Signs of the Coming Idiocracy

Before beginning to discuss some of the signs that show our country is becoming similar to the one in Idiocracy, I will begin with a critique of the film.

I am not a fan of the film. Dax Shephard's character is SOOOOO stupid his performance is beyond irritating. I would recommend that anyone else who was annoyed by Dax check out his hilarious performance in Let's Go to Prison, a film which also features actor Michael Shannon, who was just nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar.
We are to believe that Luke Wilson's character hibernates 500 years, awakening to a world where his average intelligence now makes him the smartest man in the world. Trust me, with as dumb as the people are 500 years into the future, you'd best believe that the human race would've disappeared 200 years into the future. The idiots in Idiocracy do not have a functioning legal system, prison system, government, etc. I can't believe that any of these people would be smart enough to show up for work, let alone dress themselves, or answer "nature's call" in a bathroom. Believe me, the world presented in Idiocracy would have long been over just 200 years, if not much shorter, after good ole' Joe Bauer entered his hibernation.
Even though I feel the plot in Idiocracy is too idiotic for its own good, the signs of a coming idiocracy, though not on the same scale as the film, are everywhere in society.

Let's face it, the youth of this country is f'd. There are children and teens watching the absolute crap that is on VH1. Shows like Rock of Love, Flava of Love, I Love Money, and Charm School showcase the worst society has to offer and incredibly have proved to be quite popular, considering that these shows are still on the air. These shows have sluts and manwhores, too stupid to know where Missouri is on a map (Ahhh, just the kind of chick Brett Michaels is looking for) parading around in revealing outfits that would make Jenna Jameson blush, all while wrestling in mud to try to prove who deserves Brett Michael's, Flava Flave's, or New York's affection. To the college student aspiring to become a television journalist, I tell you to give up your dream. If you want to be on television, get breast implants (They can never be too big!), start sleeping with at least twenty partners a week, call other women "bitches", and put your make-up setting on "whore". Only then will you MAYBE have the chance to mud wrestle with the likes of girls named "Saphire" and "Dyamond" in the hopes of sleeping and dating a has been rocker or rapper...until the third edition of the show comes out and you're back on your ass.
That these programs are still on, and have a strong following from a youthful audience, is scary indeed.

The death of the English language is another sign. Our generation has our own way of using the english language. Before=B4. Be right back=brb. Your=ur. Texting and emails have become so prominent that most people my age no longer know how to write a formal letter. Sure simplifying the language can make communication faster, but I worry we are forgetting how to communicate properly. I've fallen for the trend as well. Freshman year, when writing an email to my academic advisor, I wrote "prolly" instead of "probably". I was embarrassed to have my advisor reply to my email with a note saying "You probably shouldn't write 'prolly' to your academic advisor."

The love affair many people my age had/have with Barack Obama might be the greatest sign. I would ask my friends who voted for him, why they did so. "He stands for change!!!!!" or "He will give us hope!" seemed to be the common response. Did they know anything about his stances on the issues, no. Was it important to them, hell no. So dumbed down were people in my generation that empty slogans and chants were enough to get them to vote for a man who with hardly ANY experience in the U.S. senate, much of his ONLY term dedicated to his running for president.
Were there good reasons to vote for Obama? Of COURSE there were! But those reasons should have been based on his plans for the economy, education, foreign relations, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...not because he can give a good speech and has Ludacris on his Ipod.
It scares me that people who have NO understanding whatsoever of politics and American history have the same voting power as do I. Perhaps President Comacho (was that his name) from Idiocracy was also elected on a campaign of "Change" and "Hope". The national beverage will be "changed" from Coke to Mountain Dew. I "hope" someone will do something about that huge mountain of trash.
When my generation votes for a man whom they know nothing about, except for his skin color, his speaking ability, he's not George W. Bush, and the artists on his Ipod....that's idiocracy right there.

For decades, past generations have thought our culture was deterioriating into a bunch of idiots. When the boobtube came along, they thought we were getting stupider. When those smelly, dirty, drugged-up hippies were fornicating all over the country, I'm sure people thought our generations were getting dumber. And I, as part of a new generation, also believe we're getting dumber.

When more people my age are watching Candy the stipper try to shove 50 hot dogs in her mouth than are watching CNN, NBC, or Fox News, thats idiocracy.

When someone like myself writes "prolly" to an academic advisor...hate to say it...but thats idiocracy

When the President of the United States got votes from many in my generation based off nothing but sheer ignorance and empty words...that's the future of an Idiocracy.


The film, not funny, not at all. Will we ever get to be that stupid, no, I don't think so. But are we becoming more like the people in Idiocracy, the brainless, sex-crazed, entertained by people getting hit in the balls people? Yep, sadly, we sure are.