Why/How are Americans Kept Ignorant?

the main reason why most of us (americans) don't care about every little detail that goes on in the world is mainly this: over half of it honestly does not effect us.

Remember unlike in europe, our country isn't next to you guys, and so for the most part, somethingthat happens in europe isnt really something that threatens us physically. for example, if a terrorist bombing of a train occurs in France, it would be of concern to other countries around France, because its so close. America on the other hand, is surrounded by tons and tons of water. That means we are isolated from the events of france, and unless the terrorists come here, there isnt a direct threat to us if something happens in Europe.

Also, seeing that our country is so big, we have alot of problems of our own. And so for the most part, we're focused on local domestic problems other then the distint foreign problems

Originally posted by Seekerof

Originally posted by Ashlar
Americans are kept ignorant due to the jewish control of mass media

Really Ashlar....?
Are you spouting again? Need a spoon to catch the dribble that is coming from your lips/finger tips?
Got a link to any reliable source that can confirm your assertion?

seekerof

try typing "jewish control of mass media" in google; you can do it!

Want to know why Americans are considerd ignorant?
Just read this thread, and its diversion into inanity, paranoia, and self justification...... its all here....

Originally posted by Ashlar

Originally posted by Seekerof

Originally posted by Ashlar
Americans are kept ignorant due to the jewish control of mass media

Really Ashlar....?
Are you spouting again? Need a spoon to catch the dribble that is coming from your lips/finger tips?
Got a link to any reliable source that can confirm your assertion?

seekerof

try typing "jewish control of mass media" in google; you can do it!

@ net chicken

are you accusing me of being an american?



[edit on 22-8-2004 by Ashlar]

LOL

Id like to set the record straight.

1. I am an American, a citizen of the United States of America.

2. I never said Americans are considered ignorant, I asked "How/why are Americans kept ignorant", the ones that already are ignorant

3. This thread's topic is How Are the Ignorant Americans kept ignorant and why is it?

[end_rant\]

[edit on 8/22/2004 by s13guy]

dont you see the names in the credits when you watch a movie? dont you see the names of the producers of the news broadcasts you watch? are they jewish names or are you just a blind lemming? (@seekerof & net chicken)

[edit on 22-8-2004 by Ashlar]

They are the best business man(and better average IQ than other countries) of our little planet and you can't blame them that they try to do the best that the Holocaust or a similar event will never ever happen again to their people.

So the influence they take isn't really cool but I can understand it.

Originally posted by DanTodd


i used to watch spongebob....

Sorry to lump all the fans into two simple groups. But it is very popular with little kids and was a well known gay following.



[edit on 22-8-2004 by ShadowXIX]

SPONGEBOB HAD A GAY FOLLOWING!? *Throws away Spongebob pajamas* Whoo... I feel better now.

Well, if you pay a visit to a modern school these days, you'll see that the teachers are begging the students to learn, but many just don't care. They have no interest in Math, Science, or Social Studies; most only care about what Tom Cruise did last week, or who got kicked off the island in the latest episode of Survivor. Their 'essential knowledge' is basically knowledge that should be reserved as 'hobby' status knowledge only... Modern schools are desperately trying to educate their students, but unfortuantely these days modern culture exists in a state where students choose not to care...

Check out the mini book Media Control: The Spectacular Achievments of Propaganda by Noam Chomsky. It is very informative. I consider Chomsky to be one of the foremost progressive thinkers of our time. It would be well worth your time to check out his many writings. By the way, many of them are available for free on the net, just do a google search.
-ColonelForbin

Originally posted by s13guy
just wonderin...


why are americans so ignorant? how are 300 mi ppl kept ignorant from knowing/caring whats going on outside the U.S.? could it be that the american government wants them that way, to maintain the status quo?

Define status quo..........

And no American's have a responsibility to educate themselves on other countries if media isn't doing it. That is if they care to .....
Alot of people are complacent you can't change that about them, it's just how some people are, remember quest for fire?

There were the hunters then the gatherers, then the followers...
Nothing has changed... Just now we have more of a psychological explanation...

There's millions of people in America who know alot about other countries, in this case, your concentration on the ignorant so you wouldn't see those that do...

