Why are we not like 'most' Americans?

[Philosoraptor]

From what I can see, most Americans are alarmingly detached from reality, drunk on luxury and gadgetry, easily fooled and manipulated, and would prefer myths to truths. They are also amazingly ignorant, opposed to enlightenment, stupefied by television, willfully uniformed, and just plain dumb.

Others will argue that most Americans are not that bad, most are logical, sensible, reasonable, most can tell right from wrong, most can tell when they are being lied to.

I fit in there somewhere myself, yet here I am, with you, and the other DUers, wondering why you and I are not like 'most' Americans.

Why is it? How come? What percentage of folks like us are there in the general pop? 25%? Less?

But look at how 'MOST' Americans feel about bush's war. Then ask most Americans if they or their kids want to go fight in Iraq. Then ask most Americans about taxes, or about health care, or guns or drugs.

I wonder what most Americans feel about the president?

I also wonder if maybe our views here at DU actually reflect those of most Americans?

[Cant trust em]

1. As soon as pepole really look at it...

...they all become liberals. As soon as you start to ask people about specific policies that aren't wedge issues they become liberal. Nearly everyone believes that there should be some government program to help children, the elderly, mentally handicapped, veterans. The list goes on an on. Only the most hardcore market capitalists will say that these programs aren't necessary.

[Poiuyt]

15. Not only that, but the more educated people become about a particular issue,

the more they identify with the liberal point of view on that issue. As long as you don't tell them that what they are supporting is the liberal point of view.

[misanthrope]

2. It's pretty damn simple...

..."Ignorance is bliss."

[Ninga]

3. Great questions. Individuals are the only ones who can answer. For myself, I draw

conclusions and opinions from listening to family, neighbors, peers, and folks in general to try and gage their opinions.

I may not have this right, but I believe only 5% of all registered voters follow politics with daily interest. That means, other than having shot gun opinions, the 5% seek information and want to know vs. those who drift in and out with occasional opinions.

Most Americans are not drawn to the issues of the day in a way that is meaningful or comprehensive....most Americans skim the issues, and defer to the talking heads and the talking points.

I think that all one needs to do, is take a look at the number who bother to vote and who they vote for.

Last November was a one shot deal, and mainly because of Iraq........it would be very encouraging to see future elections with larger voter turn out, and more thoughtful voting, but we have to wait and see don't we?

[TahitiNut]

4. From the VFW to the local beauty shop, vocal hatred for Cheney/Bush is increasing.

Reticence has not been a part of my personality make-up since high school. Thus, I'm prone to voicing my disgust for Cheney/Bush, at least briefly, given any opening in the banter. After making some such comment as "they're the most corrupt administration in US history," loudly enough for people to hear within about 20 feet of me, I watch for reactions. In a relatively 'purple' part of the state, I'm seeing more nodding heads and hearing more agreement. When asked/challenged about being a "Democrat" I usually respond with "Nonsense! Hell, I even voted for Nixon in 1968!" This seems to allay people's fears that I'm some kind of partisan zealot and appears to give them a kind of 'permission' to voice their agreement.

I think what people eschew the most - if they're not blind partisans - is blind partisanship. Ordinary people, I think, are 'trained' to regard poltical discussions as close-minded impasses between people who vote Party above principle. (Maybe that's projection, but it seems to fit.) I get a lot more conversation when I voice my disdain for "party loyalty" ... and it's clear that the party loyalists in the vicinity tend to close down while the "swingers" open up.

I think most people regard party loyalists in about the same way as they regard evangelical door-knockers - and use the same approaches to closing their doors.

[hfojvt]

9. don't truth me

Vonnegut wrote that to get the 'truth' he asked his neighbor what he thought and when they told him, he said 'ain't it the truth?' Of course, it was only a couple of his characters that said that.

