They are *not* a minority - they are *all* f&cking stupid....

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_01/005474.php

I take Drum's report very differently that Drum does. (He's half-full, and I'm half-empty.) Mebbe that difference in perspective accounts for Nov. 2 - I dunno....

All of the crap going down - and SS is just a blip - isn't by accident - "the people" are fucking stupid, guys.

Mathy folks out there: assume normal distributions all around - within two standard deviations, what proportion of folks hold contradictory beliefs? (EDIT: In the contextually relevant sense) Make appropriate assumptions where necessary, given Drums's and my statement of the issue - and document them.

Education - thinking long-term here - is the *only* solution to this problem. Consistency might well be the last refuge of the unimaginative, but - for fuck's sake - what do you say to someone who can't manage even *that*?

is a myth -- a fairy tale to explain the confused, simplistic mind set of contemporary americans -- they suspect they're being hoodwinked -- but can't see their way to ejecting corporate control of their lives.
they are in thrall in spirit, as well as mentally and physically.

... admitting that the basic problem is the idiot electorate...

From Taft-Hartley to this newly proposed dismantling of Social Security, our government has taken every opportunity to undermine the poor and the middle class.

On top of that, propaganda is blasted at the populace 24-7. We live in the most heavily propagandized society ever- and it's a much more effective brand of propaganda than Hitler ever had. We've got Madison Avenue and television.

People in this country aren't stupid. They're cynical. They see how the system is rigged against them, and they haven't yet reached the point where they demand improvement.