Why is political illiteracy on the rise? -

[PT 522]

Every god damn day I see people all over social media flipping their shit over proposed bills, or passed "ridiculous" laws that were always meant to be struck down by the courts and renegotiated, or sperging about how muh republicans are ruining america.

Or, conversely, you'll see them frothing at the mouth to "PASS THE GREEN NEW DEAL!" or "muh impeach trump" or some shit without knowing how impeachment or bill passing works, leading them to believe in vain that if they yell hard enough at congressmen then everything they want will magically happen for them. I swear to god half of them couldn't even tell you what a subcomittee is.

Political illiteracy is on the rise in American young adults and children, is it because of the media or is it because they're bossy kids who never worked a day in their lives but still think they know everything? 321 go

 

[Some JERK]

I don't think it's on the rise, I just think it's gotten louder. People have always been ignorant dumbshits.

 

[PT 522]

I don't think it's on the rise, I just think it's gotten louder. People have always been ignorant dumbshits.

In general I wouldn't say even most people are 100% down with all the ins and outs of bicameral legislature. Like okay you can't name all the federal judges in your county and you don't know who appointed them. Like that kind of dumbshitness I understand, but what about "abolish electoral college" dumbshitness? Major politicians have latched onto that one as a way to get votes without following through on their promises, but it goes to show that being a noisy minority can still win you bargaining chips.

 

[Shaved Kiwis]

Every god damn day I see people all over social media flipping their shit over proposed bills, or passed "ridiculous" laws that were always meant to be struck down by the courts and renegotiated, or sperging about how muh republicans are ruining america.

Or, conversely, you'll see them frothing at the mouth to "PASS THE GREEN NEW DEAL!" or "muh impeach trump" or some shit without knowing how impeachment or bill passing works, leading them to believe in vain that if they yell hard enough at congressmen then everything they want will magically happen for them.

Political illiteracy is on the rise in American young adults and children, is it because of the media or is it because they're bossy little shits who never worked a day in their lives but still think they know everything? 321 go

Do you see actual people though? Everything is astroturfed to hell and back. Sure some of it is down to the barrier for entry in sharing your opinion online getting low enough that social media is flooded by even the dumbest retards, but at this point It's pretty noticeable how much major platforms try to mold opinions themselves not to mention all the other corporate, state, and political actors trying to use those platforms to push their interests and make the support seem more organic.

 

[Some JERK]

Like that kind of dumbshitness I understand, but what about "abolish electoral college" dumbshitness?

Every single presidential election cycle the media has to explain how the EC works because people are ignorant and intellectually lazy.

 

[JektheDumbass]

The whole thing is manufactured to keep Americans fighting and divided. There is in fact an elite group of unelected individuals that hold all the real power, and if we're all arguing about whether Trump is the embodiment of all evil/second coming of Christ we won't notice and drag the fuckers out of their mansions and Lynch them.

 

[Marco Fucko]

It's because of shorthanding and making everything a fucking litmus test.

The whole thing is manufactured to keep Americans fighting and divided. There is in fact an elite group of unelected individuals that hold all the real power, and if we're all arguing about whether Trump is the embodiment of all evil/second coming of Christ we won't notice and drag the fuckers out of their mansions and Lynch them.

They become animals conditioned to respond to the opposing faction as hostilely as possible all while Bob Page counts his profits.

 

[Gingervitis]

As a political dumbshit myself, I was wondering if there are any good websites or books to learn about this stuff. Not that it’ll make much of a difference, but I at least want to be able to say that I made a good decision

 

[JambledUpWords]

As a political dumbshit myself, I was wondering if there are any good websites or books to learn about this stuff. Not that it’ll make much of a difference, but I at least want to be able to say that I made a good decision

I think one of the best things to gain political literacy is to read history books and primary sources on where our modern ideas for laws and philosophies come from. That said, all sources will inevitably have some bias, but the beauty of this is that you can learn to decide for yourself what really matters. Much of our ideas on American government stem from Enlightenment philosophy from people such as John Locke, which the Founding Fathers read. Also, look for Greek and Roman sources, as well as English laws on Parliament, Eyre Courts and the Magna Carta. Not everything can be directly related, but the Magna Carta limited the power of the King in 1215. The document itself though is more about the barons versus the King, rather than the general populace. The more you read what people in the past have read and history books to gain important background knowledge, the better understanding you will gain of how modern politics plays out. Also, don’t forget to read American primary sources such as the Constitution, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Declaration of Independence, Common Sense (this is a short pamphlet) and important executive orders, Supreme Court cases, and the major points of important bills.

 

[BONE_Buddy]

Political illiteracy level are actually falling like a rock. It is why you are noticing the dumbshits now, instead of just not seeing it at all.

It is safe to say I have been around the political block a time or two, and I am telling you that these idiots have been around forever. Walter Cronkite was a hardcore leftwing activist. Yet because he was one of the few big-time anchors on one of the few big TV channels, when he said: "I am America's political center" people believed him.

