AOB wrote: ↑Wed Mar 04, 2026 9:20 am
Abernathy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 03, 2026 5:36 pm
And all because the fucking Americans decided to (re)elect as their president the very worst human being on the planet.
Fatalism, anyone ?
Stupidity maybe?
Is Racism Just a Form of Stupidity?
Longitudinal studies provide some of the most convincing evidence. One such study looked at general intelligence in 10- and 11-year-old kids, and then re-studied those kids as adults two decades later—and found a clear connection between low intelligence and subsequent racism and sexism. Similarly, higher intelligence in childhood has been shown to predict less racism in adulthood. These analyses strongly suggest that low intelligence actually leads to hateful attitudes later on.
I remember finding out in primary school that the average IQ, including adults, was only 100. I remember being really shocked because I knew what mine was as my parents plus a couple of other kids parents had been told by the school as we'd done quite well. So I rationalised that to average only 100 that means there must surely be a hell of a lot of thick people knocking about, scoring way under 100. And as an adult I found out the price society pays for this. Sub 100s are more likely to get played like a fiddle by money obsessed meglomaniacs. The right wing have the bulk of the thickos vote, plus the greedy, selfish element of the plus 100s. This means they will always have the upper hand, so sound bites and propaganda are a stronger tool than asking or expecting people to use critical thinking every election day. How many Trump or Farage supporters even so much as Google to check what they've said is correct, never mind thinking for themselves "is that really true?"
There's a real concern for the present and future:
The agricultural age and industrial age provided plenty of jobs for the less academic types.
You didn't need to read to work on a farm, just follow orders.
Early mills and factories were slightly more demanding, but still had plenty of unskilled repetitive work.
The modern high tech and service oriented economy has close to zero opportunities for intellctually limited folks.
Even the common "Just let them do ...." from the Hartley Brewer types aren't feasible.
* Learn a trade - you'll require an HND through apprenticeship, and later face the management challenges of self-employment.
* Stack shelves in a supermarket - the job now requires decent tech literacy and the personal skills to deal with customers.
* Warehouse work - are they serious, one of the remaining danger to life work environments. People and machinery working in proximity and heavy kit stacked high.
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- By Rosvanian