The Idiot Generation

Never has there been a time when there existed such an opportunity to learn and expand the mind than there exists today. The numerous venues of knowledge such as the television, newspaper, radio, and internet, combined with the ability of all races and genders to access such venues should have resulted in a generation of knowledgeble, wise, and mature people who use the resources available to them, through the hard labors of their ancestors, to greatly improve all aspects of society. Instead, we are left with a bunch of excessively obese, comically stupid people who couldn't care less about successes of the previous generation's efforts to improve the lives of its children.

Do they watch the news, read about current events, or learn about the latest breakthroughs in science? No, they watch Spongebob Squarepants with a greasy Whopper in their hands, soaking up useless information like that vacuous sponge. They watch porn or steal the latest song on the internet, and read nothing but the comics in the newspapers, and when those are exhausted, they turn on Howard Stern or Oppie and Anthony to laugh about the woman who just found out that her husband didn't really die....it was only a joke! Why would any black kids care about Martin Luther King? That happened so long ago that its not relevant today. Why not instead try to act like the 'gangstas' and 'ho's' portrayed on TV, and promote ignornace and violence? But don't drop the N bomb, only they can call themselves that. Then we have the younger children. There are no more dreams of becoming an astronaut, or firefighter, or policeman. These are replaced by dreams of becoming the next American Idol or Britney Spears. That will certainly benefit mankind. What do our kids do when they get into college after spending 13 years of their lives trying to get there? They drink every night of the week and fail out of their classes!

Its true that I'm a college student myself and that I'm actually growing up on the older fringes of this generation. And I know that it's also true that there exist many of this generation who DO have dreams of becoming something worthwhile when they grow up, and few who exhibit all of the negative traits described above. I know that many parents reading this have children of their own who are successful and hardworking, and who fully use the resources available to them, but I'm just trying to make a point. Why is it that the desire to learn and expand the mind is inversely proportonal to the resources available to do such things? These freedoms shouldn't be taken for granted and be used for such trivial purposes. They should be embraced whole-heartedly and used to improve our society.

In my honest opinion, this trend is only getting worse. I've gotten to know quite a few kids of the slighly younger generation through my younger brother (13 years old), and have taken mental note of their behaviors. Instead of playing baseball, or exploring the woods nearby, they link up their newest nintendo gameboy systems and exchange few, if any words. My brother hasn't even been outside for the past 4 days, and his friends are basically doing the same. They idolize cartoon shows and act out the gestures of stupid cartoon characters, something even my friends at that age would consider immature. Sure children are also doing better in school as so many reports are indicating, but this really means nothing. I went through highschool in honors classes with solid A's, but this was all done by regurgitation of information, extensive use of rote memory, and writing exactly what the teacher wanted to hear. This works for all subjects...history (memorization), english (write to please the teacher), even math (know one example, and use it to do the rest of the problems). I didn't care about who was involved in WWII, or HOW I could use differentiation or geometry in the real world, or discover the clever wit of Shakespeare through numerous innuendos. I just did what I was told and got rewarded for it. These children may be 'school smart' but they are idiots at best.

I'm disgusted with this apathy towards learning, which is why I've changed my ways. I might go online to read Plato's Republic, sit down and read Pat Brown's latest book, or learn something new on this very site. I work in the summer 6 days a week, full time, getting up at 4 a.m every day, and keep in shape by rock-climbing, whitewater rafting, or swimming. I'm finally looking into the 'why's' of my subjects in college, and just finished writing a paper in an attempt to disprove altruism just for the hell of it. Because of this fact, I'm able to see the mental deterioration that is happening all around me. There is SO much available to us that we couldn't possible put it all to use in 1000 lifetimes, yet we choose to live our lives in poor health, ignorance, and in admiration of morally deprived reality TV stars. Why am I even in college in hopes to better serve society when no one will give a damn in the next 20 years or so?

[edit on 25-1-2005 by zhangmaster]

You get my highest level of respect for your post!
I have nothing more to say!

Hey, everyone needs time to grow up. He's 13. I'm sure he'll grow up to be a fine responsible person.

An excellent rant on the subject.