Why are you concentrating on the negatives?? Sometimes you just can't help it... Being able to admit it is the first step, second step is doing something about it.

yeah, i should prob edit my 1st post and rephrase it " how are the already ignorant ppl kept that way and why? "

Status quo? theres only 1 definition that i know of:

"the existing state of affairs", which is a disappointing state of affairs imho



[edit on 8/24/2004 by s13guy]

I can only speak for myself, but it takes effort to avoid ignorance. Between full time work and having a family, time is a precious commodity. It is far easier to park it on the couch and be spoonfed re-runs of Seinfeld or the evening network news than to pick up a newspaper or a book, or get online and actively seek worthwhile information.
I am new to ATS, and appreciate the fact that I can read a debate in a few minutes on just about any topic in the news here. Usually many sides of each issue are reporesented. I have learned much by hearing opinions from outside the US. In the US, we tend to have tunnel vision and limit our perspective to what is going on in our country. It is good to know there are some people who care about more than their own backyard, and put effort into understanding how events half a world away can effect their own life.

I don't know all that much about the education system in America, but I think the answer to your question lies in it.

From the little I know, the American education system puts a great deal of emphasis on the US, US history, politics, etc. In Australia where I live and grew up, I doubt many school kids could name all the Prime Ministers (of Australia), and not many people care either. However we were taught some history of our country and also some of other countries. This was and is the case for all school subjects.

The claims that Americans are ignorant because they don't have time, should take another look at the info given by Shoo earlier, Australians work quite a few more hours than Americans, 1814.4 to 1792.

Also, the argument that America is geographically far away from Europe and Asia and therefore it is difficult it know a great deal, is no excuse either. Take a look at a world map, Australia isn't exactly in the middle of it all.

If kids are taught from the time they're in preschool/kindergarten that there is more to the world than your own country, no one can ever claim that you, Americans or anyone else, are ignorant.

So that's my little comparison... do what you will with it.

Originally posted by WolfofWar
the main reason why most of us (americans) don't care about every little detail that goes on in the world is mainly this: ............

Well put wolfofwar the only point I would add is that our economy pretty much dictates the world economy not the other way around. Therefore for most Americans what is happening in other countries doesn't really affect what counts...the pocket book. Whereas other countries are dependant on our economy; for example, most of the country is fairly well informed of what is going on in California fiscally speaking (6th largest econmy in the world).

In the quickly changing times we live in, I think that it is a important that people who see the problems in the world, really start to network, find and realize sollutions for the problems mankind is facing today. Not just in the world around us but in ourselves as well.

"A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves."
--EDWARD R. MURROW

In the chaos that surrounds us in our daily lives it is easy to lose sight of who we really are. The media wants to fill our minds with useless information. By just closing our eyes for a little while each day and trying to silence the noise we can begin to have a deeper sense of ourselves on a microcosmic and macrocosmic level. We can begin to see that we are all connected to each other in some form or another and all hold a responsibility for ourselves and future generations. I personally think religion is out of time. I think in this day and age we need something more than just belief and faith. I think a spiritual science will help us on an individual level better understand who we are so that we can shed some of these systems that are causing so much chaos in the world today. With the emergence of all the methods of global comunication we are now a global society and we need a new root of morality. One which embraces all of mankind.

As we can see in the present elections half of Americans support George Bush. Most people in the world don't like Bush yet half of Americans embrace him. I think this just begins to show how much of a strangle hold the corporate media has on many of the people in our country. We cannot deprogram americans, but I think if more and more individuals are able take charge and make real changes in themselves and society will we begin to see real progress. Instead of projecting all our problems onto other people, religions, and ideologies. Instead of just focusing on the problems, I think we need to spend just as much time in the search for sollutions. Once we begin to develop some sollutions, then it is up to us to try to make the necessary changes. If we cannot make the changes in the outside world, I think making inner changes is just as important. Seeing the problems around us in some senses gives us a responsibility to realize the changes. Else our future generations won't have much of a future to live for.

Here are some quotes I would like to share.

"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth -- more than ruin -- more even than death.�Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man."
--BERTRAND RUSSELL

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."
--ALVIN TOFFLER

"All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth."
--ARISTOTLE

"There will be as much deceit and criminality in the world as there is lack of art."
--RUDOLF STEINER

"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers."
--RALPH NADER

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil--hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."
--MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

"Rise like lions after slumber in invanquishable number -- Shake your chains to earth like dew which in sleep had fallen on you -- ye are many -- they are few."
--PERCY SHELLY

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you."
--FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

"Man is free at the moment he wishes to be."
--VOLTAIRE

"The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created - created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination."
--JOHN SCHAAR

I want to do a quote too..."I�ll gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger today" - wimpy

Americans are kept ignorant just like the rest of the world: through a mass projection of certain 'news' and total obfuscation of others.

Brothers, we are all ignorant, to one extent or the other.