The fact that we lend any credence to the Academy Awards or “Time”'s PotY may be part of the explanation for how the world got so stupid.
- from “Flagpole Sitta” by Harvey Danger
Alright, didn’t see that last post come in while I was composing mine. I think this is a DNFTT.
We were pretty well aware of this, already. Do you have any actual evidence that “the world” is getting more stupid? Or was this simpy a rant against AOL-Time-Warner that was lodged over a year late, while painted with too broad a brush?
Using the same standards by which Hitler was MOTY in 1938 and Stalin was MOTY in 1939(?), the MOTY in 2002/2003 should be George W. Bush.
If I’m not mistaken, Time did consider Osama Bin laden, however briefly. Wisely, they chose someone in the forefront of rebuilding, who showed leadership (and someone who had been in the public eye for quite a while) rather than someone who was running for his life and hiding in the hills like a rabbit.
Re: How did the world get so stupid?
History was made by stupid people, better people wouldn’t even try, If you want your face in the history books, then do something dumb before you die!!!
– Arrogant Worms
Well, your existence is the most compelling evidence for the increasing stupidity of the world that you’ve presented so far. And I must say, it’s rather convincing.
Nothing personal (ok, it is personal, but it’s not meant as a full evaluation), j_kat_251, but you’re not impressing me with your analysis. Now, I believe our society has changed, and I do consider it to be worsening, but whether it’s getting worse or better is persective, as Asylum explained. I don’t agree with the Time’s choice, as I’ve said above, but it’s not all that indictive of soceity’s errs. Your language, however, is.
I’m a newbie, don’t hurt me hides 
(oh and society* damn split keyboard :mad: )
The world’s always been stupid and naive, I think it’s smarter than it ever was due to Democracy. The peasants were always the dumb ones and the ones that rose to the top were the rich ones and prominant figures that bullshitted the peasants to the top. These naive peasants are all over the place now and in every country including America. They will fight because they believe their leader, they will pay to supposedly help them win a war and certainly they will believe almost everything they are told. This includes the moron idea of patriotism every country has to get support from it’s peasants to win a war. Don’t forget Propagenda either. The American people are still poor peasants for the most part and are just as naive and stupid. They don’t like it when someone goes against the word of their leader, here being the government. Now imagine the outcry Time would have got (BTW Time is one of the American loving magazines like Newsweek that will never say anything wrong about our country) if they made OBL the POTY. The kind that would include boycotts and stock plummages. I can not blame them for making this decision, but I will lose respect for them for wussing out.
If you’re making the point that people are stupid because they would have reacted negatively to bin Laden getting the “award”, fine. A wounded grizzly bear may lash out in a dumb fashion if you poke him in the eye with a sharp stick. But which is stupider? The lashing out or the poking?
Also both excellent points, Mr. Wrong and eman77. I like Democracy because it’s at least reasonably fair, and plays a little more into human nature.
Yet they named Hitler and, more recently, Ayatollah Khomeini as POTY and the Republic survived. Some were upset, most were indifferent.
I think owlofcreamcheese nailed it early in this thread. These types of threads are simply ways to boost some people’s esteem by getting to implicitly talk about how much smarter they are than the “peasants”.
Interesting reading people…out of interest Bubba, was that the original article on Hitler’s POTY award? Pretty comprehensive and foresighted if it was, and damn it woulda been useful a few years ago when I was studying Nazi Germany:)
Zoff, I was referring to me too. And certainly this would include everyone that goes on this message board. Because we are after all nobodys, I am, I’m guessing you are and pretty much everyone on this message board. BTW everyone on this message board think they are smarter than everyone, just look at the Mensa thread in Great Debates from a couple days ago. Everyone was claiming to be offered a membership when truthfully probably none of them were. Every single thread in Straight Dope had someone trying to use bigger words to build self-esteem and look smart to everyone else when really all the guy did was do some research. Do I think I’m smarter than the “peasants”? I like too but I know I’m not because if I was I wouldn’t be wasting my time posting on some message board called The Straight Dope. Just remember this isn’t one of a few threads that boost people’s self-esteem, pretty much everyone on this website does, you’re just pointing out this one becuase you probably don’t like the subject. I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong. I just didn’t want to look snobby due to my OP.
Not everyone on this board thinks they’re better than everyone else, eman. I’m not sure why you think that way, but people are quite friendly here, as far as I’ve seen. (I only became an actual member a short while ago, but I’ve been reading the threads for quite some time). The people are are nice, and if you’re nice, then you’re one more nice person. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think I’m better than everyone else. Ok, yes I do. But it’s not the sort of thing I go around trying to prove constantly. It’s true that a person is smart, but people are stupid, and I think that’s important to remember. I’m young, but I’ve found that it’s better to busy yourself WITH your life, rather than others’. AKA- I understand what j_kat_251’s point was, but perhaps it’s best to not speak such feelings aloud, given that they’re often misunderstood.
It’s true they are nice here compared to other message boards but you guys seem to have serious problems with other people disagreeing with you. I’m currently being blasted off at Great Debates on a thread I posted. Why, becuase everyone there thinks they’re smarter than me and break my posts apart piece by piece to make me look stupid and make them look smart and when everyone’s blasting you it’s hard to keep up especially when it involves politics. It just proves further that nearly everyone who posts constantly tries to prove someone else wrong. I’m sure there are plenty that don’t do that but after alot of reading on this website the past month or two everyone tries to act smarter than they really are and try to intimidate people with their “brains” and “intelligence” when really you don’t know whether they’re unemployed rednecks in Arkansas or businessman in NYC.
eman77 wasn’t trying to single you out. I just posted on several topics in one post. I don’t buy the TIME argument shows a stupid populace. And, on a related note, I do believe that some people use these kinds of threads to pat themselves on the back, but I didn’t mean that as a direct response to you.
The article was in the Jan 2 1939 edition which named Hitler as MOTY, and perfectly demonstrates that the world was aware of Hitler’s ambitions long before he invaded Poland, or even Czechoslovakia. He certainly wasn’t awarded MOTY for being a ‘worldwide hero’ who ‘helped bring Europe out of the Great Depression’.
-Bubba
Well, eman, not only was your GD topic (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=174015)
hysterically phrased with lots of THE WORLD IS GOING TO END caps (which isn’t going to help people take you seriously), but it was provably wrong in making the claim that “not one” of our troops had been killed by being shot rather than in accidents or by subterfuge. Anyone who spent more than a few minutes following the war coverage will have seen lots of counterexamples. For example, http://www.boston.com/news/packages/iraq/casualties.htm states that 30 US deaths were due to enemy fire. Furthermore, when people tried to point this out, you defended your basically indefensible OP.
So on a board whose goal is to fight ignorance, you’re not exactly bringing much to the table.