Though it may be said I fear for the polar extremes as well. There's an increasing number of children in America being raised in closed community environments, taught to fear and hate, restricted from ANY popular (pop culture) mediums, not exposed to differing opinions and effectively brainwashed 24/7.

But not all Southern Baptists are bad.

Thanks very much for the kind replies so far. Dixon, I do hope that he'll grow up to a fine person, but the family environment he's in may make this much harder than it should be. I shouldn't go into too many family details, but let me just say that I live in a very angry houshold, with most of the anger being expressed towards my younger brother for the very reasons I described above. Its the kind of thing where he is lazy with school work, and in response to their lecturing, yelling...etc, he purposly seeks to annoy them at every available opportunity. Thus, a continuing circle of anger and resentment. There may be some rough times ahead for him. And yes, the polar opposites are also dangerous. A balance certainly needs to be made, and hopefully I am wrong in saying that the majority are at the extremes.

You have voted zhangmaster for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

It's January 27th, so as you can see, I don't throw my votes around lightly.

Excellent post.

You sound like you are in the same place I was about ten years ago. It doesn't get any better but you learn how to deal with it.

Then you'll figure out how to put that awareness to good use.
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Everything that can be said already has been. I completely agree with you and with the comments from Isis, dixon, Rant and Gools.

You get my last WATS vote

You have voted zhangmaster for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have used all of your votes for this month.

This is an excellent rant/post. You express many of the points that I have made -- and continue to make -- about the young generation. I am over fifty years of age and, at the risk of sounding like my own parents, I find myself asking whats' wrong with this generation? The main factor, I find is that children today don't have to use their imaginations. They simply absorb what they see on tv and movie screens and that's that! Aside from action or comedic scenes, there is no discussion, no thought whatsoever about what they have witnessed aside from the entertainment value. What parent hasn't heard their kid demand to be entertained because "they are bored"? Kids today DO NOT read the newspaper, they DO NOT read books (other than Harry Potter and books assigned in school), kids today DO NOT get involved in hobbies like rock collecting, stamp collecting, bug collections etc. Skateboarding, video games and mindless entertainment is what passes for hobbies these days. Considering that kids today have access to the internet -- perhaps the greatest research tool ever invented -- their surfing seems limited to internet cartoons, games and, when noone is around, porn. There is definitely something wrong.

Again, good post with excellent points.

Wow, I feel so relieved with the responses I'm getting. I used to feel alone in what I thought, bu its a great feeling to know that other people are seeing the same things soing on. Thanks for the suport and votes

We young ones are very good at the age old philosophy of capitalism:

Consume. Be silent. Die.

As long as you have a cellphone with which to send and receive txts, and access to a few dollars to spend on impulse purchases (or important things such as the next piercing), and the right labels and the right symbols of angst and disenfranchisement, you are a true blue (All) American Idiot.

kids today DO NOT get involved in hobbies like rock collecting, stamp collecting, bug collections etc.

Yea tell me about it! I had a hard time asking my mom if i can collect live bugs! I brought home a pieca bone from a dig i had gone to when i was a kid. Eh whats wrong with bones? Ok this is off topic. I'll shut up now.

hmmm....

dude- Spunge Bob Square Pants is AWSOME!!! while ive only seen about 10 of his shows, I would watch him everyday, with a greasy hamburger, pizza, and wings in my hands eating. I wanna go see the movie, but ill wait till its out on DVD. ok, yeah, so everyone in the young generation (like 90% of everyone) is stupid and wont use technology. but who can blame them guys?
u are born with nothing, and leave with nothing. everything u did is a waste after yer dead. you dont get to see the benefits of what u did, others get to take your stuff, strangers, while nothing to you matters cause your dead.
u live life a day at a time, just enough to get by (and liek me) just dont give a dang bout others, such as wanting to find a cure for cancer or help the world out. sure, im a caring person, but I just dont care enough to try to help my childrens childrens childrens out. I study physics, and am quite aware on world events, but outside of my own life to far I could care less bout anyone.

