What is causing anti-intellectualism in the US?

@rosborne979,

Paul Wolfowitz is an intellectual.
Condoleeza Rice is an intellectual.
Richard Perle is an intellectual.
Bill and Irving Kristol are both intellectuals.

Why should I not be against these people? I think one important cause of anti-intellectualism is that a lot of intellectuals suck.

2 Replies

@Thomas,

Lots of non-intellectuals and anti-intellectuals suck too.

I take it to mean you think this makes you anti-non-anti-intellectuals, too?

Howsabout you are against people who suck, instead?

1 Reply

@Walter Hinteler,

Germany is a large country and its regional: you know this. The signs in baden Baden were in the main municpal car park. In fact there are a lot of carparks in Baden -Baden
The damen platz: were on the West border. On the black forest. Possibly in Hohenzollen country> I was touring by motorbike and covered a lot of ground. I have been to Germany many times.
I think time keeping goes both ways in Germany> start on the button, and leave on the button.
Actually in England the process of following orders to stupid lengths, without applying common sense is called German sabotage. It is a form of industrial action.
In England workers who are paid from nine til five, Are often required to start at 8. And finish at 7. I do not believe this happens in Germany.
Germany has areas where pubs are open and Sunday. And large areas where everything stops.

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@Francis,

Francis wrote:

Time went by but the gripes about French cars remain.

As everything, like in the evolution theory, things most of the time get better.

Currently, French cars are adapted to the markets in general.

They have a good deal of comfort and are among the best when it comes to reliability.

Their mileage is far better than American cars. Also they are smaller in general.

One should ask why they sell good around the world, except in the USA..

Now I am seeing the scene, in my head, from A Man and A Woman, where after the race, he drives back to find her on the beach with her child - he runs to her. The music reaches a crescendo. It is such a French movie, in my opinion - racing cars, love, sunglasses, ocean waves, sunsets or sunrises, cute children, women with dark hair.

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@dlowan,

dlowan wrote:

Lots of non-intellectuals and anti-intellectuals suck too.

So true.

dlowan wrote:

I take it to mean you think this makes you anti-non-anti-intellectuals, too?

I can't admit to being able to parse this sentence. It might make me look like an intellectual ... er ... I mean intillectchhuol.

Basically, I guess I just don't understand what "anti-intellectual" means. In most contexts I hear it in, it simply seams to mean that intellectual aren't getting the respect they deserve -- in the intellectuals' opinion.

dlowan wrote:

Howsabout you are against people who suck, instead?

Depends. Suck what?

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@Francis,

Quote:

FOW wrote:

Quote:

Americans go to Mcdonalds...

That's not so simple....

In a way it is. All but one or two European countries lack the space for herds of beef cattle such as we have. In other words, a cow which gets cooked in Europe is usually some poor old cow which can't give milk any more after fifteen or twenty years so that they're cooking something we'd bury or make glue out of and HAVE to have fancy recipes for it or the dogs wouldn't eat it.

I can generally walk into McDonalds and eat better than Europeans do for two or three dollars USD.

4 Replies

@gungasnake,

gungasnake wrote:

Quote:
FOW wrote:

Quote:

Americans go to Mcdonalds...

That's not so simple....

In a way it is. All but one or two European countries lack the space for herds of beef cattle such as we have. In other words, a cow which gets cooked in Europe is usually some poor old cow which can't give milk any more after fifteen or twenty years so that they're cooking something we'd bury or make glue out of and HAVE to have fancy recipes for it or the dogs wouldn't eat it.

I can generally walk into McDonalds and eat better than Europeans do for two or three dollars USD.

lock up the thread, we've got the winner here

0 Replies

@gungasnake,

Gunga wrote:

I can generally walk into McDonalds and eat better than Europeans do for two or three dollars USD.

However, there's something in your water that's truly affecting your neuronal functions.

Disconnection from reality is only a mild form of it..

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Oh lord, this is such an interesting and worthy topic, no matter whether you think there's a problem or not with American intelectualism. Too bad there's so much chaff to separate out.

1 Reply

@Thomas,

Thomas wrote:

Paul Wolfowitz is an intellectual.
Condoleeza Rice is an intellectual.
Richard Perle is an intellectual.
Bill and Irving Kristol are both intellectuals.

Why should I not be against these people? I think one important cause of anti-intellectualism is that a lot of intellectuals suck.

But is it because they are intellectual, or do they just suck regardless?

0 Replies

@littlek,

littlek wrote:

Oh lord, this is such an interesting and worthy topic, no matter whether you think there's a problem or not with American intelectualism. Too bad there's so much chaff to separate out.

It's been a while. Maybe some of the chaff has lost interest now.

0 Replies

Another story where a little skepticism would have been useful.

1 Reply

I love those intellectuals at the Onion.

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@rosborne979,

Quote:

"We didn't know the Onion was not a real news site."

Oh, my lord!

1 Reply

@roger,

roger wrote:

Quote:
"We didn't know the Onion was not a real news site."

Oh, my lord!

Apparently the Onion is not sufficiently sarcastic to differentiate itself from "real" news (if "real" news even exists any more).

1 Reply

@rosborne979,

By being "Counter or paody news" the Onion is, in fact, an actual news organization. It takes as much insight to spoof the news as it does to report it like a talking head.

John Stewart fits the same mold. When he does a parody or puts up those funny headlines, he is doing a job as a reporter.

THATS my story and Im stikkin with it.

0 Replies

@gungasnake,

Quote:

I can generally walk into McDonalds and eat better than Europeans do for two or three dollars USD.

You sure as hell won't eat much for two or three dollars. One does have to wonder what Gunga Dim's definition of "better" happens to be. Of course, when eating American fast food, the odds are pretty good that the beef in question came from Argentina, but i'm sure that's beside the point.

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@gungasnake,

Quote:

so that they're cooking something we'd bury or make glue out of and HAVE to have fancy recipes for it or the dogs wouldn't eat it.

I think that you have a misguided view of the US beef industry. Am I surprised by that? No, not really.

If you think that a rancher/farmer is going to bury an old cull cow instead of shipping it to market, you are truly nuts.

Quote:

Realizing More Value for Cull Cattle
Results of the 1999 National Market Cow and Bull Quality Audit.
By Dr. Todd A. Thrift
Assistant Professor, Extension Livestock Specialist
Texas A&M University-Overton

...

Cull animals (non-fed beef and dairy animals) supply about 20 percent of the total U.S. beef production. Most producers assume that the major product from cull cows is ground beef that is marketed through fast-food restaurants in the form of hamburgers.

http://www.thecattlemanmagazine.com/issues/2000/0500/realizingMore.asp

Now apologize to Francis and those European countries for your idiotic attempt at slander. Promise to never ever say anything stupid, ... I guess that's not fair; it would have you mute. Okay, promise to try a lot harder to be less ignorant.

0 Replies

What is causing anti-intellectualism in the US?

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