Are Americans/Politicians losing intelligence per new generations?

[W00lygimp]

I can't imagine Clinton, Kerry, Bush, Reagan, et cetera being responsible for writing a document anywhere near on par with the U.S. constitution or the Declaration of Independence, or other literary works put forth by the founding fathers. I saw a poll a couple months back, 65% of 8th graders don't know who the first president of the United States is, granted I think all polls are bullshit... but I have to admit Americans are getting stupid. Kids seem to pre-occupied with, "Were am I gun get my dro from cuz Joe got bustd." I mean our generation's great literary author is Stephen King... Stephen King. I don't know yes I'm being partial and I know i'm probaly wrong because yes there are intelligent people, but this is what it seems to me to be.


Also i've noticed 14 year old geeks with a computer more often than not tend to be liberal. I was discussing this with a friend, See the liberal explanation for the overwhelming majority of Bush Supporters in the military are that conservatives are more likely to join the Armed Services. So lets say theres 50% liberals/50% conservatives in a particular age group of 18-24. If 80% of the 600,000 people oversea's are republicans, then I assume that liberals now have a 480,000 stronger population base for that particular age group. I'm estimating these numbers just to prove my point, but by their theorem my point is:
While 480,000 conservatives are oversea's defending our country... 480,000 liberal liberal's are at home on their computer bitching about it. Seriously online polls Kerry is ahead by a landslide, but real polls show otherwise. What is it about computers that make people liberal-- and don't say people with computers are smarter. Most bush supporters are older and a little wiser, more respectable. Thats another little assumption of mine.

[MelchyBeau]

There are more authors than just Stephen King that are good recently. I personally thought the neocons fiction on Iraq was quite interesting. Now as to say that our population is getting dumber, I'm not exactly sure where you are getting this from. I don't have any friends that are worried about where thier next fix is going to come from. If anything I would say the education system has failed us. I went through most of my schooling in Louisiana. I was able to sleep through my 4 years of highschool and still make a B average.

Now about the 14 year olds being liberals. Your point? However I think this changes region by region. In north Louisiana most people here are ultra conservatives, usually religious conservatives. This scares me alot, thankfully I won't be here much longer.

This skewing the polls could be a possibility, but you must also look how the polls are being recorded right now. Those of us who only have a cell phone and not a land line are not counted in these polls. I also believe they do not poll the colleges, which I do believe there will be a much larger voter turnout than in the previous elections. So these phone based polls could also be skewed.

Now about the Bush supporters being older, wiser, and more respectable, thats complete and utter Bush [censored]. I've asked people why they are supporting Bush. Most can't tell me why. Generally it is he stays the course. But, personally I would rather not stay the course going down the wrong way on a one way street. As for older, I know that there is a huge block of elderly voters that are going to vote for Kerry and not Bush. And you are right only liberals are sitting on thier computer bitching about it and thats all they do. I assume you are a conservative, why aren't you in Sadr City helping Bush out there?

Btw I believe we should change the term liberal to progressive and the term conservative to regressive.

Melch

[W00lygimp]

I'm from Lake Charles, Louisiana. I can't beleive your insulting our state and the people in it, you call them religious conservatives but truth is the South is known for its well-mannered people. I've been to New York, my mom's side of the family has ties to the Chicago mob... I also visit Chicago every couple months. The people up north are generally far more likely to be complete assholes, and i'm not really trying to sterotype.

Point is: Louisiana has nice people, New Orleans, Mardi Gras, one helluva drinking tradition, hottest girls (every poll shows Louisiana neck and neck with Texas, i personally thinking Louisiana is ahead...We have got some gorgeous chicks), and the best food (If you haven't eaten cajun food your missing out, seriously and I'm not talking about that imitation [censored] they cook up north).

About the cajun food, I ordered Gumbo in a Chicago cafe to see if it was anything like food down South. I swear they [censored] gave me Campells Chicken Noodle Soup... i was seriously wtfing!!!

but Louisiana is a [censored] great state, don't [censored] diss the [censored] people because they dont [censored] agree with your [censored] political views

[W00lygimp]

Bush has made mistakes, hes not the greatest guy (well hes a good guy thats one of the qualities that makes him appealing to most voters), hes not even that great of a President. John Kerry isn't trustworthy as he will say/do anything for votes. Kerry is not the man to run the country, I personally would rather see Colin Powell or McCain running in 2008.
If we weren't in Iraq Bush would be considered an above average president, so it's wrong to criticize Bush on a war we all supported.

We are the ones flip-flopping, how are you gonna say before the invasion... Yes i support the war. Then when things get tough, you blame Bush. He received the same Intel we received, its the CIA's fault for misleading us.

I remember one poll that showed 87%+ supported the invasion of Iraq. I still support the invasion, I don't think it was the best decision now that I look back... but whats done is done and we have to follow through, and I'm not blaming anyone except myself.

