anti-walmart site. /Cough /Cough Bullshit /Cough Seriously, it has been a generation since the British rule of India. At some point, you have to take responsibility for your own conditions. I don't doubt it. Maybe in a 1000 years, you'll catch up to our economy on a per-capita basis, though I doubt it. The EU is way ahead of you and they aren't gaining ground. Killing each other over states rights and slavery. Labor also fought automation tooth and nail. Same type of people who fight against Walmart. Curious. NOW YOU ARE TALKING!!! I'm 100% on board with using population as assets! It is why you see Ford Motors kicking ass in China. Of course it won't make those places all that much more desirable to live, but even a slight improvement means billions of new consumers to buy American products! We just need to be sure countries like India and China are providing US companies full and free access to their markets on a level playing field with local companies. With tightening immigration policies in the US permitting only the best, brightest, and most talented to immigrate, the brain drain we will create in these foreign counties will insure the US at least another century of financial hegemony. Sounds great, right!?
You are quoting me out of perspective, what I meant was that the way you churn out 8th-12th graders, it looks like you expect/want the demand for plumber, drivers, window cleaners to be unlimited to absorb them. There is no other reason for not "making them go to college" (as you had suggested in another thread) that I can think of. 20% unemployment is clearly a liability? Blame him for making americans look dumb then lol LOL, come'on seriously what will an objective third party think of these?