Summary Of The Dumbing Down Of America

Decent Essays
The most startling, important aspect of this book are the overtones echoing the theme characterized as the "dumbing-down of America". This concept postulates that as a result of the controlling educational system, complaint media and representative socialization process, Americans have been conditioned over generations into silence, apathy and ignorance of public matters over which our elected officials preside.

This "dumbing-down" process has produced unchecked authority in government. Officials may govern with impunity and immunity because "we the people" lack the comprehension, discernment, analytical skills and political experience which enables ordinary people to challenge a tyrannical

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    No matter how dysfunctional or out-of-touch Capitol Hill is, it seems to never improve despite the United States being home to a stable democratic process. In “Why Don’t We Complain?” American conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr points his finger at the American people himself as their own apathy is to blame for the current status quo. Buckley is successful with his use of symbolism to demonstrate the issue of political apathy among the average American voter.…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Authors Lederer and Burdick provide examples of both good and bad behavior that American citizens and politicians exemplify in their book, The Ugly American. The lessons and points provided by Lederer and Burdick are still relevant in today’s political world when vising other countries. The Ugly American is…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Susan Jacoby’s essay, “How Dumb Can We Get?” she questions why Americans are becoming less literate and what factors contribute to the lack of awareness in political and cultural issues (261). Jacoby deliberates on the severity of the national crisis presented because of the dullard, irrational citizens of society (262). University students mock their learning experiences by doing the bare minimum and still managing to obtain a college degree, Jacoby assures (260). Jacoby believes that education should not accommodate everyone in regards to simplicity nor convenience but rather students should rely more on reading to simplify their achievements (260).…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bowling alone by Robert Putnam is primarily summarized as our disengagement from the involvement in our communities. Putnam describes to the reader a decline in the civic engagement initially through our politics, particularly in the decline in “turnout [of] national elections over the last three decades,” “attendance [of] a public meeting on town or school affairs,” and “attending a political rally or speech, serving on a committee of some local organization, and working for a political party.” (Putnam) He then explains the political disengagement as a possibility of from a distrust in government from various political tragedies and scandals, be believes the explanation is limited when viewing it when “we examine trends in civic engagement…

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rick Shenkman seems to know seems to know just how to grab the readers’ attention in his book, Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth About the American Voter. While most readers may disagree with his central arguments, I agree with him. I do believe that, as a whole society, the American people are very uninformed when it comes to politics, government, or any other relatively “uninteresting” topics. It seems as though the American people could actually care less about what is happening in our government and whether the people in power are taking advantage of our ignorance.…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Judith Ortiz Cofer’s essay, “The Myth of the Latin Woman”, shows us the different stereotypes that she personally had to deal with over the years. Growing up in the United States and being born in Puerto Rico made her want to “belong” as she resented the stereotype that her Hispanic appearance brought on. One main difference between Puerto Rico and the United States that she goes into great detail about is the culture clash of clothing styles. Cofer gets the readers to consider what it would be like to have grown up in the United States being from a different culture. Judith Ortiz is a Latin American that speaks out against stereotyping.…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In America, citizens are given the right to vote and elect officials into office. At the age of eighteen, young adults are allowed to register to vote and take part in elections. Not all citizens participate and decide to vote. When Americans decide to exclude themselves from voting, they initially are negatively impacting society. Thomas Patterson takes his stance on this when he wrote “The Vanishing Voter”.…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Polarization In Congress

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In recent years, Congress has become increasingly polarized in terms of partisanship. The definition of partisan polarization is the separation of the two major parties as they move towards more severe issue positions. In other words, the members of Congress – both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate – tend to be either extremely liberal (corresponding to the Democratic party), or extremely conservative (corresponding to the Republican party). There are currently few members of the U.S. Congress that consider themselves to be moderates. Political scientists and journalists alike have speculated on why this phenomenon is occurring now, and some theories claim that this polarization is a return to the “natural” state of government,…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    : In Chapter One of American Democracy in Peril, Hudson states several governmental issues, describes where these issues are derived from, and offers solutions to boost effective management of our government. Hudson’s critique of the U.S. government leaves the reader pondering the reason behind our government’s shortcomings. At first, his use of historic reference within the branches of government seem unnecessarily detailed and redundant but through progressive reading it becomes clear how crucial the details are when describing the evolution of our government. Hudson relates to the feeling of powerlessness as a U.S. citizen and gives off a feeling of understanding through text. He describes the government as “Pandora’s Box” and offers a way out of this seemingly endless age of ineffective governing.…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    When political scientists look at voting behavior and political beliefs, they often turn to people’s upbringings. When looking at this, one area often studies is the environment where people grew up. This means the city and state of a person’s upbringing. While many say that the most effective way to influence political beliefs is through those closest to a person, the geography of where they grew up cannot be ignored. States in America vote for presidents, not people directly and this provides an avenue of people to see how those around them feel and in turn how they should feel about politics.…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Politics can be a sensitive topic to talk about so we do not always know how others may feel about it or what stances they take. In an effort to understand how people feel about the current U.S. democracy, 10 students were interviewed on this topic. Out of the 10, 5 were male and 5 were female. The males interviewed were: David, Gustavo, Jack, Pierce, and Anthony. The females interviewed were: Gabi, Alex, Jennifer, Abey, and Alma.…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1970s And 1970s Essay

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The issues in education throughout the 1970s and 1980s revolved around educational opportunities. A renewed focus on inclusion and equality advanced opportunities, while reforms focused on educational achievement. Politics and the Social Pulse of the 1970s and 1980s Americans began to protest the Vietnam War in the early 1970s.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fear Tactics

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages

    government has been working to control the American population for many years, but the hold has gotten tighter since the tragic events of 9/11. Who should the American people trust, if not the government? One may argue that the government is trustworthy and only has its people's best interests in mind. However, if one looks deeper into the points delivered in this essay, there is not much room to deny that the U.S. government is using fear tactics to control the population, which is not necessary to have an orderly and civilized society.…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    United States Citizenship

    • 2448 Words
    • 10 Pages

    National citizenship implies participation in the nation as a whole; conversely, state citizenship, connotes a connection between a man and a specific state, and has application by and large constrained to local matters. State citizenship may influence charge choices and qualification for some state-gave advantages, for example, advanced education and qualification for state political posts; U.S. Senate. In Article One of the Constitution, the ability to set up a "uniform control of naturalization" is conceded expressly to Congress; U.S. law allows different citizenship. A citizen of another nation naturalized as a U.S. native may hold their past citizenship, however they should reject loyalty to the next nation. A U.S. citizen holds U.S. citizenship…

    • 2448 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Not Dumb Just Different Is technology making us dumber? When social media users abbreviate or utilize “slang” does it instantly qualify an individual as being lazy, illiterate, or unintelligent? One of the major misconceptions about technology is that it distracts individuals from actually learning. That the use of social media is creating a generation of users who lack grammar or proper sentence structure. In her article “Our Semi-Literate Youth?…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays