Idiot Moore

It is strange to think that Rereading America is one of, if not the only book I have actually read lately. The worst part is that its only because its required. Normally, I would do the simple sparknotes and move on, but something caught my attention. Idiot Nation by Miachel Moore. I loved reading through it, I agreed with every single thing he said. I hate our Presedent, the school systems, and the lack of so called "common knowledge" in our country that is oh so great and mighty. Moore gave me someone to relate to. He nearly spoke my mind word for word, just adding in astonishing statistics that blow my mind and further draw me into agreement with him. However, it has been a while since the first time I read it and I have taken a new outlook on it and realized something that i was blinded by with the awe of statistics the first time I ready it. Lets see... "99 hours a year an average American adult spends reading a book" (133) Considering this is one of the only things I have read this year I would say im going to pull that average down and I sure am not helping the hours of TV. Is it possible that I fall under even more categories? Am I a victim of lousy school systems, political morrons, and subject to Corporate America sponsored events that are turning me into a member of this "Idiot Nation"?

These high schools Moore describes don't sound like anything I experienced. Then again I may just be lucky. Schools that are over crouded and lacking principles and staff, molding ceilings and libraries with books no newer than 1970's... I thought the Mac computers at our high school were bad. I was complaining about the brand! When we switched them out and got nearly 300 brand new HP computers I never even considered the fact that each one cost nearly $800. (Seriously, I looked them up) Thats $240,000 worth of computers! Imagine what that money could do for the suffering schools. I thought all my teachers were pretty good, in fact I think they were better than some I have had here and Misourri S&T. I can't even understand half the TA's I have however, most of my teachers are amazing. I just can not relate to this but it doesn't mean I dont believe there are serious problems. The problem is, when Moore says things like "Forty-four million Americans cannot read or write above a forth grade level" your first reaction is wow, that number is really high, but think for a second, just a second. How many of those fourty four million are recent immigrants or mentally handicapped and for god sake even in the fourth grade yet! For all the remaining which im sure is nowhere near as large a number, why doesnt't he give any solutions. All he does is blame the government while giving us insights into his rebellious childhood and ways he was able to subvert the system. Is he trying to put himself above the rest of us? After all, he almost skipped first grade! What is the point.

As far as political leaders go, I dont see the problem. Sure they can't answer random questions but neither can I. I doubt I could score much better than most of them. "What's the only state capital without a McDonald's?" Seriously... I would be a little scared if my state representative knew that. And the answer to "How big is the hole in the ozone layer?" Well, its BIG! Enough said. What about that "Idiot-in-Chief of ours, sure he had a little help getting into the white house, but didn't everybody? Didn't I have help getting into what is most likely in the top 1% richest high schools in the nation? Sure! It doesn't mean someone else deserved the spot more or could have done better. We are all human, therefore when something goes wrong the first thing that comes to our heads is, I could have done better. Well yeah... now that you know what the outcome to the previous plan was. If only it were that simple. Personally I hate politics for that very reason and I think Moore does too. No one can ever come up with a plan that everyone likes that can't fail. Odd...

Fortunately, someone has come up with a way to give some of us better educations so maybe someday we will replace all those political leaders