And We're Letting These People Vote?
This video made me feel to sad about the state of college education in the United States to watch in its entirety. Given today's discussion over at Mazurland about requiring a minimum level of competence in order to vote, this is particularly poignant. For those without video capability: the gist of the clip is that Mr. "Dudeman" went around the UVM campus and asked various, mostly female, students about their opinion of "the suffrage of women", which had "increased dramatically in this country since 1920". Very, very sadly, the vast majority seemed to respond along the lines of "Wow, um, like, obviously, I think it should be ended, um, you know..."
A few of the dumb ones at least have the decency to just say "I don't know". I can accept that level of ignorance (although not at a college campus -- that would be shocking in a just world). It's the "weasel words" that a lot of them use that really bother me -- "obviously it's a bad thing", "something should be done about it", etc. It's the ignoramus that is unaware of his or her ignorance that is the scariest prospect.
Hat Tip: Phi Beta Cons @ NRO
posted by Benjamin at 12:09 PM
5 Comments:
Sad.
What ever happened to the days when people where taught to ask questions, or zip their lip, when they didn't know what the heck they were talking about? Many in the current generation of college kids were trained to believe that any drivel that came out of their mouth was to be applauded. Every opinion is equally valid, no matter how ignorant. God forbid someone's self esteem was hurt. Grammar school was like the game show Family Feud; no matter what's uttered, the response is "Good answer!!"
I've been against women's suffrage as long as some of these girl have been alive. I think the sanction (which meaning do I mean?) should be expanded to other classes of the population. Also, I'm glad my wife doesn't read this blog.
Even sadder is that this guy's ripping off an old Man Show gag. It was largely the same result in that case, though there were a few folks who knew the definition of "suffrage" and really hopped onto 'em, not realizing the gag.
I only hazily remember the Man Show gag now that you mention it, but weren't they actually purporting to support the "end of women's suffrage"? The approach in the above video, I think, was a bit more subtle, although the Man Show was hardly a bastion of subtle social commentary, now, was it? Although the "Household tips from adult film stars" recurring segment was always quite helpful, and tasteful to boot.
And Chris, I think you've nailed it on the head as to why these kids try to "sound smart". The self-esteem movement has wrought more damage to this country than just about any other exercise in pedagogical futility that I can think of. That's why I appreciate my own (private) schooling -- my teachers, particularly in highschool, were not afraid to tell kids their answers were stupid, and we turned out okay.
I sometimes wonder if my own wife was a product of that environment (and given that she was a product f the Los Angeles Unified School District, I think this is well-founded). She frequently states as fact (rather than opinion or WAG) things on topics in which she has no basis of understanding, and I frequently have to remind her that it's OK to just say "I don't know". On the other hand, she gets frustrated at me when I simply state, without qualification, "I don't know" when she asks me a question on which I am completely ignorant.
And, like Marty, I should probably also be grateful my own wife doesn't read my blog. Which sorta makes me sad, but that's ok too.
I think that the Man Show crew was trying to get women to sign a petetion to end women's 'suffraging'. They even convinced an ignorant woman to help them get signatures.
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