Dumb Americans

The rest of the world says that Americans are dumb. Well, it's hard to argue against that. Look at Fox News, the Tea Party, Creationists, Birthers...the fact that Jersey Shore is wildly successful...all proof that that Americans are dumb.

So why are Americans so dumb? The answer: we're really not. The top 16 Colleges and Universities in the world, are all in the U.S.


The truth is, the human race as a whole is stupid. The Germans at one time believed that they--blonde, blue-eyed people--were the superior race, and then made a man with brown eyes and brown hair the leader of this "ultimate race." Stupid.
The more humans you have in one area, the more stupid things you'll see. The U.S. has over 300 million people living there. I think China and India are the only other countries on the planet with more people. It's just a matter of odds that the U.S. would have so many dumb people.

But hold on; both Chinese and Indian people have a stereotype of being ultra-smart (especially the Chinese). So does this disprove my point about population and the number of dumb people in a country? No.

The U.S. has been the top-dog for many decades. America has seriously declined in the 2000's, but we're still a great nation. American is still the top trendsetter; people from all over the world can name our top actors, movies, pop stars and songs. What other country can boast that? America is so great, that the Harry Potter franchise re-shot scenes from "The Philosopher's Stone" to have scenes where the "Stone" was refered to as the "Sorcerer's Stone". This is because it was thought that "Philospher's Stone" was too boring a title to catch American interests; yet, the world knows how important it is to release a movie in American, and even the mighty Harry Potter series had to adjust.

The point?

It's because of the wealth and greatness of the U.S., that other countries look at the U.S. with much more scrutiny. Even though China has a reputation for spawning geniuses, they also force their little girls to wrap their feet up so that they will not get big feet when they're older. There are many women who suffer this affliction today, because what they were forced to do when they were little...and that's completely tame compared to how they treat women in India. Being forced to wear Burkas that fully cover them head-to-toe in scorching hot weather? Check. 35% of women being beaten up at home? Check.

Compared to the U.S., the way they treat their women is much more idiotic. Does it matter that they're test scores are higher, if their women would rather live in the U.S.?

Honestly, it's only because the U.S. has such a history of success, influence and power, that Americans are under such a microscope.
Imagine you're at a bar, and there's some drunken guy being loud and obnoxious; most of us would just shake our heads, and continue with our conversations with whoever we're hanging out with. However, imagine that the drunken guy was a huge celebrity; the reactions would be a lot different. People would look at the celebrity with disgust, or even indignation: "Oh, that guy thinks he's all high and mighty because he's famous."

See the difference? The success of the U.S. makes everything an American does, doesn't do, knows or doesn't know, that much more criticized. If Prince William told a dirty joke, that would have serious backlash from the media, verses if some regular bloke told that same dirty joke. And that's how it is for the U.S.: because our success, power and influence, it's that much easier to hate Americans, even for something inconsequential, like not being able to find Iraq on a map.

One thing to consider, is that the United States is made up of people from all over the world, including countries that say we're dumb. This is where the challenge lies, in trying to teach kids in this country. Unlike England or China, there isn't just one culture to learn and adjust to; kids come from many different backgrounds, and trying to control all the little bastards is an impossible job. Black kids in city schools have a horrendous time learning, due to their culture of gangs and violence (a culture which comes from having to struggle due to hundreds of years of horrendous treatment and discrimination from whites). A lot of first-generation hispanic kids from parents who just emmigrated to the U.S. have to struggle with learning the language, adjusting to the culture, and dealing with their own problems at home. True: many nations slaughter U.S. schools in just about every academic category--except gym, I'm sure we'd kick ass in that--but every other country has already discovered their proven system for educating kids.

A country that is such a melting pot as the U.S., on top of being the third most populated nation in the world, will obviously have a monstrous struggle in learning how to aproach teaching kids from such a vast array different cultures.

Are Americans dumb? The high "Jersey Shore" ratings indicate we are. But we're a country with a lot of our own struggles. Being so influencial and successful seems to obscure that for many people. Other countries don't see our problems; they see a country with absolutely no excuse for having citizens which don't meet their standards. Despite having to clash with hundreds of different cultures during the formation of this country, the U.S. is still top-dog; we're on the brink of losing that rank at any given moment...but when you factor everything (average income, size of the average american home, average standard of living, higher learning institutions, potential to become rich, etc.) the U.S. is still the best place to live, when all things are considered.

The United States is the nation that invented the automobile, telephone, airplane and internet. We have the world's top colleges and universities. America was the first to land a man on the moon. We can't be that dumb. It's just that American idiots get a bigger spotlight than idiots from other countries. If other countries step back for a minute and think about it, they have the same frequency of morons as we do.