Just How Stupid Are We Summary

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Book review: Just How Stupid Are We?

Democracy is a form of government where all citizens of a nation determine public policies, laws and actions of the state in unity. All citizens are expected to be involved in all issues pertaining to the wellbeing of the country. This essay is a preview of the book just How Stupid Are we?: Facing The Truth About The American Voter .The book focuses on how the American people have disengaged themselves from politics and public issues that should otherwise be of importance to them. Shenkman seeks to show how much the American people are concentrating or taking part in politics and how much they ought to. Shenkman clearly

points out that Americans are ill prepared to guide their countries democracy which as a matter of fact is regarded as the most powerful one. In his book, just How Stupid Are we?: Facing The Truth About The American Voter, Shenkman argues out that only two fifths of the voters can be able to name the branches of the federal government and he further adds that only 49% of the are not aware that the president does not have the powers to suspend the constitution. The September 11, 2011 attack and the Iraq war that followed are what prompted Shenkman to ask himself serious questions about the American voters. After these occurrences, Shenkman points out that most of the Americans were not aware of what was going on and those who knew something about it couldn’t even point out the facts about the events. He further points out that the White House message machine was to blame put he puts further blame on the Americans who did nothing or very little to seek the truth. He also cites from the scientific polls taken after the 9/11 polls that stated that Americans can’t simply comprehend the twists and turns that complicated debates take (Shenkman 2).
The mistaken belief that American people are capable of functioning in a democratic society is strongly contested by Shenkman in his book Just How Stupid Are we? Facing the Truth About The American Voter. In the book, he points out that majority of the Americans had different ideas about the country’s invasion to Iraq and that only a third of the Americans understood that the world opposed their invasion. The fact that the 9/11 commission released a report stating that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, yet a majority of the Americans still believed that weapons of mass destruction had been deployed and were being used in Iraq, posed a very big question according to Shenkman. Did the Americans really have confidence in their democracy? If they did, weren’t they supposed to believe in what the government says? And were they not supposed to have keen interest in what their country was doing? Shenkman seemed to be deeply disturbed by the fact that the Americans seemed to care less about the issues that they ought to be holding close to their hearts and he sought to motivate the Americans to change the situation (Shenkman 3).
In my view, the American public seems to be disengaged in public policy issues because they have given up on their countries leadership and they therefore see no reason to take part in national politics.

They are simply fed up with the politicians and the current party political system. They argue out that they choose most leaders while having a lot of faith in them only for them to disappoint them once in office. They therefore prefer to stay out of it rather than be disappointed later. The constant rise in the members of parliament expenses and salaries does not help issues either. The American public is left grumbling and dissatisfied with them and with the perception that they have corrupt and greedy leaders who are not worthy of their support. The result of all this is that people shy away from voting and taking part in any political activities as they should be participating. I strongly believe that the millennium generation will make appositive and progressive change in the democratic society. It is noted in David Madland’s article, the new progressive America: The Millennial Generation, that millennia’s are notably progressive on foreign policy issues and that they are most likely to believe that a positive image about America to the outside world is important. They are therefore more likely to work towards improving America’s image by taking part in determining the policies that affect the country and also taking part in the national politics. They , more than any

