America is slowly “dumbing down”, according to Psychology Today, due to a rising and devastating movement of anti- intellectualism in the American culture. It rejects matters of science, art, and humanities because of superiority, ignorance, and just from being naïve to situations. Anti –intellectualism is when a person disregards intellect and reason in solving viable situations and understanding the reality of the situation; but, instead uses action and emotions to solve them. Now, this is not saying that those who are uneducated and unintelligent are classified as anti-intellectualist; even those who are educated and judicious are subjective. It is said best by David Niose, “Social dysfunction can be traced to the abandonment of reason.” …show more content…
“, he uses logos to appeal to his readers. He goes on to say how Americans over confidence in their country caused them to believe that they are superior to the rest of the world and that America established and achieved the notion of freedom, making our lives to be superior and better than everywhere else in the world. Then, he pulls the rug under the readers feet by saying well this is not true. He cites multiple sources that suggest otherwise. For instance, America being placed as sixteenth on the international quality of life ranking, America’s murder ,other violent crime, and incarceration rates greater than most of the cultivated world. While there education and technical literacy is so low it’s humiliating. Some Americans having trouble really critically thinking when it comes to most of the social issues and act irrationally with no justification of their actions. For instance, after justice did not prevail at first during the Freddie Gray case in Baltimore and other following altercations, many young African Americans began to riot, loot, and destroy their own community. Due to the lack of education provided to their community to give them the tools and ability to think rationally, they let their emotions and animalistic nature to …show more content…
He states in his other article, “Fighting Back Against Anti-Intellectualism”, that we should realize that reason alone will not save humanity. Niose states, “ Rational thinking can be applied to any situation --- moral or immortal --- and this is why values are also critical in combating anti-intellectualism and promoting progressive, human-centered public policy… ,the best modern values are rooted not in ancient texts, but in human experience, accumulated knowledge, and natural human altruistic inclinations.” He claims that, if we take it upon ourselves to set our own values to make more rational decision based on our own experience, knowledge, and noble individual view on situation we will be less likely to fall into the trend of
Fridman employs a values based premise that states that America’s insignificance towards education creates degrading phrases for the intellectual through “There is something wrong with the system of values in a society that only has derogatory terms like nerd and geek for the intellectually curious and academically serious” (P.1). He expresses that American society’s values, which degrades education, results in demeaning terms to address intelligence which is wrong since intellectuals don’t deserve to be classified negatively for their efforts in studying. He expresses that educated people being offensively labeled due to American society’s values of minoring education is wrong, in order for readers of the New York Times to appreciate intellectuals since their success in studying is not worth being degraded due to it being in the field of education. Next, he utilizes a sociological base premise that conveys America's culture of supporting non education through “For America’s sake, the anti-intellectual values that pervade our society must be fought” (P.6.). This indicates the culture of America is wrong since promoting uneducated citizens regards America as a incompetent country that has unqualified leadership due to unscholarly decisions. Fridman states that American culture advocating unintelligence is wrong in order for readers of the New York Times to appreciate the intellectuals since they
America is a façade hidden behind its notorious past, with an even more troubling present. The land of the free, home of the brave, and one nation claimed to be united under the presence of an omnipotent power, but is it really? America profits off of the so-called dream that is sold to the hopeful and broken. This nation has been riddled with violence, persecution, hatred, and a false sense of togetherness. Racism was not the beginning, it was the ending result of a power struggle between those who wanted control and those who had it. The systematic enslavement and dehumanization of blacks resulted in the concept of a racial caste division, creating the idea of us vs. them (Wacquant, 2002). The Jim Crow laws, prisons, and the creation of ghettos
If it was not apparent enough that America’s education system is failing, Michael Moore’s “Idiot Nation” openly explains to us about the truth. America, for being the richest country, is behind in the educational standpoint. America needs to rethink their standards when it comes to education. America is more focused on corporate earning than educating our youth. The author of “Idiot Nation” makes the reader think about how America is viewed in the world. The purpose of Michael Moore’s essay is to point out what is wrong with this nation and also give the reader the motivation to actually do something about the situation at hand. Moore is trying to make readers aware of where we send our children. The author is trying to shock readers with the facts to do something to improve the American education system.
...alize, once again, that words are powerful and can communicate the writer’s intent, dreams, desire and message. These words can become the messengers of influential ideas that can literally change the world and revolutionise lives. Hoagland’ use of figurative language distinctively accentuates the author’s experience of watching people cause harm to others without a second thought. The narrative method utilized in the poem makes readers contemplate the challenges third world labourers go through and envisage their pain. The symbolism applied to the poem, puts emphasis in the tone and mood of the poem and effectively rouses readers to stop turning a blind eye to those in impoverishment. In conclusion, the poem ‘America’ successfully allows readers to be witnesses to Tony Hoagland’s passion for all that it means to live and ponder over what it truly means to be happy.
