Stupid People
“Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”
― Mark Twain
Stupid People
Today I got up and tried not to vomit. Not because I’m sick, but because the media and much of the country is sick. Sick with stupidity. Stupidity is the worst kind of sickness. It enables every bad idea, every bad habit, and every bad act to thrive. Because stupid people could care less about facts, and probably can’t recognize a fact from a conspiracy theory, which is why the sickness only deepens.
"Why does America have so much debt?" That’d be a good question, as a test to illustrate the degrees of stupidity, unleashed daily on the culture. “The rich!” That is the answer, for a severely stupid person. Don’t get me wrong, rich people can be schmucks, just like poor people, maybe, more so. Their wealth gives them a platform from which to speak, especially, if they’re wealthy enough. Plus, rich people know how to get things done, unlike run-of-the-mill stupid people. That’s because rich people generally aren’t stupid. They may be greedy. They may be evil. But, they’re probably not stupid, unless they inherited their wealth. Most don’t, though, contrary to a variety of stupid-people conspiracy theories.
Such theories seek to assuage the egos of stupid people, who need to have reasons why rich people are rich, beyond their being hard working and clever. Or, having a strong business sense, which they cultivated, instead of relentlessly playing video games and getting high.
This last statement will be deeply offensive to stupid people, however, so politicians will have to placate the stupid person, with what I call “Stupid Bait.” Here’s how it works: rich people are only rich because they stole everything from the poor. If not for that, rich people would be poor, and poor people would be rich. Thus, making stupid people smart, and smart people stupid. At the very least, poor people would be equal, according to this theory, otherwise, how do you explain the disparity between the rich and poor, if not thievery?
“You right-wing bastards?”
Using this line of reasoning, all things should be equal. There’s just one problem, nowhere on planet earth is this true. Not in sports. Not in academics. Not in science. Nowhere! The disparity, in fact, increases, as we look at elite level achievers in any field. For instance, it’s one thing to play tennis reasonably well with you and your buds, as millions of people do. It’s another, to play at a championship high-school level. The chasm deepens at the college level, on into the national amateur level, to the pro level, and becomes an impossible chasm for the average tennis player to breach at the international level. From there, the air gets very, very thin, as we get to the highest levels of play—and this is true for virtually all high-level disciplines. The kid who built a ham radio for the 8th grade science fair and Stephen Hawking may both be interested in science, but in every other way, they are worlds apart.
As a simple test, try stepping into the ring with a modestly skilled pro fighter. Hell, even an amateur, and you’ll find out just how quickly the difference between your run-of-the-mill tough guy stacks up to someone with even a moderate amount of training. It will likely be a blowout. There are exceptions, of course, stories about a young Mike Tyson stepping into the ring for the first time are lore. Tyson, however, is a statistical and physical anomaly and one in a million. Exceptions only prove the rule. That is because they are “Exceptions.” This is a simple point, which may be lost on a stupid person. Especially, the most troubling kind of stupid person, that being the “Willfully Stupid person.”
This is where the rubber meets the road, at the intersection of a small number of people, representing maybe 10% of the population who are mentally lacking through no fault of their own—and, the person who has an unrealistic view of the world, while making none of the necessary changes in life to advance their personal well-being. This 2nd group, by far, exceeds the 1st. Virtually every socialist I’ve ever met, including myself, back in the day, fits into this 2nd group.
Socialism is the earthly euphemism for heaven, a place where all people have enough, and no one has more than they need, so jealousy and greed are abolished. Hunger and want, as well. The particulars, the hows, the whys, the troubling facts, these are left out of the equation. Socialism is just a platitude, based on a failed vision of human nature, as evidenced by a hundred years of well-documented history. But there’s always an out for the person deeply committed to stupidity as a way of life—just ignore the facts.
Therein is the real problem with willfully stupid people, they can easily be swayed by any sliver tongued devil, telling them what they want to hear. The more deeply committed they are to their personal brand of stupidity, the less likely they will be able to hear the truth. They’ve sealed their ears, their brains, into a hermetic safe-space, free from negative vibes and the consequences of their own actions. You can’t avoid consequences, though, without someone enabling your bad choices.
