“Idiot Nation” is an article lashing out against “the system.” The analysis of the reading indicates that politicians and individual Americans have neglected the needs of the education system. The logic that Moore concludes is that it is prioritized as insignificant regarding concerns for what will benefit and prosper this need, opposed to the future generation 's educational system. This type of neglect allows corporations to run things as they desire. Again, this is a gap monetarily that does not benefit the educational system. In fact, based on profit margins that have been documented, by USA TODAY newspaper, for example, written by Jesse (1), who is an activist that studies these cases, and documents for the last 10 years of his life, …show more content…
The quote “Stupid White Men and other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation” is a great example of this evaluation about Moore calling them idiots – especially the main one in line, he calls the President the biggest of them all, and the word stupid is another term for this. This deals with his disappointment of ignorance of Americans. And, we can see this in most cases, which have been closed, which can make one angry, but have no power to change it. In fact, not only does disappointment exhume from this reading, anger is also exhibited. This is concluded from the statement that America is dealing with a world of idiots compared to other …show more content…
Ethos Even though Moore is a known activist, this does not mean he knows nor has any experience of what it takes to run a country. Some obvious information in nature does hold true and there are many other ways which can handle these situations, and it is not coincidence that politicians end up with a lot of fancy lifestyles by the choices they are currently making. And, this would not be the same if money was poured correctly elsewhere, but, that doesn’t mean Moore’s ideas would reverse all issues haunting the nation. Understanding the
The American public school system faces an education crisis. According to Benjamin Barber, American children barely surpass the lowest standards set for education, especially in literacy, throughout the county’s history. Barber supports the existence of this crisis in his essay “America Skips School”, but argues against a solution to remedy the numerous problems facing the system. Although he acknowledges no solution, Barber suggests a smarter flow of financial resources will address many of the issues, however, he fails to acknowledge the distribution of this money. Barber’s suggestion for smarter financial resources for schools can be effectively implemented through a structured committee focused solely on the distribution of money.
When analyzing the arguments of both Michael Moore’s “Idiot Nation” and John Taylor Gatto’s “Against School”, their most distinct aspect is the tone in which their arguments are presented. Moore’s informal writing invokes a reaction within the reader. He capitalizes entire sentences to make them appear louder and draw attention. How can referring to a president as an “Idiot-in-Chief” not elicit a certain emotion within the reader? Moore is a well-known activist who is quite aware of popularity and infamy. His words are not an attempt to persuade dissenters to his side, but rather to appeal to the emotions of his supporters and drive them to action. Whereas Gatto writes in a formal but understandable language that appeals to the intelligence of parents and children alike regardless of their view of public education. It is notably free of exclamation marks as well as the jargon associated with educators. The voice used plays a key role in the techniques and tools each arguer uses to convince their intended audience to take action.
“I repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until I wrote it down. For me, white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy. If these things are true, this is not such a free country; one’s life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own.”
Christopher Paul Curtis wrote The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 throughout the course of 1995. The novel follows the Watsons, a black family living in Flint, Michigan during the Civil Rights Era. In a historical context, 1963 and the early 1990s have far more in common than one would expect. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 following the church bombing in Birmingham, and yet race-based discrimination remains a problem even in our modern society via passive racism. This paper will analyze the ways in which Curtis’ The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 draws parallels between the time in which his is writing during and the time in which he is writing about. This analysis will also shed light on what can be called the “white standard,” wherein all things white are “good” or “better” and anything not-white is “bad.”
In Rereading America Michael Moore entitled “Idiot Nation” focuses on the failing educational system in the United States of America. The American nation has decreased in their studies and have lowered their standards, yet America still claims they have their priorities in order, which is education. Moore attempts to persuade his readers that the people who are to blame are lack of education in politics and the budget cuts they are making, however, politics blame teachers for making America decrease in their schooling test scores. Americas have many opportunities and useful tools to be successful; however,
If a person saw a hole in the roof of their house and then went away saying “ I hope that gets fixed” others would ridicule and call them a fool. Barber argues the people of America have done this in the case of education. In his essay “America Skips School” Benjamin Barber discusses the problem of how education has steadily declined and determines something must change. He discusses some solutions he thinks could fix them. Yet, some appear illogical. Barber’s argument uses the phrase “If we were serious” followed by an illogical solution as a call to action.
