How can so many people in this country lack the ability to logically think?

[sinkingfeeling]

I just read this article on Truthout: "Romney Appeals to White Tribalism in Ohio ".
http://truth-out.org/news/item/12123-romney-appeals-to-white-tribalism-in-ohio

And it hurts my head to follow the statements made by the 5 Ohioans who attended it. How can a farmer, who must pay his own family's health insurance, be against 'Obamacare'?

How can somebody that's aware that Bain sent jobs overseas and that Mitt has his money everywhere except the USA, say this, " Romney is going to make more jobs for the middle class instead of sending them overseas to China." ?

What is wrong with people in this country who will continually vote against their own economic best interests?

[atreides1]

1. It's simple when you look at it

Fear and hatred...fear of something that they don't even try to understand and hatred of a man because of the color of his skin...

"Fear is the mind killer..."

[CanonRay]

2. In a word: Religion

I think that is the most prevalent cause. You have to suspend rational/logical thinking and just believe.

[MNBrewer]

15. Cause? or Effect?

Do people lack the ability to think logically because they believe in religion, or do they believe in religion because they lack the ability to think logically?

Difficult nut to crack, that one.

[CanonRay]

19. Good point.

and way above my pay grade.

[dawg]

20. I think religion is a symptom, not the cause.

I'm religious, and I'm not an asshole. Much.


Seriously, I don't think religion causes these people to be this way. I think authoritarian followers seek out religion. It is an effect rather than the cause.

[HockeyMom]

3. My husband's IT jobs were offshored 3 times

I got mine now so screw you if it happens to you.

[KurtNYC]

4. Americans are some of the worst consumers because we shop on brand and price

and not on overall value (quality / price).

Americans trust in big brands and don't look at the details. Romney is a big brand offering a cheap price (tax cut -- same as every 4 years). 3 wars for the price of one! "20% off through 2016!" "Buy now, pay later!"

I loved someone else's quote about the media's role in this: Mass Media is rich people paying slightly less rich people to convince middle class people to blame poor people.

Brainwashing is a science -- that's what the real polls are for. Campaigns look for 'how many minds can we change for how many dollars via what method.'

[lunatica]

6. That would make a great sig line!

Mass Media is rich people paying slightly less rich people to convince middle class people to blame poor people.

[lunatica]

5. All their thinking is premised on fear

Then they pick 'facts' and supposed rational and logical thinking to back up that fear. Fear of not only the fact that Obama is Black, but that he reminds them that the white man is rapidly becoming a minority. Their fear is also based on the fallacy of white supremacy, meaning that white people are inherently superior just because they're white.

They're being forced to face that their mythological thinking is wrong. It's never easy to face your fears. Most people never do it until life forces them to.

[el_bryanto]

7. Yes I'd hate to see tribalism around DU

The unthinking assumption that those who disagree with us politically are mentally defective, for example.

Bryant

[Sekhmets Daughter]

8. Well, you might try asking

When was the last time anyone really did anything for the middle class? For example: The minimum wage in Australia was recently raised to $15.51 an hour. Do not say Obamacare...most middle class Americans have health insurance...Obamacre provides a means of coverage for the working class...and that's a great beginning. But, the middle class would benefit from single payer and a higher minimum wage which would cause their wages to increase as well. As no one is addressing their economic issues, it becomes very easy for some to vote for their social/religious agenda and to believe whatever myth comes from the mouth of Mitt.

[bemildred]

9. Bad schools? It's not something you're born with, it's something you learn.

Or not.

[EnviroBat]

10. Watch the movie "Idiocracy".

Although it's a comedy, the beginning of the movie illustrates EXACTLY what is happening in this country. Each successive generation becoming stupider than the parents that beget them. We are a media-driven society, and the media does everything in it's power to "dumb us down", and make us complaint. That's the only way they can keep us stupid, entertained, and buying the shit they are constantly peddling. My wife asked a funny question last night when she heard a baseball game start on the TV. "Why the fuck are they still playing baseball"? She asked. I said, so that Budweiser can sell more of it's liver killing swill. The sports seasons have to overlap so that more advertising profits can be realized. I swear that most of the people that I'm exposed to in a given day are stupider than a stump. It's an epidemic, and it's destroying this country.

&feature=related

[marions ghost]

12. Everybody should see Idiocracy

it is one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. I think of it every time I go to Costco (which is not very much...but I get tires and electronics there, also bulk paper products and wine)...

Idiocracy R Us.

[Mr Dixon]

11. IMO

This society is conditioned not to think for themselves, the media has long sense been the main culprit of misinformation. This is the precise reason they want to censor the internet, because their message is being questioned and proven wrong daily.

[ieoeja]

13. Love this one:

"Jeff Doresch, who owns a small business detailing cars, was angry. 'Obama is shutting us all down. He's destroying us with tax increases.' When asked how his taxes had fared under Obama, Doresch responded, 'They've stayed the same.'"

Amazing.

[renate]

17. oh god... that just makes me so sad

I can't even put it into words. It's sad and infuriating that hucksters like Mitt Romney and voters like Jeff Doresch should even potentially have any say in the lives of people who take the trouble to think for themselves.

[porphyrian]

14. Critical thinking skills are no longer taught in public schools.

In Florida, if it ain't on the FCAT, it don't get taught.

[hamsterjill]

16. You ask, "How can so many people in this country lack the ability to logically think?"

A whole helluva lot of them that are around me. I'm in Texaas. I cannot believe the stupidity that I hear. I marvel at it these days. And it's truly frightening.

People like that don't want to think. If they try, it reminds them of how stupid they've become because they've not practiced real thinking in such a long time. You now, you lose it if you don't use it!

[Initech]

18. Frank Zappa said one time how we're an entire generation raised on cartoons.

And that has affected people's versions of what's real and what isn't. He's got a point.