DangerousTalkDangerous Talk » The State of the Union is shitty

The State of the Union is shitty

Posted on January 26th, 2011 by Staks

The state of the union is shitty… but not for any of the reasons you will hear about on the news. Yes, unemployment is high, the quality of healthcare is low, we are still in two wars, etc. But those are mere symptoms of the real problem.

The real problem is that people are stupid. They don’t think critically about the world around them. When Fox News and the Republicans make ridiculous lies, people are not smart enough to look for the actual facts and use critical thinking skills to analyze those facts.

The Democrats are not blameless either. President Obama campaigned on fundamental change. His campaign was focused on a promise not to play the game of politics better, but to change the game. Instead, he has played politics every step of the way. His healthcare plan was hollow, his financial reform plan weak, and on foreign policy he has not only continued with the two Republican wars, but also continues Bush’s warrentless wiretapping and “enhanced interrogation” programs.

In order to really “win the future” Americans need to learn how to think critically about politics and the world around them. It is easy to blame Fox News and the Tea Party for misleading so many Americans, but the fact is that as Americans, we allow ourselves to be misled.

Religious thinking helps to dull our critical thinking skills. We are taught that we ought to have faith in an authoritative deity, in a religious leader, and in political leaders. But what we really need to do is to question authoritative deities, religious leaders, and political leaders.

Last night, the President said a lot of great things about supporting science education and education in general, but we as Americans have to hold him too it. The President is great at saying the things I like to hear, but when it comes time to deliver he spends too much time trying to compromise that very little is actually accomplished.

In order to win the future, the President has to lead in the present. Instead of compromising on every issue just to get one or two Republican votes, the President has to use political pressure to command the future into being.

The biggest issue in politics today isn’t an issue at all; it is an attitude. It is the attitude of our leaders and an attitude of our citizens. Republicans must compromise more, Democrats must stand their ground more, and the American people must think critically about what our leaders and media personalities are telling us.

George Carlin once said that the reason we have stupid leaders is because we have stupid people; garbage in, garbage out. To some extent he was correct. In order to fix the state of our nation, we have to fix the state of its people. Think!