In terms of partisanship. If you took the same crowd and started bashing Pelosi or Clinton or Edwards, would you likely find the same general agreement? The American way is to bash whoever is in office for one issue or other, isn't it? The media encourages it, since finding fault, corruption or sleaze is a bigger story than finding integrity and things that work. "This just in. 99.99% of all bridges did not collapse today. Film at 11."

[hfojvt]

5. for one thing

I have 8 years of university education. Most Americans don't.
I have been to Europe, and most Americans haven't.

On the internets, I find that some are very quick to call others 'amazingly ignorant, willfully uninformed, and just plain dumb.' It's the superciliosity.

[blues90]

6. Ifeel it's all about knowing yourself and

taking the time to know yourself and question you reasons and views . I feel most people are satisfied with news blips just to get a small idea of a very large picture and they never really connect the dots , it take work and determination .

[Annces]

7. Most people don't think outside of their own personal sphere

I think people here are different in that they want to see how politics works and care about the larger world. Hasn't politics usually stayed in the hands of power-brokers for the most part. However that has to change.

[Flatulo]

8. Polls designed to identify where on the political spectrum people reside..

... can be very tricky.

You can ask questions like "Would you like to keep most of your income?" and identify as a Libertarian or Conservative. In the next breath you can ask "Do you believe disabled veterans and hungry children should be allowed to rot?" and identify as a liberal.

I suspect like most things, people more or less fall into a Gaussian distrubution, where 1 standard deviation is on the fringes of both sides of the mean, and the other 4 standard deviations are right where they should be, in the middle.

Catastrophic events, like 9/11, can temporarily skew the mean to the right, and other catastrophic events, like a botched unpopular war, will skew it to the left.

But left alone long enough it will move back to the center.

[stillcool]

10. If they knew what we knew...

I just posted a poll about how long people had been surfing the net. It had occurred to me, that prior to my owning a computer I was pretty clueless about the world outside my perimeter. It just so happens that my computer ownership coincided with my acquisition of free time. I don't know about others, but it has taken me every click,..every piece of information, to arrive at my current perception. I've always been an avid reader, and the library is like my church. I've taken out books religiously every 2-3 weeks, without fail, for the better part of my life...and yet, without the internet I would be clueless as to their existence. Access to information, is without a doubt the key to my interest, and what keeps me coming back, and wanting to know more. I am certain that the problems of our society will only be solved when we thoroughly understand not only what they are, but the genesis, and the various parts that make up the sum. With all the time and effort I have invested in the quest I still have not arrived at a complete picture of the puzzle, or a single source to blame. I can understand why so few of the masses are uninformed, considering what life on life's terms involves for them. One thing that I know I do not understand is the mind-set, or the psychological make up of those who are born super-rich, and who are members of the board of directors for so many of the corporations that make such fateful decisions that affect so many. They do not live among us. They do not go to the grocery store, or the gas station. I will not encounter them at a restaurant or at the movies. I will not see them at a all...and I do not know their names...but it is their perception, the world they view when they open their eyes that I would like most to see.

[senseandsensibility]

11. Your comments are not true about the majority

of Americans. I know it seems that way at times, and I know that the corporate media and the republiks would like it to be true. However, according to poll just released only twenty eight percent still approve of the chimp. That means that seventy two percent have seem through the constant propaganda and shilling for him by the lapdogs. That's pretty amazing when you think of it. And if we actually had a working media in this country, those numbers would be even better for our side.:) I can be very cynical, but I really feel optimistic this morning. I think this latest poll is great news.

[Nightjock]

12. Bill Mahrer might have part of the answer

a few weeks ago he spoke about a frightening statistic.

25% of americans believe the rapture will happen THIS YEAR!

28% of the population still "supports" the self proclaimed king/monkey boy. Do the math. That is basically bush's only support now. People who believe the world is ending.

[DemBones DemBones]

18. If that's true, and probably even if it isn't,

there are between 25-35% of voters who will always vote Republican, about the same as those who will always vote Democratic.

