Papantonio: Dumbing Down America For Political Gain | Ring of Fire

Many times I have commented about the apparent intellectual abyss that is overtaking our country; that this "dumbing down" is a preplanned attack organized by the Reich. I mean how else can one explain the push for creationism in our public schools and the denial of science that is rampant among our elected officials. How else can one explain the controversy surrounding textbooks in Texas with the most recent straw being the inclusion of Moses as a founding father.

In most cases I am preaching to the choir or part of the choir being preached at with very few of us able to combat the insurgency of stupidity. I may look at the night sky in amazement, but I am no Neil deGrasse Tyson. I may be geeky but, I am not Bill Nye. I may be smart but, I am not Lawrence Krauss. These are examples of individuals with the power to change minds, but are people listening? It is one point brought up, in a round about way, by Papantonio in the attached clip.

Papantonio and Berg were talking of the vicious circle that is being created by the Reich's anti-education policies beginning with the intentional underfunding of K-12 and undergraduate programs in colleges/universities and touching on media influence - specifically reality TV (and uhm - the use of pharma-drugs - WTF) - all to diminish critical thinking skills.

Why send kids to college, it's expensive and when they get out they can't make enough money. They are convincing the American public that there is no need for an education; they want that these people to NOT get a college education. Why? It teaches critical thinking. A Liberal Arts education is going to teach you to think in a different way. [Paraphrased]

In other words, the Reich wants people under-educated or even uneducated and unable to think for themselves; just follow the party line. Consider the debacles that are Texas (formerly under the control of Rick Perry and his crew) and Kansas (still under Brownback's control).

Prime example,,,

The headline reads: Obama seeking tax increases on wealthy to help middle class: Obama to call for raising capital gains, inheritance taxes to pay for middle-class tax relief

The gist: The centerpiece of the president's tax proposal is an increase in the capital gains rate on couples making more than $500,000 per year to 28 percent, the same level as under President Ronald Reagan. The top capital gains rate has already been raised from 15 percent to 23.8 percent during Obama's presidency.

A right leaning acquaintance's reaction (who I am fairly certain does not make $500,000 and may benefit by some of the provisions proposed): Bullshit! Nobody but the money-wasting government will see any benefit from that. He has already destroyed the middle and lower class!

Way to follow that party line by repeating Fox propaganda and not thinking for yourself. It is this type of mentality the Reich wants. It is this type of mentality that the Reich encourages.

It is important to note that Republicans, including Brownback, held up Kansas and its unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy-elite and corporations as the idealized Republican economic plan for all America to follow. One Kansas Republican even admitted that one of the primary goals of the Koch-Brownback economic plan was cutting government down to size and they have been successful in slashing the state public education system to unconstitutional levels as well as cutting public retirement accounts to pay for the tax cuts.

Despite the abject failure in Kansas, incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Brownback “It’s exactly what we want to do in Washington,” and now that they control both chambers of Congress, it is certainly what they will attempt. The only thing standing between the entire nation, the federal government, and public education going the way of Kansas is President Obama’s veto pen. Because without him as a firewall, the entire nation will become the Koch brothers’ vision of America and will look exactly like Kansas.

People moan and groan about the bankruptcy of Detroit, what are they going to do when a whole state collapses:

Detroit's bankruptcy is by far the largest of its kind in U.S. history, in terms of the city's population of about 700,000 and the amount of its debts and liabilities, which Orr has said could be as high as $20 billion. Because of the stakes involved, and the impact on residents statewide, as well as 30,000 current and retired city workers and Detroit's ability to stay in business, the case could be precedent setting in the federal judiciary. It also could set an important trajectory for the way troubled cities nationwide settle their financial difficulties.

So what is my point.

Recently President Obama announced America’s College Promise, a program modeled on Tennessee Promise as well as a similar program in Chicago. In essence, maintain a 2.5 GPA while progressing through a program of study to be applied toward a four-year degree or an occupational-training program in a high demand field.

Sounds simple enough doesn't it? What could be so awful about returning the United States to its former glory of the world’s most successful economy based on building the most successful education system? Why be stupid on purpose? Because it is the "in-thing" to do, willful ignorance is "a point of pride."