Since the beginning the large news media corporations have been the ones controlling the narrative. The internet has broken that, and as much as they are trying to put that genie back in the bottle. They won't be able to.

As a political dumbshit myself, I was wondering if there are any good websites or books to learn about this stuff. Not that it’ll make much of a difference, but I at least want to be able to say that I made a good decision

The best, baby's first step into political philosophy I know of on the internet, at least for those of us on the right wing (and those who want to understand us), is the "First Principles Journal." Thier website is down right now, but is should be back up soon

 

[Marco Fucko]

As a political dumbshit myself, I was wondering if there are any good websites or books to learn about this stuff. Not that it’ll make much of a difference, but I at least want to be able to say that I made a good decision

Other people have already said primary sources and but I'd add histories of society. Something I've noticed people do is they glamorize one step in the process of nation building but don't listen to what happens afterward. During the Chinese civil war both sides held Sun Yat-Sen in high regard, even though he was a centrist liberal and not a Communist. Sure a nation might establish a great ruler but what if they have no or a bad heir? Things like that.

Basically, if you already know about a historical period, look up the before and after. How it happened and what happened after it.

 

[AbyssStarer]

why bother learning about anything when you just follow the twitter/MSM screaming hate mob? I don't really think illiteracy of politics is on the rise though. Just more voices.

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

Political illiteracy is on the rise because our attention span is down. How many people actually click an article and read all the way through past a headline that says "Orange Man Bad?" Not enough evidently. Here's a thought experiment: the next time you see someone saying "Orange Man Bad/Good/Meh," question them. Probe their beliefs. Can they articulate what why they think what they think?
After absorbing information presented in the form of 10-30 second sound bites or short, jazzy articles, people begin developing a stunted view of the world, and are unable to defend it; when pressed, they frequently resort to ad hominem attacks or the almighty block button. This happens more often on the Left, but has been known to happen on the Right (if you start probing the beliefs of commentators on Beritbart articles, for example, more often than not you'll be called some variation of "libtard" for daring to question the Orange Savior.)
Think of it like this: if you only have the attention span to read the short, pithy lines of Dr. Seuss, eventually, that's all you'll be able to understand; you'll never make it through Shakespeare, let alone James Joyce. Similarly, if all you have the attention for is short, punchy headlines, you will never have the attention span to think deeply or critically about political issues, domestic or foreign- and it will certainly never occur to you to question the Party line.

TL;DR: "[A] mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge."
-George R. R. Martin

 

[Sprig of Parsley]

Political illiteracy is on the rise because it was a fucking very complicated subject to navigate to begin with and now you have all these retarded "shortcuts" that make being a fucking party-line-voting uncritical dipshit even easier and more attractive.

 

[Foxxo]

I assure you, it was always there. It's just that everyone (short of the banned, who tend to know what they're talking about) has a platform on social media now, and everyone visible on social media thinks that they can gain more attention by making a fuss about "problems".

 

[Lemmingwise]

TL;DR: "[A] mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge."

Then his mind has lost its edge with the lack of books coming from his mind.

I think the attention deficit is part of it, but the global reversal of the flynn effect is also part of it.

People are on average getting dumber, globally:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289615001336

Though I think the likeliest explanation is also the explanation for why Britain has the highest rate of birth complications and the reason why Sweden has some of the highest rape rates of Europe. (No it isn't because they count it differently, although they do, they were already moving towards having the highest rates before they changed it).

It is because intelligence is largely heritable and the smart people aren't having children and mass migration of people that are on average less cognitively able.

Every year we are learning more what the results of an intelligence deficit are. It's not just lack of being able to focus; it's also just a lack of being able to absorb and retain information.

 

[XYZpdq]

I bet it's like how capeshit comics fans feel about people who only like the movies.

 

[Sprig of Parsley]

Then his mind has lost its edge with the lack of books coming from his mind.

I think the attention deficit is part of it, but the global reversal of the flynn effect is also part of it.

People are on average getting dumber, globally:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289615001336

Though I think the likeliest explanation is also the explanation for why Britain has the highest rate of birth complications and the reason why Sweden has some of the highest rape rates of Europe. (No it isn't because they count it differently, although they do, they were already moving towards having the highest rates before they changed it).

It is because intelligence is largely heritable and the smart people aren't having children and mass migration of people that are on average less cognitively able.

Every year we are learning more what the results of an intelligence deficit are. It's not just lack of being able to focus; it's also just a lack of being able to absorb and retain information.

There's also the lack of impulse control that seems to correlate well with being a fucking dumdum.

 

[Ruin]

Because the average Amerifat is basically retarded. Everyone gets butthurt when I say this but go to a restaurant, bar, or bus/metro and tell me I'm wrong.

 

[Terrorist]

It’s always been there, but social media makes it more visible.

Of course most people’s definition of “politicallly illiterate” is “disagrees with me, that fucking asshole” so take this with a grain of salt.