The themes that are addressed in the novel, including the psychological effects of racism on Black people and the denial of white people to address the issue of race reinforce the idea that psychological inferiority, just like the white and Black identity, are creations that perpetuate a society that will benefit one group and work to the destroy the other. Without the moral consciousness and accountability of the rulers of America’s society, the relationship of African Americans to the United States will continue to be spiritually, psychologically, and physically
Martin Luther King said “he had a dream that one day whites and black will go to the same school”. Martin Luther King was all about freedom for America. In the video American Dream it said “Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight”. A white man killed him because he wanted human right for everybody he wanted everybody to be equal. Back in the early 19th century blacks and whites were separated and not treated equal as whites. Black was not as free as white and Martin Luther King wanted all men to be Equal. “Oxygen” offers an un-ironic endorsement of the American dream, saluting unending possibility and upward mobility” (Farber). The meaning of this is America is not as free as it seems. Human rights are getting violated each and everyday. One thing that seems very unfair to human rights is the death penalty. Electrocution is not the solution it’s not right, the government should not take a person 's life based on what they have done.” At least 4.1% of all defendants sentenced to death in the US in the modern era are innocent” (HRV). Police brutality is getting worst, innocent people are dying everyday because of the harsh like thing police do, they feel like they can get away with it.”500 innocent Americans are murdered by police every year”(HRV). Police have also used tear gas against people without
He states that Black life still does not seem to matter in America to the point that at time it feels as if the mere existence of Blacks is ignored. He claims that blacks are still readily denied decent education, employment, and opportunities available to their white counterparts and they are harassed, criminalized, incarcerated, animalized and killed due to the color of their skin. There have been several recent incidents strengthening the fact that even in the year 2015, America is still plagued by the evil of racism, presumed racial superiority and
After a close analysis of “America” by Tony Hoagland, the poem warns and points out the problems with our consumerism. Hoagland uses metaphors and imagery to describe the actions of American, while throwing in counteracting themes. And uses thoughts and dreams to bring in metaphors that complex the poem.
Insisting that the American people have brought on these accomplishments appeals to the feeling of patriotism in the reader, who is more than likely American. Going back to the Mexican-American War, Thoreau said “The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the government as their tool”(221). This quote from his short story appeals to the readers emotion...
Through our class discussions of education we came across this quote by Joseph Sobran, an American journalist and writer who spent a great amount of his career working for the National Review Magazine, "In 100 years we have gone from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to teaching Remedial English in college." When asked to critically think about the meaning of this quote I concluded that our educational standards have been lowered over the years and that students in America are not as intelligent as they once were in previous years. These two thoughts brought me to the questions, what does it mean to be educated or intelligent and who gets to decide. When reflecting emotionally on how this quote made me feel I realized it made me feel
Jack Frost explores this in his poem “The Road Not Taken” when he explains he “took the other, as just as fair... [although people] had worn them really about the same” (736). In America their are so many opportunities for people to explore that there is not really on that is perceived as greater than another. All the paths that are available for people to take are and there is not one particular one that is left alone. In “The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B Du Bois he feels that America is “a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revolution of the other world” (534). In America people are judged by the opportunities that they take and the decisions that they make. People really see themselves through how other people around them perceive them. Du Bois sees this as a bad thing but it can be looked at either way because it allows people to know how those around them
In “Paradox and Dream”, John Steinbeck creates a negative attitude towards American people and the ideals they have. He uses paradoxes to show how Americans are unappeased and frustrated with many things, they are only focused on their own opinions and are intemperate, and lastly Americans believe in these fables about themselves that are not always true. Those who read “Paradox and Dream” need to realize that sometimes people take things for granted. They also have to notice the actions that they take in order for them to be on top, which is not right.
During the powerful speech, he tells his audience that the Whites have taken everything from the Blacks which includes, freedom the most important factor of all. He then goes on to say that “the country is a nation of thieves.” He specifically uses this analogy to compare his country to a nation of thieves and by that, he is conveying the message that whites have excluded them from everything, and have left them with no social, political or economic rights. The analogy is very clear to comprehend and to analyze.
We learn that although he did work hard for his earnings he worked hard in a corrupt manor, taking place in illegal activities. In A Lesson Before Dying, we learn of a black man found guilty before being proven guilty only because of the color of his skin. The man accused struggles internally but eventually comes to peace with his struggles. In The Declaration of Independence, we learn how America came together to fight the Crown, to break free from the shackles placed on us by the British which did not allow us to move past and thrive, in order to become the great nation we longed to be. In these pieces of American literature we see glimpses of what being American really means. Being American means that you accept your past and learn from it, that hard work can lead to living your dreams, that with our unalienable rights we can stand up to anything! But… it also means that there will be battles with temptation of doing wrong in order to reach your goal faster, that our past is not something that is easily accepted and can glide its way into your future, that there will be endless trials and tribulations in order to have our goal within
Why street smart students are considered anti intellectual in academic area? In the article “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, he accounts the idea that street smart students are way more smarted than book smarts. He explains that street smart student will be able to solve an issue much faster than book smart because of his/her previous experience. According to author, the problems with considering street smarts as anti intellectual are they are actually much smarter that book smart students, they don’t equal opportunity , and schools along with colleges never challenge their mind get them to succeed in academic work.