Susan Jacobi's new book

Jacobi is fed up with how stupid we Americans are. I can't say I disagree. I personally feel dumber every day. I've actually started doing crossword puzzles at night and listening to Beethoven in the car to get my brain back on some kind of gray matter exercise schedule. I don't ever want to be an inspiration for such a book the way these 2 guys were:

"[On 9/11] walking home to her Upper East Side apartment, [Jacobi] said, overwhelmed and confused, she stopped at a bar. As she sipped her bloody mary, she quietly listened to two men, neatly dressed in suits. For a second she thought they were going to compare that day’s horrifying attack to the Japanese bombing in 1941 that blew America into World War II:

“This is just like Pearl Harbor,” one of the men said. The other asked, “What is Pearl Harbor?” “That was when the Vietnamese dropped bombs in a harbor, and it started the Vietnam War,” the first man replied.

At that moment, Ms. Jacoby said, “I decided to write this book.” "

Wow. I don't know what to say except that I can't say I didn't see this coming. We have an idiot for a president who was elected because people thought he'd be cool to have a beer with even though he's a recovering alcoholic. (Don't forget the man has stated shamelessly that in addition to not drinking he does not read newspapers.) We don't teach kids how to think in school anymore, only how to pass standardized tests. (Gee, thanks, No Child Left Behind...) We all watch TV and surf the internet when we're not cut off from community listening to our iPods sucking down coffee and applying our makeup in the car.

Look -- I'm certainly not saying that I'm smarter or better than everyone else; however, I do like to think I could pass a high school-level geography exam or discuss recent history in a way that shows I have a grasp on major world events. I'm not the only person who likes to have what i want when I want it. (Usually right now.) However, I also know that nothing comes easy, nothing is free.

It's hard to remember that when 400,000 results arrive in a split second for my google search or my dinner is ready in 2 minutes thanks to the microwave. I no longer have to write checks or find a pay-phone or go to the physical bookstore or handwrite letters to friends. I can do things so quickly now that it's a wonder anything ever got done before the 21st century.

My point, and I do have one, is that appreciation for hard work is nil these days. You have to be bigger, better, stronger or the world will run you over. Of course you have to work your ass off to score such a life or just rack up enough credit card debt to sustain a 3rd-world country. At the same time you are spoon-fed celebrity gossip, government propaganda, and fear-factor style "nightly news" that fills the remainder of your attention span which sucks that stuff up like a sponge. You're so stressed out from keeping up with the goddamned Joneses that you actually welcome such bullshit.

Why? Because it's easy. It's now the norm to let others do your thinking for you. Don't know where Iran is? Who cares! Don't know who the president of Mexico is? Why bother? Can't do simple multiplication? No worries! Someone or something will do it for you. Just rest your pretty head, have a coke, worry about how Britney's doing, and put a 'Mericun flag on the front of your house. Jesus will be back soon and you can nap for eternity on a dainty white cloud.