In the real world, if you don’t prepare for winter, you’ll freeze to death or you’ll starve. That small portion of society—the 10% or so, who can’t fend for themselves—should be taken care of without hesitation by society. It’s the others, the growing numbers of willfully stupid people who are enabled to survive (and even thrive) regardless of their choices that are the issue.
Until the massive growth of welfare state in the 1960’s, woman and men married and formed families by necessity. Families were the best way to survive and raise children, for their mental health, as well as their financial health. That’s been the case since the beginning of human history. But, with the growth of the welfare state, normal behavior was replaced by abnormal behavior, and with it, an explosion of single parent families were enabled by a growing nanny state. This is a profound example of willful stupidity.
If single mothers with kids were the poorest of the poor, which they were, they needed help. That was the rational. So, Uncle Sam helped, by subsidizing single mothers, so they could survive and even thrive. Within less than a generation, single mothers with childen, who never married, became increasingly common, until they became the norm, with all the unintended, but predictable consequences that followed; violence, criminal behavior, low IQ, alcoholism, drug addiction, prison, spousal abuse, gang violence, you name it, and fatherless homes with single mothers, are a breeding ground for poverty and social decay. This was well-known 80-years-ago, certainly, very well known 50 years-ago. But this is widely ignored today. Why? Willful stupidity, is the answer, and, like a snowball rolling down a hill, it eventually becomes unstoppable.
Today, about 3% of the American population, is responsible for half of all violent crimes. And, everywhere this explosion of criminality exists, you’ll find well-meaning socialists making it possible, even if they’re socialists, with a small “s,” indicating just how dangerous unfettered socialism tends to be.
Unfortunately, willful stupidity is a bottomless well. Like a pyramid it inverts wisdom, replacing it with willfully stupid ideas, which can only be sustained by growing the voting base for these ideas. So it’s taught in schools, through the media, in books and films, history is rewritten, always serving one purpose, gain power, increase power, and never forget, stupidity is the surest path to achieve that goal. A road well-traveled, by those with a will to power, backed by an army of the willfully stupid, marching towards theirs, and our, everlasting destruction.
Mark Magula
Today I got up and tried not to vomit. Not because I’m sick, but because the media and much of the country is sick. Sick with stupidity. Stupidity is the worst kind of sickness. It enables every bad idea, every bad habit, and every bad act to thrive. Because stupid people could care less about facts, and probably can’t recognize a fact from a conspiracy theory, which is why the sickness only deepens.
"Why does America have so much debt?" That’d be a good question, as a test to illustrate the degrees of stupidity, unleashed daily on the culture. “The rich!” That is the answer, for a severely stupid person. Don’t get me wrong, rich people can be schmucks, just like poor people, maybe, more so. Their wealth gives them a platform from which to speak, especially, if they’re wealthy enough. Plus, rich people know how to get things done, unlike run-of-the-mill stupid people. That’s because rich people generally aren’t stupid. They may be greedy. They may be evil. But, they’re probably not stupid, unless they inherited their wealth. Most don’t, though, contrary to a variety of stupid-people conspiracy theories.
Such theories seek to assuage the egos of stupid people, who need to have reasons why rich people are rich, beyond their being hard working and clever. Or, having a strong business sense, which they cultivated, instead of relentlessly playing video games and getting high.
This last statement will be deeply offensive to stupid people, however, so politicians will have to placate the stupid person, with what I call “Stupid Bait.” Here’s how it works: rich people are only rich because they stole everything from the poor. If not for that, rich people would be poor, and poor people would be rich. Thus, making stupid people smart, and smart people stupid. At the very least, poor people would be equal, according to this theory, otherwise, how do you explain the disparity between the rich and poor, if not thievery?
“You right-wing bastards?”
Using this line of reasoning, all things should be equal. There’s just one problem, nowhere on planet earth is this true. Not in sports. Not in academics. Not in science. Nowhere! The disparity, in fact, increases, as we look at elite level achievers in any field. For instance, it’s one thing to play tennis reasonably well with you and your buds, as millions of people do. It’s another, to play at a championship high-school level. The chasm deepens at the college level, on into the national amateur level, to the pro level, and becomes an impossible chasm for the average tennis player to breach at the international level. From there, the air gets very, very thin, as we get to the highest levels of play—and this is true for virtually all high-level disciplines. The kid who built a ham radio for the 8th grade science fair and Stephen Hawking may both be interested in science, but in every other way, they are worlds apart.