So we should be talking to the other 30-50% who might vote Democratic. Many of them had to have voted for Bill Clinton since he was elected twice. They'll vote Democratic again if we work for their votes. As I said downthread, we need to stop referring to "red" voters as stupid. I'm not going to judge them as a group anymore. They are in fact, people, and people are usually part of many groups.

"Hey, you're stupid -- vote Democratic!" is not a winning slogan! :hippie:

BTW, what was the source for Maher's statistic? I find it hard to believe that 25% of Americans even believe in the Rapture, as it's not a mainstream Christian belief, having been invented only about 120 years ago, IIRC. Definitely not supported by the Bible. So I wonder if the poll was done properly. Even here in the Bible Belt, I'm not sure 25% believe in the Rapture. I'd think it was more like 10-15%.

[Joe Fields]

13. I'm just a misfit. I don't really even fit in here on DU.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Many of them have been conditioned over time, brain washed or hypnotized if you will by

the Mass Corporate Media. I would compare it to a movie, with the people you are referring to as still living in the "Matrix" or false reality for those who have not seen the movie.

Their reality has been researched, shaped, modified and categorized to fit their mental makeup; prejudices, biases, passions and fears all with the goals in mind, of being what sells, what motivates, what makes us drool likes Pavlov's dog when the media ring a certain bell. This is a science in itself and it's being used against the American People by the owners and CEOs of the mass corporate media for the purpose of enriching the already rich and powerful and dumbing down the people with the end goal of making us easier to manipulate. If you're lied to enough by the people, you depend on, to tell you what is, you don't know what is.


Information is power! Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11 to them solely because the mass corporate media continually implied that he was, regardless of the evidence. Al Gore claimed to have invented the internet as if he were in a laboratory and came up with the idea solely because the mass corporate media repeated this slander over and over. I believe the media were motivated in large part to slander him precisely because he did champion the internet while he was in Congress, thereby empowering us; the people, I would call it the Prometheus Effect.

This is why real investigative journalism is being strangled for the sake of slander, gossip, opinion or innuendo. This is why Murdoch; for one, will not be satisfied until he owns everything regarding the media, if he has all the bull horns, who can hear anyone else? American Journalism; our fourth estate guardian watch dogs; and by extension the American People; is under attack by the owners of the mass corporate media all for the sake of greed, influence and power.

[shireen]

16. they're overwhelmed

i'm single and can barely keep up with national and world events. I don't think Americans, in general, are lazy and ignorant. They're overwhelmed.

In an ideal world, most people would have the time to get objective, concise, and honest news from the newspapers, radio, and tv. But our media has failed miserably, and people know they cannot be trusted. But how many busy parents with kids, people working overtime, have the time to seek out alternative news on the internet.

[DemBones DemBones]

17. We ARE like most Americans in many ways. One major

difference is that we have an unfortunate tendency to look down on those we consider less enlightened than ourselves.

We at DU (and I do include myself, that's why I said "we") are guilty of talking about those who voted for * as "stupid," "stupid freepers," and "dumb" -- all of which I've seen in just two threads since logging on today. And those are mild compared to some of what we say. Being online, we forget we are talking about real people who have good and bad traits, just like us.

What do you say we stop speaking negatively about those who are not our political allies and try to get to know more of them? We can find some points of agreement with most Republicans.

We need the "red" people and they need us. Our country is in trouble. A lot of "red" voters know they're been screwed over by corporations that ship their jobs off to wherever labor is cheaper; if it hasn't happened to them personally, they know someone it has happened to. They know more about what's going on than we tend to think.

The Democratic nominee should run primarily on the issue of the economy, using Bill Clinton's watchword, "It's the Economy, Stupid," and avoiding the wedge issues. The truth is that laws about guns, abortion, and same sex marriage will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court, after the lower courts disagree, so candidates waste their time talking about them. They should say "This will ultimately be decided by the judicial system, not by me as president (or senator or representative) so I want to talk about what I can do for you when I'm elected to represent you."

[Zhade]

19. We realize that ignoring politics doesn't make it not affect our lives.

Thus, we pay attention.