Idiot Nation In Michael Moore’s writing of “Idiot Nation”, he states that, obviously enough, we live in a nation of idiots. He argues that the education system is failing and the causes as to why he believes that. These including the wrong people being in charge, lack of funding, and also a lack of care for the education system. He supports this by using specific examples, asking questions that need to be asked, and saying things that others are too afraid to say. He also succeeds at appealing to his targeted audience through a loose, but serious, form of humor.
Why is it that so many intelligent people are considered lower that those who have no intelligence book wise? Society had made the image that the intellectualists of this nation have no place in the social aspect. In “America Needs Its Nerds”, author Leonid Fridman asserts that the American attitude anti-intellectualism must end for America to remain being a competitive force with other countries. Fridman was right when he said that geeks do not play a significant role in the society. One of his examples was that many foreign countries revere their professors and scholars, but in America we revere our celebrities and ball players.
The editor then calls President Bush, “the master of botched federal initiative,” for simply trying to enforce a solution to stop illegal immigration (1). This ghastly remark by the editor of “Border Insecurity” is exposed for its faulty political derivatives in an editorial published by the Dallas Morning News, “Democrats Don’t Impress: Debate Reveals Weakness on Immigration”. Recently, former Senator John Edwards and Senator Barack Obama, chastised President Bush’s immigration reform for, “dividing the nation along racial lines and promoting an anti-immigrant sentiment” (1). This is the best answer the political party who claims to be so altruistic for the poor, the environment, and the country as a whole has to give. Genuinely, a political party who offers no real solutions to a significant issue of concern cannot be deemed as altruistic.
Truman, a Democrat, was caught in the moment and bowed to the pressures of those who were accusing him of being soft on Communism. Truman was also looking at a reelection bid and, being the consummate politician, would say and do those things necessary to ensure his first Presidential win. The circumstances aside, this is patently against the personal freedoms enjoyed by citizens employed by the federal government. Indeed, as a federal employee you should be held to a higher standard, but
Begging the Question - Give a restated conclusion as a premise for the conclusion You want to know why I failed the test? I failed the test because I didn't pass it. Straw Man - Misrepresent an opponent's position to make it easier to attack them; thus making one's own position seem much stronger The conservatives seem to think that anyone who disagrees with president Bush must be a terrorist or a sympathizer for terrorists. Inconsistency - argue for contradictory premises or for contradictory conclusions It's not that you're stupid. It's just that you're dumb.
Rough Raft Is the current two-party system we have in the United States the best system for distributing power? The US government, in recent years has proven just how ineffective both the democratic and republican parties have become at getting anything helpful or meaningful accomplished, even when the current situation demands it. But an even bigger problem facing voters is there are no alternatives. The two party system in the United States, combined with the electoral college, have created a system where voters are often forced to choose the best of two evils. The most important question here is what should be done about this problem in our current voting system?
10th October, 2012 Rhetorical Analysis of “Idiot Nation” When thinking of the United States one would conjure up imagines of happy people, greener grass, freedom, and of course, opportunity. However, an uncommon thing that one would think of America as a land of dumb people. Yes, that’s right, Americans having less than average intelligence. In “Idiot Nation,” Michael Moore offers a convincing argument on America’s stupidity and inadequacy by employing logical as well as emotional appeals and harsh diction to drive his point home. Moore does a great job connecting to his readers by using satire and humor to make his point, but does not sway from the seriousness of the subject by embedding facts about education.
Americans are dumb; dumb, as in lacking a good education. Moore says, “I used to console myself about the state of stupidity in this country by repeating this to myself: Even if there are two hundred million stone-cold idiots in this country, that leaves at least eighty million who'll get what I'm saying…” (p. ___) Just a few short paragraphs later, however, Moore shows his admiration for the potential of our intellect. We are not stupid, after all. According to Moore now, we are actually “…geniuses.” ( p. ___) Paraphrasing one of the heroes of the left, Noam Chomsky, Moore says “… that if you want proof the American people aren't stupid, just turn on any sports talk radio show and listen to the incredible retention of facts. It is amazing-and it's proof that the American mind is
Proving people wrong in this fashion is not the best strategy for persuading people who are opposed to your point of view. What he does next, however, is just plain brilliant. He asks the jurors to take an anonymous vote and if no one supports him he will comply with the others’ decision. Solomon Asch’s experiment on compliance showed that people in small groups are more likely to express unpopular opinions if they have the support of at least one other individual or if they can express their opinions anonymously. In a suspenseful counting of these new votes it turns out that it worked.
Anything that goes against what the corporate powers that be is demonized and twisted into a different form through their media outlets to create something that the ill-informed will swallow it no questions asked. Anyone that speaks out against what is obviously wrong with the system is turned into an enemy, while the one’s violating our rights and freedoms are treated like benevolent kings. Recently there have been many successful efforts to subjugate the poorer voters in this country. These measures have passed and it will become difficult for poorer and elderly people to vote in this country. The reason for this is simple, poor people and minorities are more likely to vote for Obama in the coming election and they have more numbers than those that will not.