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
Bush has made mistakes, hes not the greatest guy (well hes a good guy thats one of the qualities that makes him appealing to most voters), hes not even that great of a President. John Kerry isn't trustworthy as he will say/do anything for votes. Kerry is not the man to run the country, I personally would rather see Colin Powell or McCain running in 2008.
If we weren't in Iraq Bush would be considered an above average president, so it's wrong to criticize Bush on a war we all supported.

We are the ones flip-flopping, how are you gonna say before the invasion... Yes i support the war. Then when things get tough, you blame Bush. He received the same Intel we received, its the CIA's fault for misleading us.

I remember one poll that showed 87%+ supported the invasion of Iraq. I still support the invasion, I don't think it was the best decision now that I look back... but whats done is done and we have to follow through, and I'm not blaming anyone except myself.

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brilliant.

[wacki]

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What is it about computers that make people liberal-- and don't say people with computers are smarter.

[/ QUOTE ]

Same thing that makes College profs have the crazy opinions they have. It's called an Ivory Tower. You can learn alot on a computer, but until you get out and do some hands on learning, what you read is just that, something you just read.

CS majors in college undergo slave labor. They literally don't have time to do anything but stare at a computer 24/7.

[MelchyBeau]

As far as Louisiana, It is an entirely different culture in North Louisiana than it is in South Louisiana. Once you go north of Lafayette you are heading into rednecks ville. Come up to Ruston or Monroe and see the culture shift. One can't even order a hard drink in Ruston, and drinking on sundays is forbodden. The cajuns are what make this state a good place, but up here, gumbo starts to taste a bit bland, and crawfish just ain't cooked right. Also you can't get Abita up here either. I'm not dissing the whole state just this northern section of it. South Louisiana is accepting of peoples differences. North is not. It is just how it is.

about the computers and liberals, I was just making a comment about how you said that they were liberals. obviously there are republican computer users. and these republican computer users whine just as much.

Melch

[W00lygimp]

It's just something I've noticed. It seems that there are slightly more liberal people who hang around online forums, and participate in online polls. I mean we'd be in a primarily democratic run country if our elections were based on online polls. All you gotta do is look up the results of any online poll and you'll see evidence of that.

As for Melchy, I didn't know that about Northern Louisiana. I usually hang around the LakeCharles/Lafayette/New Orleans area. My parents own Steamboat Bills down here if you've ever been to Lake Charles, so I guess i have to be a 'lil partial to Cajun Food... Even though partial or not it's great food. I love this state though, and trust me the one thing we can't be beat in is fishing.

We own a house on the gulf in Gulfport and we take frequent trips to Florida, and other places to fish. Mississippi has to have the worst Gulf of Mexican fishing i've ever experienced. It's downright horrible, we are thinking of selling our house, which we just paid quite a pretty penny, just because of how horrible the fishing is. Florida is good fishing, I won't lie, but it's still a little behind Louisiana. Theres nothing like going out to a rig and catching enough Snapper to feed an army, or going out to the Flower Gardens and hooking a marlin. The redfish out here are also quite plentiful, but then again Florida has a larger supply of Tarpon (Most sought after gamefish). This place is paradise for hunter's/fishermen, and thats why they call it Sportman's Paradise.

Edit: I think i should apologize for turning this into a "Look how great Louisiana is" Thread.

[elwoodblues]

In my opinion, claims of lesser intelligence in current generation are greatly exaggerated.

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I mean our generation's great literary author is Stephen King

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Every generation has pulp authors who will be forgotten in 50 years. However, there are also great authors writing in recent history that will stand the test of time. Stephen King is not one of them.

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Also i've noticed 14 year old geeks with a computer more often than not tend to be liberal. I was discussing this with a friend, See the liberal explanation for the overwhelming majority of Bush Supporters in the military are that conservatives are more likely to join the Armed Services. So lets say theres 50% liberals/50% conservatives in a particular age group of 18-24. If 80% of the 600,000 people oversea's are republicans, then I assume that liberals now have a 480,000 stronger population base for that particular age group. I'm estimating these numbers just to prove my point, but by their theorem my point is:
While 480,000 conservatives are oversea's defending our country... 480,000 liberal liberal's are at home on their computer bitching about it. Seriously online polls Kerry is ahead by a landslide, but real polls show otherwise. What is it about computers that make people liberal-- and don't say people with computers are smarter. Most bush supporters are older and a little wiser, more respectable. Thats another little assumption of mine.

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With assumptions/analysis like this, maybe your original hypothesis was correct after all [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[W00lygimp]

Maybe what i meant to say is where are the Thomas Jeffersons, George Washingtons, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Franklins, Alexander Hamiltons, John Dickinsons, William Johnsons, James Madisons, Samuel Adams (not talking about the beer), John Hancocks, Mathew Thorntons, Richard Henry Lees, Thomas Pains, Paul Reveres, Aaron Burrs of our time? They sure as hell aren't in politics.