# Idiocracy, It is closer than you think **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 1, 2007, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119 "2007-03-01T03:54:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/21 "2007-03-01T16:23:21Z")
[QUOTE=Epimetheus] I’m sure people could add their own examples of this happening, but this one just jumped out at me, from [here](http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070227/NEWS01/70227062/1075): What’s next? [/QUOTE] It’s not all that hard to become a state legislator, and the process by which people get nominated and elected to those positions doesn’t exactly do much to screen out idiots. This example is really not all that extraordinary. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/22 "2007-03-01T16:32:32Z")
Let me know when the recliners are available. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/23 "2007-03-01T17:21:27Z")
[QUOTE=athelas] Guys, guys. If she _feels_ that it means someone “from out of space,” who are we to argue against her _feelings_? [/QUOTE] Exactly! It’s her _opinion_, after all, and we all know that opinions can’t be wrong! ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/24 "2007-03-01T17:26:09Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Does anyone else remember those horribly animated commercials they used to run at the beginning of the year – “Aliens _Must_ register in January of Each Year!” [/QUOTE] Remember them? I was a legal alien attending an American high school when they were running. I still remember how an exchange student from England who was attending our high school talked about putting on a pair of fake antenna, going down to the post office and saying, “Hi! I’m an alien who’d like to register.” 😃 Honestly! I spent 20 years of my life as an alien and I don’t find anything offensive about the term! As for who Ms. Wilson’s constituents are, I’ll simply point out that voting is a privilege awarded to US citizens only. Aliens can’t vote. With all the hurricanes Florida has, I have to wonder why she’d try to stir up a tempest in a teapot. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/25 "2007-03-01T23:13:20Z")
Frederica Wilson was on the Miami-Dade County School Board for countless years, before she became a Senator. The woman is an idiot, and she regularly mangles the English language. As the son of two hard-working Miami-Dade public schoolteachers with over 30 years each invested in the system, I paid attention to the School Board’s announcements and decisions, and always noticed she was one of the more visible and outspoken idiots to grace its membership. Down there, the School Board is a pretty wretched hive of scum and villainy. ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/26 "2007-03-01T23:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] And don’t anybody tell me that “should of” is okay now just because a lot of people say it. [/QUOTE] _Thank you._ I hate when people say that some horrible grammatical error has been deemed correct because of its wide usage. I hate that. I hate it a…lot. _[goes to look up Fuddruckers to see if they changed the name yet.]_ ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/27 "2007-03-02T00:23:03Z")
“An alien to me is someone from out of space.” It is to me too! A foreigner isn’t though. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/28 "2007-03-02T02:33:14Z")
[QUOTE=Aquila Be] Wasn’t she trying (but failing) to say “outer space”? [/QUOTE] More likely she was paying tribute to the late Billy Preston’s hit [“Outta Space.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGlu5KtpVa4) ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/29 "2007-03-02T10:37:02Z")
[QUOTE=MelCthefirst] “An alien to me is someone from out of space.” It is to me too! A foreigner isn’t though. [/QUOTE] That’s what I was thinking. OK, this person malaprops terribly, but I agree with her sentiment 100%. An Alien is something or someone from another planet. A “Foreigner” or “Permanent Resident” is what you call people from other countries living in your own- “Illegal Immigrant” if they’re not there legally, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/30 "2007-03-02T12:35:10Z")
No, Alien = foreigner (or just stranger to the environment). _Space_ Alien = foreigner from outer space. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/31 "2007-03-02T12:36:26Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] That’s what I was thinking. OK, this person malaprops terribly, but I agree with her sentiment 100%. An Alien is something or someone from another planet. [/QUOTE] :dubious: Well language does evolve. And now it’s come to refer to people from outerspace. But…THERE ARE NO PEOPLE FROM OUTERSPACE. And it originally meant just folks from over the hill, or the next town, or across the river. Or just unusual. And being unusual is bad because…because…why again? It’s meant "from another country"since the 1300’s. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/32 "2007-03-02T12:51:08Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] :dubious: Well language does evolve. And now it’s come to refer to people from outerspace. But…THERE ARE NO PEOPLE FROM OUTERSPACE. And it originally meant just folks from over the hill, or the next town, or across the river. Or just unusual. And being unusual is bad because…because…why again? It’s meant "from another country"since the 1300’s. Get over it. [/QUOTE] Exactly, and I know it is a tough concept for some people to grasp, but some words have multiple meanings. Just because a new meaning of a word arises, doesn’t mean that all the other definitions are invalid. I know, tough concept. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/33 "2007-03-02T14:58:25Z")
I would say ‘let her pass the law but it doesn’t come into effect until we have actual aliens from outer space in America’ if I didn’t know for sure that Aliens are already there. As evidenced by the fact that certain American’s have had their brains removed by said Aliens. How long before we’re not allowed to call Aliens aliens? They’re now ‘Brethren of the Stars’ ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/34 "2007-03-02T15:59:51Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] From out of space? I should of known. And don’t anybody tell me that “should of” is okay now just because a lot of people say it. [/QUOTE] “Should of”? That’s a whole nother issue. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/35 "2007-03-02T16:43:39Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] The woman is an idiot, and she regularly mangles the English language. [/QUOTE] What should we call someone who is from another _metaphorical_ planet? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/36 "2007-03-02T17:17:04Z")
Beavis: “Hey Butthead, do you believe in aliens?” Butthead: “Uhhhh, I believe in illegal aliens. I believe in Mexicans.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/37 "2007-03-02T18:02:12Z")
I’m guessing her newspaper of choice is the Weekly World News. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/38 "2007-03-02T18:10:17Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] I’m guessing her newspaper of choice is the Weekly World News. [/QUOTE] As evidenced by her legislation to block the opening of the Big Foot Shoe Store. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/39 "2007-03-02T19:19:32Z")
[QUOTE=Charger] _Thank you._ I hate when people say that some horrible grammatical error has been deemed correct because of its wide usage. I hate that. I hate it a…lot. \*\* [/QUOTE] **Charger** bin juste shonen of so bon him han konnen la langue. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119/40 "2007-03-03T01:38:01Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] :dubious: Well language does evolve. And now it’s come to refer to people from outerspace. But…THERE ARE NO PEOPLE FROM OUTERSPACE. And it originally meant just folks from over the hill, or the next town, or across the river. Or just unusual. And being unusual is bad because…because…why again? It’s meant "from another country"since the 1300’s. Get over it. [/QUOTE] Yes, but the US is the only country (that I’m aware of) that uses “Alien” to describe Foreign Nationals living in their country. The only context I ever heard the world “Alien” when I was growing up in NZ was referring to either Space Aliens, or actual concepts/ideas (“an alien concept”). The term was _never_ applied to people, and to me it has somewhat negative connotations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiocracy-it-is-closer-than-you-think/394119.md?page=3)