In the face of expertise and facts, being belligerently ignorant—and offended that anyone dare suggest ignorance is less desirable than knowledge—has become the go-to position for many conservative politicians and pundits,,, for modern Republicans, being downright proud of their ignorance has become a badge of honor, a way to demonstrate loyalty to the right-wing cause while also sticking it to those liberal pinheads who think there’s some kind of value in knowing what they’re talking about before offering an opinion.

Marcotte continues,

The thing is, shameless lying and ignorance works surprisingly well as a debate tactic. It’s hard to argue with someone who not only has signaled that he doesn’t care what the truth is but is downright proud of how little he actually knows. Such a person is not amenable to being educated. Once the pretense of really caring one way or another about what is right and what is wrong has been abandoned, all avenue of discourse is shut down.
,,,
At the end of the day, the problem is one of identity. The conservative identity is one of being opposed to everything liberal, to the point of despising anything even associated with liberalism. As liberalism has increasingly been aligned with the values of empiricism and reason, the incentives for conservatives to reject empiricism and reason multiply. To be a “conservative” increasingly means taking a contemptuous view of reality. And so the proudly ignorant grow more belligerent, day after day.

Think about it, how else can one explain the blow-back being pandered concerning President Obama's recent America’s College Promise proposal? Maybe this "loyalty to the right-wing cause" that shuts down "all avenue of discourse" because "being opposed to everything liberal" is to reject critical thinking; "liberalism has increasingly been aligned with the values of empiricism and reason." Sounds a bit familiar doesn't it.

But, but,,,

If the $60 billion over ten years price tag has you worried, consider this. The Joint Strike Fighter (F-35 stealth jet) development budget is now at $400 billion, BUT it won’t have an operational 25mm cannon until 2019.

"Even though the Joint Strike Fighter, or F-35, is supposed to join frontline U.S. Marine Corps fighter squadrons next year and Air Force units in 2016, the jet’s software does not yet have the ability to shoot its 25mm cannon. But even when the jet will be able to shoot its gun, the F-35 barely carries enough ammunition to make the weapon useful."
,,,
Another senior Air Force official with stealth fighter experience agreed. “From an air-to-air standpoint, an argument could be made that the F-35A not having a functional gun—or any gun, for that matter—will have little to no impact. Heck, it only has 180 rounds anyway,” he said. “I would be lying if I said there exists any plausible tactical air-to-air scenario where the F-35 will need to employ the gun. Personally, I just don’t see it ever happening and think they should have saved the weight [by getting rid of the gun altogether].”

However, the Air Force official said that very fact the F-35 will not have a functional gun when it becomes operational is symptomatic of a deeply troubled program. “To me, the more disturbing aspect of this delay is that it represents yet another clear indication that the program is in serious trouble,” the official said. F-35 maker “Lockheed Martin is clearly in a situation where they are scrambling to keep their collective noses above the waterline, and they are looking to push non-critical systems to the right in a moment of desperation.”

"Symptomatic of a deeply troubled program." Might that be due to the fact that "[t]he U.S. was ranked 17th in an assessment of the education systems of 50 countries, behind several Scandinavian and Asian nations, which claimed the top spots." Or maybe it's a bit more obvious, like an agenda. This is from the 2012 Texas Republican platform (p. 12).

Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.

Obviously the Texas GOP doesn't think to highly of public education - just read the rest of their platform and you will understand - and critical thinking is just plain ole scary shit.

Instead of spending tax payer money ($14 million+ and climbing) on a faux Benghazi scandal, maybe time and money should be invested in making this bold proposal feasible instead of going the way of Kansas, which ALEC ranks a D+ in their 19th edition of the "Report Card on American Education."

Papantonio I think sums it up well [again I am paraphrasing]:

A good education opens the mind to differing world views allowing for solutions to problems through the use of analytical thinking. It provides a flexibility in thought that allows one to adapt and change. Ignorant people have an easier time judging others and perpetuating hate. The more ignorant a population the easier it is for a demagogue to rise to power.

To which Berg added, "fear and hate are the easy answers."

Papantonio: Dumbing Down America For Political Gain | Ring of Fire