Originally posted by yermom
hmmm....

dude- Spunge Bob Square Pants is AWSOME!!! while ive only seen about 10 of his shows, I would watch him everyday, with a greasy hamburger, pizza, and wings in my hands eating. I wanna go see the movie, but ill wait till its out on DVD. ok, yeah, so everyone in the young generation (like 90% of everyone) is stupid and wont use technology. but who can blame them guys?
u are born with nothing, and leave with nothing. everything u did is a waste after yer dead. you dont get to see the benefits of what u did, others get to take your stuff, strangers, while nothing to you matters cause your dead.
u live life a day at a time, just enough to get by (and liek me) just dont give a dang bout others, such as wanting to find a cure for cancer or help the world out. sure, im a caring person, but I just dont care enough to try to help my childrens childrens childrens out. I study physics, and am quite aware on world events, but outside of my own life to far I could care less bout anyone.

By the way i saw the spongebob movie and it totally sucked. Only the last five minutes was really funny cuz patrick was wearing high heels and panty hose. YEa i love that cartoon...
But dude if you dont have the compassion to teach your kids how do you evolve as a species? Just gotta be a little more enthusiastic!

Though I don't disagree with the running point on this thread I want to add my own two cents.............


In days of yore, old age was revered and represented wisdom, the elderly were actually the voice of reason and experience, a respected aspect of their environment............


So why is it today that older people are viewed commonly as senile and irrelevant? We have retirement homes to kindly dispatch them from our reality.

Back in the day, older people were looked to for the answers and I more often than not have to parent my own parents.......IMO, the generation scapegoat is a copout......every generation has its ups and downs........The answer, imo, can be found in even a brief look at the evolution of society and the integration of a global population into the village mentality........we now have more overt references and reminders of authority figures as opposed to 100 years ago. And where that fails, you have distraction, after distraction, after distraction.

These are just my thoughts, I could probably go on all day...........

The point of this thread is the essence of why I refer to most as 'cattle'.

Btw, back in the day, old people.. weren't that old. Our bodies gave out well before our brains did, unlike today.. but thats another topic entirely.

Originally posted by apc
Btw, back in the day, old people.. weren't that old. Our bodies gave out well before our brains did, unlike today.. but thats another topic entirely.

Good to know, but the point still knid of stands as even the Baby Boomers frustrate me with their lack of sense sometimes.......:bnghd:

Originally posted by yermom
I study physics, and am quite aware on world events, but outside of my own life to far I could care less bout anyone.

You might find, since you say you care not about your childrens, childrens, children, that in light that everything most of us do gets taken away and left with nothing, that finding ways to help others and be productive in your own unique way is one of the things that does matter in life. Think for a moment if you gained something, because something someone did for you....er like your parents maybe. If everyone takes on the idiot generation attitude, the whole world would collapse. I think you will find when you get older and have to carry more responsibilities, you will begin to see why it is important to care more.

A+ for your interest in physics and world events, they don't hurt, and as long as you have this desire to learn, you won't be dissappointed that there is more things to learn in life than you have time for.

but you have to think though,most of the world doent have aaccess to this kinda knowledge and they are also more worried about getting food to eat and other problems.

Great post. You articulated my thoughts as if you were reading my mind. Kudos to you!

u live life a day at a time, just enough to get by (and liek me) just dont give a dang bout others, such as wanting to find a cure for cancer or help the world out. sure, im a caring person, but I just dont care enough to try to help my childrens childrens childrens out. I study physics, and am quite aware on world events, but outside of my own life to far I could care less bout anyone.

I agree partially.
There's not enough time to waste energies on the well being of a passer-by or neighbors; however I do feel it is necessary to put resources into the advancement of the species as a whole. We have suffered so many setbacks in our history that if had not occurred, who knows where we would be.
I too study physics, primarily string theory and M-theory. I am fascinated by the realities and concepts these two theories bring to light.
Taken in the correct context, we know that with the technology we pocess this very day, we can create and do just about anything. From quantum teleportation, antigravity craft, to understanding and manipulating the very fabric of reality itself.. anything is possible.
Unfortunately most of the world is more concerned with fighting evolution: pouring resources into third world countries or going to war over a few acres of "holy land". Populations die for a reason. Civilizations fail, for a reason.
Only one thing will ever change the world view: mass extinction. It will happen, within our lifetimes, one way or another. Those who remain, will finally be forced to set aside their petty differences and focus on the unification and progress of our entire race, and our reach will be limitless.