More of the same - I couldn't say it better...
The Exaltation of Ignorance
Stupidity has a certain charm -- ignorance does not.
It has been said that ignorance is bliss -- I'm not so sure. Perhaps I have been deprived in this regard but,
never having been truly ignorant, I find it difficult to speak with any authority on the topic of such a
'blissful state.'
I have, however, observed a lot of other people who were certifiably ignorant, and I wouldn't say they
were in a state of 'bliss.' They were having a good time, but I wouldn't call it 'bliss.'
When we celebrate Ignorance, and make that the National Standard of Excellence, we embarrass
ourselves.
We celebrate it in hit records, TV sitcoms, most films, most commercials and, to a great extent, in our
schools.
Our school systems train kids to be ignorant, with style -- functional ignoramuses. They do not equip
students to deal with things like logic; they don't give them the criteria by which to judge between good
and bad in any product or situation. They are groomed and launched to function as mindless buying
machines for the products and concepts of a multinational military-industrial complex that needs a World
Of Dumbells to survive.
As long as you're just smart enough to do some kind of job, and just dumb enough to swallow the bunting,
you're going to be 'all right' -- but, if you venture beyond that, you run the risk of mysterious stomach
problems and migraine headaches.
I believe that U.S. schools have a Search and Destroy program, aimed at any hint of creative thinking
exhibited by students. Somebody plans this curriculum. Somebody writes those textbooks. Somebody sets
those standards. Somebody watches to make sure it all goes well. Somebody pays big bucks for this shit.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Stupidity as told by Frank Zappa
Following is an except from "The Real Frank Zappa Book" - I wanted to blog about the incredible amount of stupidity I witness every day but this says it so well there's little one can add...
Hydrogen
"As you grow older in your observation of the peoples of this Earth
world, it becomes more noticeable that stupidity is the reigning virtue.
The masses are always willing that somebody take the responsibility of
caring for them."
Paul Twitchell, The Far Country
Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I
dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the
universe.
This is not a matter of 'pessimism' vs. 'optimism' -- it's a matter of accurate assessment.
Not only is there more stupidity than anything else in terms of universal quantity, but there is a wonderful
quality to this stupidity. It is so intensely perfect that it completely overwhelms whatever it is that nature
has piled up on the other pan of the scale.
Stupidity is replicating itself at an astonishing rate. It breeds easily and is self-financing.
The person who stands up and says, "This is stupid," either is asked to 'behave' or, worse, is greeted with a
cheerful "Yes, we know! Isn't it terrific!"
When Hitler was doing his shit, a whole bunch of people thought he was terrific, too. How could they be
wrong? There were so many of them; they thought they looked good together -- their arms all went up at
the same time.
It seems to me that Americans in the eighties exhibit a remarkable willingness to embrace Fascism,
especially when it is presented to them on a TV tray with balloons and bunting all over it.
It would be easier to pay off the national debt overnight than to neutralize the long-range effects of OUR
NATIONAL STUPIDITY.
Forget about Iranian stupidity, or Chinese, or Russian, or South American, or Canadian stupidity -- our
very own homemade incompetence gets The Grand Prize.
We're not talking light-hearted foolishness here -- when we go for stupid we go for BIG STUPID -- like
people who shoot at you on the freeway, or the Rambos and Ramboettes who blow people away in
shopping malls and fast-food restaurants with automatic weapons.
Here it comes, folks! Watch it grow! One day, the BIG STUPID goes to a PTA meeting, winds through
the PTL Club, wends its way to the White House, spreads out from the Oval Office like a cow flop into
the judiciary system, dribbles over onto the desks of BIG BUSINESS, and the next thing you know we've
got THE VERY BIG STUPID.
THE VERY BIG STUPID is a thing which breeds by eating The Future. Have you seen it? It sometimes
disguises itself as a good-looking quarterly bottom line, derived by closing the R&D Department.
I can't think of any developing nation with a genuine 'fondness' for America. People in these countries see
America as a threat to their national security; they see US as an 'Evil Empire.' Everything Reagan said in
the early days about Russia is easily descriptive of our country, viewed by a developing nation.
