Forum Post: Public Education System Works: Americans Now Too Stupid To Effectively Protest.
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 21, 2011, 11:50 a.m. EST by Philpux
(643)
from Mountain View, AR
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
How can we ever demand campaign finance reform, if we are too stupid to ask for it? Now that our education system has dumbed us down to the point that we cannot even see that campaign finance reform is the obvious place to start, we are screwed.
Our current Idiocracy has been so effective at neutering us intellectually, that we don't seem to realize that a protest without any realistic demands, such as campaign finance reform, is a waste of time. A protest with no clear purpose only serves to act as a cathartic event that gets the protest "bug" out of our systems, while giving the populace the idea that protesting can never work, and should be avoided.
Congratulations, American "elite." Your plot to turn us into mindless robots is halfway there. We are mindless.
Speak for yourself.
OWS has been incredibly effective in a very short time and has massive and growing support. We are the only hope for this country, and we know it.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
At what exactly have we been effective? Like anyone didn't already know that the banks are ripping us off. That conversation has been pretty strong since 2008. We have America's attention. It is time to ask for something specific.
You want to ask for something from the very forces that have subjugated you?
"Please, Sir, I want some more", said Oliver Twist, asking the cook at the workhouse for more gruel.
Making demands recognizes authority. Recognizing corrupt authority legitimizes tyranny. We are not here to ask for anything. We are here to create the world we want to live in.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
Well, good luck with that. I personally would rather tweak the system than scrap it.
Problem is, you need those in power to vote against their own narrow self-interest. Good luck with that.
It's true. They need to be backed into a corner, all of them collectively. Other than money it's about the only thing a politician understands - political self preservation.
You know, when you said they'd need to vote against their own self interest it made me think of the magna carta. It IS possible. Difficult, improbable, but possible.
Money IS political self preservation.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
Money is important to politicians, no doubt. Reputation, and votes are also important to them. If we could unite, and form a clear cohesive message we could force them to change the electoral, and lobbying systems. I think that might be more feasible than scrapping the whole system and starting over.
The 99% Declaration
I'm pretty sure most of OWS would back campaign financee reform.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
I think most Americans would support the idea, even the OWS detractors.
You say it in a kind of inflammatory way that's bound to piss people off so much that they fail to see the truth in what you've written, but it is there.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
I know. It is written in an inflammatory way. It seems, though, that is the only way to get heard in places like this. I have tried many different methods. Incendiary comments get the most feedback, keeping them in the discussion longer. I wish it were not so, but...
Why campaign financing has become increasingly expansive? Who profit from it? Who oppose public campaign financing?
You can thanks conservatives for defunding public education as well as every other public sector.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
I think that Democrats have done their fair share of screwing things up. We need to "thanks" them, as well.
With out a doubt. But giving the right the chance to run all three branches of gov again is the WORST thing possible for this country. And that really is my only beef with OWS. I want real change as much as you do but IMO that change will take years if not decades and that's with a somewhat friendly dem party. With the GOP any chance this movement has of really making a difference goes down the drain.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
idk. I see it as a kind of shell game. There are probably good leaders out there. I just can't seem to find them, on either side of the aisle. I do agree that a conservative controlled government is unacceptable.
Pts like we don't know what will happen.
They'll put in more regulations and the crooks will end up paying the regulators corrupting the system even further.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
Well, that is not really reform then, is it?
I tell you what. We will have a pretty good idea of how effective this movement has been if Scott Walker gets succsesfully recalled. And if Elizabeth Warren wins her election and Scott Walker gets recalled then the worm has turned. The elite in this country will be terrified.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
We will see. Even if those things happen, we could not claim responsibility for them, because we never asked for them.
There is some truth to this post. American Education does work. Traditional education was based on what companies needed: mindless robots who respected authority, did what they were told, memorized useless information, and above all...NEVER QUESTIONED AUTHORITY! Times have changed and the big corporations need people who can think. BUT they plan to choose wisely those students who will be encouraged to think. They are patiently plotting the reformation of education. STEP 1: Break the Teacher's Unions. [Kasich gave it a shot in Ohio]. STEP 2: Turn schools over to the private sector who will then establish "for profit" schools. Screw the needs of the students, they'll be in it for money. [The big push is to expand vouchers...and it's happening.] STEP 3: Go digital. Offer canned learning on line. There's a fortune to be made. [Rupert Murdoch is ahead of the game on this one, too!] This is no longer speculation. It's happening.
Stop the American Elite from suceeding in turning us into mindless robots. Your first step: Ask questions and search for answers rather than blathering and griping.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
Skool is dum
The target here, people, is NOT each other. It is the Corporations. When lobbying was allowed into Washington politics, so started the downfall of the America we all love. When corporations were allowed to send lobbyists to Washington and then allowed to lobby - actually, bribe - individuals into seeing things their way. Everything began to go to heck. Recently, when the Supreme Court held up a decision that a Corporation has the same rights as an individual in America - it signaled to me as the final nails in the coffin of America. Pollution of the environment, mismanagement of funds, stupid programs, the whole lot! Rid Washington of the lobbyists and then the criminals being paid to act like servants of the American people and then we will be getting somewhere. Attacking each other and hashing out every little discussion gets us nowhere. We need ACTION!
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
I agree. We need unity in demanding a very specific thing.
Well if those on the left half of the bell curve would stop breeding at such a high rate, we may actually return to a normal society.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
I'm not sure what you mean. Of what bell curve are you speaking?
The socioeconomic bell curve.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
So you are saying that if we limited the procreation rights of poor people, that our problems would be solved. I think that is skirting the issue. I think that if corporations put excess profits into their workforce instead of into their pockets, that our problems would at least improve.
By lowering the number of possible workers, you will increase wages and benefits to workers as well. Right now we have a huge supply of the least skilled workers. That depresses wages. If those in the bottom half stopped having kids, you could reverse the decline of the unskilled worker. Now at some point, you will have to go back to letting the bottom half breed, but at a rate that is sustainable both for the environment and for the economy.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
Let me get this straight. You want to let wealthy people breed all they want, while keeping the less well off from having kids. I suppose that sounds reasonable to someone who is CRAZY. Just because someone has less money, does not mean that they are less valuable, either from a humanitarian, or economic standpoint.
Besides being off topic, what you are saying is offensive and elitist.
Besides all that, the scale of the economy is based on the scale of the population, so your argument is flawed from an economic perspective. That could be argued in terms of resources, but why would someone with more money be entitled to more basic resources. Having a bigger bank account does not make one more human.
[Removed]
The movement is only 2 months old ! It's still a baby. It's still solidifying. Be patient. I work in product development. It normally takes me 2 years to develop a new product and another year to work out the bugs.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
Well, the attention span of America is short. If we do not form a realistic and cohesive message soon, we will become a sad joke.
And you paid them a lot of money in the form of student loans to do it.
I would say that the mindless robot plot is all the way there not just half way.
oohhhh Aren't you better than most people - Just in case you didn't know that's how this post reads and it isn't constructive it is destructive.
OCCUPY WALL STREET - The term is referring to the blame being associated with those who caused the financial meltdown of 2008. The "purpose" you ask for is in the name.
Now take this campaign finance reform idea (which has been stated by many Occupiers) and fight for it.
btw- How are the Occupy movements in Arkansas?
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
I guess the movements in Arkansas are just fine. They are camping out for no apparent reason, just like all the other camps across the country.
Yes, I know. The purpose is to simply occupy Wall street, but why? What is hoped to be achieved by this? The occupation part has been achieved. What now? I say demand a single issue for the upcoming election.