I was astonished that so many people voted for Obama. I was thinking, "Naw, people are not going to fall for this garbage." But they sure did - hook, line and sinker. Lapped it right up. If you have watched any "man on the street" interviews lately, no more proof is needed to conclude that Americans are actually "too stupid to vote." We have more freedom, more liberty, more security than any other generation and culture in history, but a large number of us have no idea how we got it, what to do with it, how precious it is, or how to keep it. I think many of our fellow citizens are so devoid of rational thought that they can't even grasp the concept of liberty.
We praise the "genius of the Founding Fathers" in setting up our republic, but where did we get off track? Back in the day, the Founders only allowed male landowners to vote - people who had some skin in the game. Nowadays, any fool who can find their way (or be bussed) to a polling place can vote. And the morons far outnumber the informed people who can cast an intelligent vote and who have property which, by the way, can be taken by vote of said morons to be distributed among aforesaid morons.
The Intercollegiate Studies Insitute, an organization that adminsters a civic literacy test, confirms that the US is in real trouble: 71% of Americans fail the test with an average score of 49%. Elected officials score even lower than the general public with a score of only 44%. This is absolutely apalling and dangerous for our survival as a free republic. A quote from Thomas Jefferson: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
Go to http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/2008/summary_summary.html to take the civic literacy test yourself. It's not a pushover - I only answered 93% correctly.
Besides the election of Obama, another incredible event is the Minnesota senate race. I have to say a word about Minnesotans here: they are total idiots, they are stuck on stupid. First, they elect Jesse Ventura as govenor, a wrestler who has taken too many blows to the head. Now, they are within about 100 votes (in a recount) of electing Al Franken as their Senator?? Franken is a vulgar, immoral, no-nothing, low-life clown - so he would blend in well in Washington - but what a disgrace for the state of Minnesota.
Somewhat less than metaphorically, the barbarians are at the gates as our society seems to be in search of the lowest common denominator. If we don't fight, if we do nothing, we may go the way of past great civilizations. But what is the course of action, and who will take it, to move our country from the low road to the high road? That will be the subject of a future blog - something like "The Seven Habits of Highly Successful Civilizations." I was going to offer some solutions in this blog, but I have hemmed and hawed around long enough that Walter Williams beat me to the punch and published an article that is right down the line of this post. Even though I will now be accused of plagiarism by some, it is an honor to be thinking even remotely along the same lines as a really smart guy like Mr. Williams. But if he publishes "The Seven Habits" I will know he is somehow hacking my site and is the real plagiarist. Again, what an honor that would be!