As a simple test, try stepping into the ring with a modestly skilled pro fighter. Hell, even an amateur, and you’ll find out just how quickly the difference between your run-of-the-mill tough guy stacks up to someone with even a moderate amount of training. It will likely be a blowout. There are exceptions, of course, stories about a young Mike Tyson stepping into the ring for the first time are lore. Tyson, however, is a statistical and physical anomaly and one in a million. Exceptions only prove the rule. That is because they are “Exceptions.” This is a simple point, which may be lost on a stupid person. Especially, the most troubling kind of stupid person, that being the “Willfully Stupid person.”
This is where the rubber meets the road, at the intersection of a small number of people, representing maybe 10% of the population who are mentally lacking through no fault of their own—and, the person who has an unrealistic view of the world, while making none of the necessary changes in life to advance their personal well-being. This 2nd group, by far, exceeds the 1st. Virtually every socialist I’ve ever met, including myself, back in the day, fits into this 2nd group.
Socialism is the earthly euphemism for heaven, a place where all people have enough, and no one has more than they need, so jealousy and greed are abolished. Hunger and want, as well. The particulars, the hows, the whys, the troubling facts, these are left out of the equation. Socialism is just a platitude, based on a failed vision of human nature, as evidenced by a hundred years of well-documented history. But there’s always an out for the person deeply committed to stupidity as a way of life—just ignore the facts.
Therein is the real problem with willfully stupid people, they can easily be swayed by any sliver tongued devil, telling them what they want to hear. The more deeply committed they are to their personal brand of stupidity, the less likely they will be able to hear the truth. They’ve sealed their ears, their brains, into a hermetic safe-space, free from negative vibes and the consequences of their own actions. You can’t avoid consequences, though, without someone enabling your bad choices.
In the real world, if you don’t prepare for winter, you’ll freeze to death or you’ll starve. That small portion of society—the 10% or so, who can’t fend for themselves—should be taken care of without hesitation by society. It’s the others, the growing numbers of willfully stupid people who are enabled to survive (and even thrive) regardless of their choices that are the issue.
Until the massive growth of welfare state in the 1960’s, woman and men married and formed families by necessity. Families were the best way to survive and raise children, for their mental health, as well as their financial health. That’s been the case since the beginning of human history. But, with the growth of the welfare state, normal behavior was replaced by abnormal behavior, and with it, an explosion of single parent families were enabled by a growing nanny state. This is a profound example of willful stupidity.
If single mothers with kids were the poorest of the poor, which they were, they needed help. That was the rational. So, Uncle Sam helped, by subsidizing single mothers, so they could survive and even thrive. Within less than a generation, single mothers with childen, who never married, became increasingly common, until they became the norm, with all the unintended, but predictable consequences that followed; violence, criminal behavior, low IQ, alcoholism, drug addiction, prison, spousal abuse, gang violence, you name it, and fatherless homes with single mothers, are a breeding ground for poverty and social decay. This was well-known 80-years-ago, certainly, very well known 50 years-ago. But this is widely ignored today. Why? Willful stupidity, is the answer, and, like a snowball rolling down a hill, it eventually becomes unstoppable.
Today, about 3% of the American population, is responsible for half of all violent crimes. And, everywhere this explosion of criminality exists, you’ll find well-meaning socialists making it possible, even if they’re socialists, with a small “s,” indicating just how dangerous unfettered socialism tends to be.
Unfortunately, willful stupidity is a bottomless well. Like a pyramid it inverts wisdom, replacing it with willfully stupid ideas, which can only be sustained by growing the voting base for these ideas. So it’s taught in schools, through the media, in books and films, history is rewritten, always serving one purpose, gain power, increase power, and never forget, stupidity is the surest path to achieve that goal. A road well-traveled, by those with a will to power, backed by an army of the willfully stupid, marching towards theirs, and our, everlasting destruction.
Mark Magula