[Skooz]

Thanks for letting me vent. That last sentence isn't really true, but I DO envy the people who can just let it go and who can look at Dan Rather, Bill Clinton, Hillary, or Peter Jennings and not wretch. How sweet it must be.

[Terriergal]

Check this out. Speaks to your point very well I think:

http://www.lingsoft.fi/~reriksso/competence.html

[dighton]

See the happy moron,
He doesn't give a damn.
I wish I were a moron --
My God, perhaps I am!

-- Anonymous.

[RayeHawk]

Shouldn't that be . . . I wish I was a maroon ? *grin*

[4CJ]

If you want to be a moron, join the Dims.

If you can't stomach that thought, just get a frontal lobotomy - less painfull.

[petuniasevan]

I know how you feel. I was born in 1963 and remember a lot of the same televised events. As for my husband, he's the same age, but of vastly different background and temperament. He loves to fish. So do I, but it's almost a religion with him (fisherspouses know what I mean).

That's all he would do if it were up to him. He is conservative, but with a big streak of libertarian skeptic built-in.
He doesn't much pay attention to political goings-on, and is amused at my vocal support of the President.

Sometimes I've been envious, but I realize he misses out on information by choice.

[Fixit]

Shouldn't that be

I wish I were a moron?

Oh wait, I get it now. ;-)

[fone]

"Ignorance is bliss...
Knowledge is power"

[Texaggie79]

I enjoy conflict, of minds that is. I love to argue with people. If everyone agrees on something, heck, I might just take the opposing side just to argue and fight with them.

[Interious]

I agree with you completely. I wish I knew nothing about politics and world affairs and wish I cared even less.

There was a time when this was true and I was much happier.

[GoredInMich]

Skooz Good rant. I think about this all of the time. I, too , am an avid fisherman, and my lures are important, however, i spend much time planning how to deal with the PETA freaks when they try to take away my Daiwa.

That being said, I watch in amazement, as my politically ignorant in-laws stumble through life, not knowing that they are unwitting accomplices to the liberal agenda. Hell, they dont even know what the liberal agenda is, which makes them accomplices.

My wife is starting to come around, through gentle, yet relentless thought-provoking questions and comments from me. Occasionally, I slip, and rant for a while on the "liberal pukes", but for the most part, she is becoming "Un-PC" The deprogramming is having an effect.

My in-laws in general, though, have made verbal agreements amongst themselves, not to bring up politics in my presence. A sad commentary.

Stay well

[Orual]

I wish I was a Moron!

[mercy]

Hey man, I can relate.Try the fishing thing. It can work for hours at a time. As to the brother-in-law types ... try ridicule. At least you won't have to have them in your face much longer as they will avoid you in short order.

[tonycavanagh]

re : For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

I embarrassed myself on more than one occasion at a dinner table when drunk after my tour of Bosnia. I hated the fact that I had seen things and when drunk I used to try and get others to understand

Tony

[headsonpikes]

"'Tis better to be Socrates, dissatified...

...than a pig, satisfied."

[Harrison Bergeron]

Thanks. You saved me the trouble of writing the very same rant. I remember back in high school, the stupid guys got all the girls. Then in college, the education majors always seemed to have time to hang out in the SAC watching TV. Then when I started my engineering career, the guys on the production floor who still had lockers and came and went to the sound of a bell always seemed so carefree. And all these people had friends and family who loved them, just like me, so I never even had the luxury of feeling smug or superior to them.

But it's hubris, pure and simple, to think of our everyday working knowledge of politics and world events as a "burden," or ourselves "enlightened." If you read Sowell's Vision of the Anointed, this is, ironically, exactly how liberals see themselves. But more often than we'll ever know, some senator or highly placed executive somewhere sees you or I go about our daily routines, or reads one of our FR posts and says to themselves... "Ya know, this guy has it made. Not a care in the world."

[ChemistCat]

Best vanity I've ever seen, including my own. My friend Janis calls me an "information junkie" and says it's pretty much pathological. The fallout from the Clinton years, the election, and now War2K have all taken turns twisting my nervous system into billions of Gordian knots.

*

I have just added your Ecclesiastes verse to my AOL autoresponder, with this note at the end: "Go ahead, increase my sorrow; leave a detailed message."

[znix]

Hang in there pal.

Knowledge is power.

[The Man Upstairs]

I wish I was a Moron!

I am the djinni of the lamp.

If you truly wish to be a moron, just rub me...

And I'll add three points to your IQ.

[browardchad]

Good points, and thanks for the link, Terriergal -- interesting.

I don't think its basic intelligence that causes the problem -- it's having opinions, and being passionate about those opinions -- traits not held in high esteem in our society. Maybe the current world situation will change that a bit, as what we're facing slowly sinks in over time...if it's not too late.

[JoeSchem]

Most people don't want to spend time on Higher Questions. They'd rather fish, garden, and golf. It's not a question of intelligence, it's a matter of self-involvement.

There are two types of people with an interest in politics: people who are on personal power trips (the ultimate in self-involvement) and people who are truly unselfish and care about what's best for society.

I notice that many people involved in politics never want to look at religious or supernatural matters, so it works on that level, too.

The Cydonia Files.