other generations are more keen on having a more robust government that will make the economy work better, assist the needy and at the same time be able to provide essential services. An enquiry was made on whether the millennial preferred a robust government to or the free market to improve the economy and results showed that they had a strong preference for the government by 78 percent. It is also important to note that, the millennial was also the group that was the most hostile to the war in Iraq, showing clearly that they were keen on what was going on and they had facts concerning the war as opposed to the older generations who were did not care to find out what was happening with their country. The millennial are also very vibrant that they want the government to work on regulating businesses in the public interest. With this generation being informed on all that is going on in the country especially through the so much improved mass media, and with them taking part in the country’s policies, the future is bright for America’s democratic society.
Chapter 7 of the book is how dump politics are. Shenkman talks on the current levels of the presidential speeches. Compared to previous years, the grading of the presidential speeches has been declining day by day. He points out that television has dumped politics down to the basest level possible. The grading of the presidential speeches has reached as low as the 8th grade level. He attributes the going down of the grade level of the presidential speeches to oversimplification of the speeches which incorporates the use of short sentences which have more monosyllabic words. Shenkman also highlights that the steady erosion of party and labor bosses and the fact that the two main political parties never took populism seriously have contributed to the dumping down of the political discourse in the American society. Shenkman added that the two political parties never cared how ill educated the citizens were, instead they just focused on corporate manipulation which he defines as the political parties tendency of keeping the electorate politically informed of only that which offers them a political mileage, despite their misuse of power (109). Politicians have also resorted to the use of myths to sway voters. This has led to the American society to vote using their feelings about the politicians and what they stand for instead of basing their choices on facts. A good example is the 1840 election where people voted for William Henry just because they liked his slogan. The mass media which was greatly used during the campaign period also contributed a lot in the determination of how people voted. The intelligent voters were also not left out, the use of slogans and advertisements which are enticing impairs their decision making ability and at the end of the day they also end up voting with their emotions. An example is the role played by television in the 1960 elections. The Nixon –Kennedy debate portrayed Kennedy as an image of health and vitality hence favored him in the elections (111).
Chapter 2 of the book touches on gross ignorance. This mainly touches on how the American public has simply chosen to be oblivious to public issues and issues of national importance. Shenkman argues out that the lack of information and non-involvement of the American public is not due to unavailability of information on the public issues, but it is due to the their mere lack of commitment to taking part in national issues. Though he does not mean to be rude or abusive to the American public, Shenkman describes them as stupid. He gives five defining characteristics of stupidity as sheer ignorance. This is due to the fact that Americans had developed the habit of sweeping important issues under the carpet, and not even being keen on how the government is being run. The second characteristic is negligence. The Americans did not even bother to seek authentic confirmation on important news events. The third was wooden –headedness, this is the habit of people sticking to what they believe in no matter what facts are offered against what they believe in. Shenkman associated this with many Americans who didn’t want to accept that what they stand for was wrong. Shenkman gave the forth characteristic as shortsightedness. Shenkman classified the American public as being shortsighted due to the fact that the tended to support policies that did not in any way contribute to the country’s long term benefits. The last characteristic of stupidity as given by Shenkman was bone-headedness. The American public was also stuck to meaningless phrases and stereotypes and was hence branded bone-headed (45).
Various methodologies have been used to measure public ignorance. One of them is the mind control theories and techniques used in mass media. Being a tool used to manipulate a lot of people; it molds and shapes people’s opinions and attitudes. They can therefore be used in assessment since the researchers will be able to measure the impact of information given through the media. How people accept the information they are given without researching on its accuracy is a clear indication of how people are ignorant .Another methodology used in the assessment is uncertainty. When the public’s future is uncertain, there is a way they are supposed to behave. If they behave otherwise, in a manner that suggests that they don’t even care, their level of ignorance is depicted. There is a great contradiction between the current information age and the American public. One wonders how on earth they can fail to be informed yet there are numerous sources of information currently. Information can even be found at the click of a button through the internet, without much of hassle. It is therefore expected that everybody should be well informed of what goes on in the country.
The trend of the American public has dire consequences if not corrected.

The future of America can never be worse if the American public does not cease to be ignorant. Their lack of commitment and ignorance has led to the government implementing bad foreign policies. These policies may have adverse effects on the economy in the future since it may negatively affect how the country does international business in the future. Local policies that do not in any way favor the public have also been implemented under the public’s very eye. These policies affect how the public gets access to essential amenities. The future will therefore be characterized by a grumbling nation that is always dissatisfied. The publics tendency to stay away from public and political issues has also led to the electing of leaders who are self-centered and do not have the country’s best interests in their hearts. They therefore do not work towards the public interests but towards their own

benefits.
Fareed Zakaria writes an article “Are America’s best days gone?” The article suggests solutions to the problems facing America’s public. He argues out those funds for social amenities like education, health care and scientific research should not be reduced since they contribute a lot to the economy’s long term growth. The main difference between this article and Shenkman’s book is that while the article points out solutions to the problems, the book only points out the issues that the American public have. Needless to say, the current situation will have adverse effects on my future and my family’s future because many bad policies have been implemented. The recent reduction in expenditures on education means that the members of my family that would not be able to afford education will remain illiterate (Zakaria).
Actions that I will take to stop the decline of our society include sensitization of the people on the importance of them taking part in public issues. People should also be aware of the fact that wrong decisions made by the government will affect the general public at large and they therefore should take charge of their country’s major decisions and secure the country’s future well-being. I will also ensure that I am abreast with the current issues affecting the country and that I pass on information to others once I get it. This is because the future of my country lies in my hands and my participation is enough to make a positive impact.

Works Cited
Shenkman, R. Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing The Truth About The American Voter. New York: Basic books Publishers, 2010.
Zakaria, F. "Are America’s Best Days Behind Us?" Time Magazine 3 March 2011.