Racism+-+'Idiot+Nation'

Racism: "Idiot Nation"

For all the ranting and raving Moore did, not that I mind, I have to say I agree with him, I am somewhat surprised, but at the same time hopeful, with the American people. It's a relief to know that Americans aren't born ignorant and apathetic to the world around an that "in fact, they are geniuses" (154). Although, I would never have put it on sports, I'm not a sports guy, so it's kind of funny to think I might've gone the rest of my life not caring about sports when that's where the true genius lies otherwise I might've solidified horribly pessimistic views about the state of American education. It's also significant the Moore opens this section by talking about how all America has to do is "to find a way to make politics as gripping and engaging as sports" (154); it takes away blame any blame that could go to the American people, it's no longer their fault that they don't know what's going on in the world, they just need to be given information in a way it can be digested easily. Although, Moore doesn't set them completely free, stating, in the all-important caps lock, that America "GOES OUT OF ITS WAY TO REMAIN IGNORANT AND STUPID" (154). Let's face it, he's right; and it goes back to our being number one. We're number one, so we don't need to know about them because the top doesn't worrry about number two, we don't need to learn their language because they'll learn ours eventually, we don't need to get good grades because we could still be elected to the presidency. This apathetic "they'll focus on us because we're top dog" attitude gives people the sense that they can focus on popular culture and stuff that interests them, which apparently happens to be sports, and we curl into ourselves more and care about the world less. It even goes so far as to affect our own education system; I don't need to know that, I just need the degree because this is America. Not requiring English-major students to take Shakespeare is like trying to look at the American Revolution without George Washington. Sure, it may not seem important to a real-world application, but it's important to the major and taking classes for the major could expand a person's horizons and maybe reverse the apathy a bit.

One would think the American highschool would a great place to start pushing young Americans out of their self-absorbed shells, and people have caught on to that... unfortunately those people are only people by law: because they're corporations. Schools are strapped for money, so they turn to the those with lots of money, sign a deal with the devil corporationand then they get money, with a catch. "Companies conduct market research in classrooms during school hours" (166), not being allowed to wear a Pepsi shirt, and all around becoming giant billboards for companies which is, and Moore put it very eloquently, "probably //not// what they should be doing" (166). I simply cannot get over the corporate chokehold companies are beginning to put schools into. Students should be attending school to learn, not to be bombarded with advertisements. As if the control the companies have on the students isn't enough, "nobody dares wear black, or anything else wild and distracting. That's a sure ticket to ... the school psychologist [who] will be waiting to ascertain whether that Limp Bizkit shirt you have on means that you intend to shoot up Miss Nelson's fourth hour geometry class" (168). That's completely ridiculous, I knew schools were on the controlling, conformity-encouraging side, but that's too far. It's a sad day when you could be considered a threat for wearing a :Wumpscut: shirt; not necessairly because :Wumpscut:, or anyother group, is super awesome but because it shows we're digressing to a point where freedom of speech won't matter because by the time we're released from school, we'll have conformed, void of all personality.

The group that Moore blames the most though is the government, specifically politicians in the government; "the people who really should be tested ... are the so-called political leaders" (163). It's a common argument, I usually see it quite often in the Yahoo! or Youtube comments sections, but even then one need not look far; it's blatantly apparent on television too. It wasn't too long ago that Bachmann messing up Lexington and Concord, Herman Cain mixing up the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, Sarah Palin messing up Paul Revere's ride, Rick Perry getting a C in history, George W. Bush getting a C in history. On Fox News, Fred Barnes cried "these kids don't even know what //The Illiad// and //The Odyssey// are!" (156), only to admit that neither did he when Moore asked him about the epics. The solution, as far as politicians are concerned, isn't to return the financial aid to the schools, no not even update the school's resources, but to test more. Moore doesn't see to big of a problem with standardized testing, but I do. Standardized testing requires that teachers teach a test and a test alone. While the class is still getting information, it comes less in a format of what an education looks like and more in a "this will be on the test, remeber this exact thing; memorize it." It's the memorizing that gets me; sure it's important to memorize stuff, dates, math formulas, but students merely memorize for the test, take the test, then forget about the class and all the infomation provided in the class, which just doesn't do anything for the student's education.