[lbo-talk] Re: stupid americans?

ira glazer ira at yanua.com
Mon Sep 27 11:16:36 PDT 2004


Wojtek wrote,


> In short, people who experience relative shortages and uncertainty and are
> forced to rely on their own skills and efforts to obtain social, material or
> intellectual resources, tend be leaner, more active, more agile, more
> inquisitive, and more resourceful. By contrast, people who are spoon-fed
> pre-processed pulp engineered for maximum absorption tend to grow stupid,
> fat, and lazy. If more Americans than other nationalities fall into the
> latter category, they should thanks their own industry bending backward to
> meet every consumer want.

As Chaplin said, 'the real work was thinking, just thinking.'

Put another way, every technological advance, is at the same time, a crutch which dulls our instincts for problem solving. This is not meant to be luddite, but rather to point out the double-sided -- dare I say ironic -- nature of phenomena.

For me, however, the overiding concern is not so much intelligence, but indifference.

As Dante said,

“the hottest place in hell is reserved for those who, in times of moral crisis, remain neutral.”



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