Idiocracy: Fiction or a look into the future?

[DemonicBLT]

I'm sure most of you have seen the movie Idiocracy. To paraphrase, its about a couple people who are frozen and end up in the future 500 years to find the world in a state of utter stupidity (and as a result famine and economic depression). As I watched this movie it made me think....Are we actually heading to such a fate?

Take a look at a typical high school. The stupid or "average" student is the majority, while intelligent or even above average students are the minority. More and more, you look around you'll see people with out high school diplomas, working minimum wage for major companies, fast food chains and the like. I believe the term social Darwinism is accurate.

Is the overall intelligence level of our country declining? Are we not challenging ourselves academically? Why, yes I would say so and that, inevitably, will lead us to a dystopian future. Perhaps I will even live long enough to see this happen. I pray not...

[Edge]

I know I might regret saying this, but I don't think we'll stoop that low.

[DemonicBLT]

I don't know....I would say we're pretty far along. Like a pregant girl in high school, this can't get any better from here.

[Edge]

Well, I work with a bunch of 17 year olds, and I must say it's quite horrific to think of them when they're old. But, peopel grow up I guess....

[Iconoclast]

We would kill ourselves off before it got that bad.

[Jason Rance]

"Evil is whatever distracts."
-Frank Kafka

The industrial and digital revolution have delivered the crushing blow to humanity. Virtue and potential no longer have any merit. Without those elements, we will enter an era of a silent holocaust. We are not there yet because we can envision it. We can vocalize the idea of it.

The world, has indeed, ended. And we are left nothing other than a whimper.

We no longer depend upon our intellect or wisdom to guide us through each day. We are dependent on that paper. And through that paper, we have been rendered impotent. You either have it or you don't. If you have it, you eat. If you don't have it, you don't eat. Survival in the modern world is centric to mindless indulgence and necessity. We don't need that paper to eat. We could hunt and live in a hut in the forest. But we would be required a hunting license and property to do so. Becoming a slave to the almighty American dollar is an inevitability nobody can avoid.

We are but ghosts. A shadow. A blemish on a historically violent species. Those of us living in the contemporary world have handed our lives over to mindless distractions; manifestations of this so called evil. We have shirked human destiny in lieu of of a false reality.

The species is hovering above an abyss of it's own making. It is only a matter of time before we dive into it.

A personal example of this species in decline would be a BBQ I attended last weekend. Upon arrival, the host labeled me a "motherfucker." Contrary to his well-adjusted claims, I show no immediate symptoms of an oedipal complex.

There is no longer an inherent search for logic or truth. Only agenda. His agenda was to get a rise out of me, while my agenda was to copulate with his moderately attractive girlfriend who frequently hints at a future sexual endeavor. And by that reason alone, I would tolerate his less-than-desired presence. Looking at this objectively leads me to the conclusion that perhaps I am somewhat of a hypocrite.

Oh, well. The old adage says that nobody is perfect. I am no exception.

[Floating on Raft]

There is a social theory called 80/10/10 (or at least that's what we call it). 80% of any population will be average, 10% will float to the top, and 10% will flounder.

If you happen to hold a functionalist view of our society, you should expect most high school students to be average. Someone has to change your oil and rotate your tires -- know what I mean?

[Reservoir Dog]

We'll never get that bad. If the US gets as bad as it's portrayed in the movie, we'll be taken over or out by foreign powers long before we reach that bottom.
Besides, there are all kinds of holes in that movie. Most notably, if we're too stupid to grow food, we'll die of starvation.

[A.L.]

All I need is a roof over my head, good food, and a decent BJ once in a while. I'm three for three so the world can go to hell and it's no sweat off my ass. That's my functionalist view. What else matters?

Oh, it does bother me that others have less. Ultimately I know that's not my fault nor do I have the power to change that fact. So I harbor very little guilt.

Idocracy? I agree with whoever said we'd destroy ourselves (if mother nature doesn't get to us first) long before it gets that bad.

[Joe]

Smart people have always been, and always will be, the minority.