He refers to all the immigration groups in a judgmental way. He complains about the intelligence levels of the Italians, how dirty and deceitful the Jews are, and even the immaculate cleanliness of the Chinamen. Although he does possess quite a bit of bigotry that boarders on the line of prejudice when it comes to African Americans he recognizes that they are suffering from racism and he sympathizes with th...
America’s public school system started off very rough, but through the dedication of many hard-working Americans, it was starting to shape into a system that allowed all children, regardless of race, gender, religion, or nation of origin, to have an education.
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.
The greatest country in the world still has problems evenly distributing education to its youth. The articles I have read for this unit have a common theme regarding our education system. The authors illustrate to the reader about the struggles in America concerning how we obtain and education. Oppression, politics, racism, and socioeconomic status are a few examples of what is wrong with our country and its means of delivering a fair education to all Americans.
Moore’s evidence for the existence of hands is based entirely upon data received from the senses, yet in no way at any time does Moore even put forth any proof in support of the assumption that his senses are indeed functioning correctly and are not in fact deceiving him. Take for example the argument put forth by Descartes that reads as follows:
In “Idiot Nation,” Michael Moore discourses on the collapse of American education system and the three main reasons behind it: politicians’ ignorance, shortage of teachers, and the rise of Corporate America. Moore first points out how ignorant the President and politicians are by stating that the President cannot simply identify whether Africa is a nation or a continent. Next, Moore attributes the lack of funding in education to the fact that politicians prefer to build bomber than to improve our education system; this leads to shortage of resources, overpopulated classrooms, and decrease of books available for students. He then notes that the low salaries of teachers, which are caused by the insufficient funding of education, result in shortage of qualified teachers, leading to the failure of the education system. In addition, Moore discusses about the rise of Corporate America, which is another factor corrupting the education system. To get funding from Corporate America, schools diminish the time students have in class, by making students watch advertisements from businesses and help businesses conduct research during class time. Throughout his excerpt, Moore uses exemplification, surprising statistics, rhetorical questions, and simple but clear reasoning to effectively express his ideas and convince readers of his arguments.
Education is one of the cornerstones and pillars to the establishment and preservation of democracy. In history, countless scores of philosophers and political thinkers believed that only an educated citizenry can take on the quintessential task of upholding democracy. Thomas Jefferson, the primary writer of the Declaration of Independence, stated that “an informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will.” A renowned defender of public education, Jefferson proposed plans for an education system that included grammar schools in his presidency. As a result of these relentless policies for education, the United States expanded on the concept of public instruction through the establishment and upkeep of a practical education system. The United States continued this tradition and established a reputation as one of the best education in the world. Currently, this is no longer valid as other countries such as Finland, China, and South Korea are competing for the dominant position through rigorous reforms that aim to boost student performances (“Best Education”). Meanwhile, the American system is inefficient, inhibited by political obstacles and gridlock while Finland, the top ranked country in terms of schooling, is continuing to improve. According to the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) examinations that tested pupils across a variety of subjects such as reading, mathematics, and science of 2009, Finland’s students were ranked among the top (“PISA 2009”). The American students were ranked below average for industrialized countries in the world, revealing the reality of the educational crisis in the country. Finland’s education system, compared to the Americans, offers major differences that greatly ...
I am responding to Micheal Schudson’s essay titled “America’s Ignorant Voter”. He makes several arguments against whether America having relatively ignorant voters poses a problem to our society, and whether it’s becoming worse over the years. One of the arguments he poses as to why Americans seem so clueless about political matters is due to the complexities of our nation’s political institutions.
When thinking of America many people would assume a variety of things such as happy people, greener grass, fresher air, a bluer sky, diversity at every corner, freedoms, and of course an endless amount of opportunities. However, an uncommon thing that people would think of when thinking about America is a land of the dumb people. In “Idiot Nation,” Michael Moore offers a convincing argument on America’s stupidity by combining logical and emotional appeals as well as harsh diction to drive his point across that we are an “Idiot Nation”.