Because we possess THE VERY BIG STUPID, they know there is always the possibility that we might
use it on them -- accidentally.
Folks, over the years we have developed a first-strike capability with this hideous weapon, and have
already deployed it several times, disguised as Reagan Administration 'foreign policy.'
Some people in the Imaginary Heartland of America might say, "Who gives a shit? They ain't going to get
us. They ain't coming over here. Why, some of em don't even have air-o-planes."
That kind of guy has bought stock in the THE VERY BIG STUPID, and has reaped a philosophical
dividend which states on its face that, as a Special Christian Nation, we have the right to stomp all over
the other guys (Manifest Destiny). God is on Our Side, and we're supposed to do this, because we're the
only creatures sophisticated enough to bring peace and sanity to the rest of the world.
Pheeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuwwwwwwwww.
Hydrogen
"As you grow older in your observation of the peoples of this Earth
world, it becomes more noticeable that stupidity is the reigning virtue.
The masses are always willing that somebody take the responsibility of
caring for them."
Paul Twitchell, The Far Country
Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I
dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the
universe.
This is not a matter of 'pessimism' vs. 'optimism' -- it's a matter of accurate assessment.
Not only is there more stupidity than anything else in terms of universal quantity, but there is a wonderful
quality to this stupidity. It is so intensely perfect that it completely overwhelms whatever it is that nature
has piled up on the other pan of the scale.
Stupidity is replicating itself at an astonishing rate. It breeds easily and is self-financing.
The person who stands up and says, "This is stupid," either is asked to 'behave' or, worse, is greeted with a
cheerful "Yes, we know! Isn't it terrific!"
When Hitler was doing his shit, a whole bunch of people thought he was terrific, too. How could they be
wrong? There were so many of them; they thought they looked good together -- their arms all went up at
the same time.
It seems to me that Americans in the eighties exhibit a remarkable willingness to embrace Fascism,
especially when it is presented to them on a TV tray with balloons and bunting all over it.
It would be easier to pay off the national debt overnight than to neutralize the long-range effects of OUR
NATIONAL STUPIDITY.
Forget about Iranian stupidity, or Chinese, or Russian, or South American, or Canadian stupidity -- our
very own homemade incompetence gets The Grand Prize.
We're not talking light-hearted foolishness here -- when we go for stupid we go for BIG STUPID -- like
people who shoot at you on the freeway, or the Rambos and Ramboettes who blow people away in
shopping malls and fast-food restaurants with automatic weapons.
Here it comes, folks! Watch it grow! One day, the BIG STUPID goes to a PTA meeting, winds through
the PTL Club, wends its way to the White House, spreads out from the Oval Office like a cow flop into
the judiciary system, dribbles over onto the desks of BIG BUSINESS, and the next thing you know we've
got THE VERY BIG STUPID.
THE VERY BIG STUPID is a thing which breeds by eating The Future. Have you seen it? It sometimes
disguises itself as a good-looking quarterly bottom line, derived by closing the R&D Department.
I can't think of any developing nation with a genuine 'fondness' for America. People in these countries see
America as a threat to their national security; they see US as an 'Evil Empire.' Everything Reagan said in
the early days about Russia is easily descriptive of our country, viewed by a developing nation.
Because we possess THE VERY BIG STUPID, they know there is always the possibility that we might
use it on them -- accidentally.
Folks, over the years we have developed a first-strike capability with this hideous weapon, and have
already deployed it several times, disguised as Reagan Administration 'foreign policy.'
Some people in the Imaginary Heartland of America might say, "Who gives a shit? They ain't going to get
us. They ain't coming over here. Why, some of em don't even have air-o-planes."
That kind of guy has bought stock in the THE VERY BIG STUPID, and has reaped a philosophical
dividend which states on its face that, as a Special Christian Nation, we have the right to stomp all over
the other guys (Manifest Destiny). God is on Our Side, and we're supposed to do this, because we're the
only creatures sophisticated enough to bring peace and sanity to the rest of the world.
Pheeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuwwwwwwwww.
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