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Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN13: 9780465077717
Condition: NEW
Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Politicians tell us constantly that they trust the wisdom of "The American People." New York Times best-selling author Rick Shenkman explains why we shouldn't--at least when it comes to politics. Levees break in New Orleans. Iraq descends into chaos. The housing market teeters on the brink of collapse. Americans of all political stripes are heading into the 2008 election with the sense that something has gone terribly wrong with American politics. But what exactly? Democrats blame Republicans and Republicans blame Democrats. Greedy corporate executives, rogue journalists, faulty voting machines, irresponsible defense contractors--we blame them, too. The only thing everyone seems to agree on, in fact, is that the American people are entirely blameless. In Just How Stupid Are We?, best-selling historian and renowned myth-buster Rick Shenkman takes aim at our great national piety: the wisdom of the American people. The hard truth is that American democracy is more direct than ever--but voters are misusing, abusing, and abdicating their political power. Americans are paying less and less attention to politics at a time when they need to pay much more: Television has dumbed politics down to the basest possible level, while the real workings of politics have become vastly more complicated. Shenkman offers concrete proposals for reforming our institutions--the government, the media, civic organizations, political parties--to make them work better for the American people. But first, Shenkman argues, we must reform ourselves.
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| Learn to learn |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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This book confirms what I already knew. I am very sorry that the people in our country have become too lazy to read, research, and learn the old fashion way. Turn off your tv and learn to learn.
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| This book could have been a celebration of idiocy in America but instead is just medicocre |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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This book provides quite a large number of "factoids" on the incredible stupidity prevalent in America. For example, 1 in 7 Americans in cannot find Iraq on the map. Amazing, considering this country has been in on the front page of just about every newspaper and TV news shows for almost every day for the past nine years. One wonders how many Americans even know that the three main ethnic/religious groups in that country are the Sunnis, Shia and Kurds. Another example of stupidity run wild is the fact that, during the last presidential election, 65% of all registered Republicans considered Sarah Palin "qualified" for the job or about a fifth of the U.S. population considers the college drop-out Rush Limbaugh an "intellectual". If only the book would have concentrated on these factoids it would have been quite entertaining. Where it sticks to these it is. Unfortunately the book becomes weak when the author presents his "solution" to this problem - civics classes! What a joke. Would not the improvement of education be more reasonable? It is not exactly a secret that teachers at the secondary school level, for example, come from the bottom fifth of SAT scores (and lower tenth of GRE scores). This goes a long way in explaining this stupidity but goes unnoticed by the author. Also going non-noted by the author is the celebration of idiocy in the nation. Bush Jr, for example, took great pride in the fact that he was only a "C" average undergraduate. Ronald Reagon, a little better at "C+", also took great pride in his knowledge. This was exemplified by his preference of video briefings to written briefings on foreign affairs and leaders. If the book undertook an attempt to explain these facts it may have been able to nail down the true sources of the widespread stupidity so prevalent in the U.S.
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| Time to look in the mirror for a change |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Conservatives blame liberals, liberals blame conservatives. A fair number of people blame George Bush. Or Fox News. Or CNN. Dumb rednecks, liberal elitists. It could be argued that the vast majority of political "discussion" in this country consists of no thoughtful analysis whatsoever, but instead finding and berating a scapegoat for everything you don't like. If were were to thoughtfully analyze the problems our country faces (war, health care, terrorism, poverty etc) we would come to the same conclusion as the author of "Just How Stupid Are We?" We're stupid. That's the whole problem. Even the liberals who think they're quite smart can actually be dumb in a lot of ways (for example, opposing technological solutions to global warming because its like "cheating"). We seem to be utterly incapable of the kind of humility required to admit that you can be wrong and the other person can be right. And that goes for the very small percentage of people who actually know anything at all about politics. Most know next to nothing. So essentially political discussion in this country, left right and center, if it even occurs at all, is stupid, stupid, stupid. THIS is the root of all the problems in our country. The media and politicians are merely reflecting, magnifying, and exploiting our own faults. Fact: if all of us decided to really educate ourselves in history, politics, and philosophy; gained the courage to challenge comforting myths (like the "greatness" of America); kept up with current events by reading newspapers instead of listening to 9 second soundbytes; and took a long, hard look in the mirror to discover our biases and prejudices....then we could overcome anything. Lying, manipulative, two-faced politicians are the way they are because we force them to be that way. Let's force them to be the opposite.
The book has some faults, as pointed out by other reviewers, but those aren't that important. The book's message is so completely vital to the survival of this country that giving it any less than 5 stars would be crazy.
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| The author speaks |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RKCFYZTDHRHRG This is a short video I made after my book came out. It features interviews with ordinary people I encountered in Pioneer Square in Seattle. They are not stupid. But they are ill-informed. We should all be alarmed at the ignorance of millions of Americans. People who do not know there are three branches of government, to take one example, cannot be expected to take part meaningfully in public debates about issues facing the country. The evidence of widespread ignorance is all around us. Just the other day a study reported that 75% of Oklahoma public high school students could not say who the first president of the United States was. This is intolerable. -- Rick Shenkman
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| How stupid is the average voter? |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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Just take a look at what happened in November 2008. The majority of the people who voted for Obama knew next to nothing about his past, all they knew is he could read a teleprompter really well.
It's kind of sad how easily the public can be fooled by a smooth talker. People need to be more informed no matter who they are voting for conservative or liberal.
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