When Trump was first elected, it made me realize how stupid most of the US is. The results of this election were not surprising, I even linked to the sort of self-serving articles that preceded just before Hillary-Trump's elections to people who were doing the same in this election. At least in this election, it's sort of like Israel, they are leaving no doubt about who they support. I don't even care if Kamala gets the popular vote, most criticize the electoral college word only and refuse to consider gerrymandering as electoral fraud, leading to it occurring in greater and newer ways this election.
Why are americans so stupid and yet manage to export so much smart stuff from tech to podcasts to scientists. Is it some sort of dystopia where 1% rules, 20% live in a bubble and 79% are just brain dead idiots?
Yeah but basically everyone I follow from podcasters to tech developers are all non-idiots and I assume their following are also mostly non-idiots. Where are all of these idiots hiding? The contrast between US soft power export and actual average americans is colossal.
Yeah but almost every American I meet here traveling in SEA or Europe is a perfectly reasonable person.
Dunno I just am in such disbelief that my world experience doesn't match reality at all. I even consider myself pretty well traveled with 20 years of experience traveling around the globe though admittedly I've never been to the USA yet and I fear I might not get to see Yellowstone or Big Sur ever at this point or do I even want to?
The people you meet while travelling are not the average people. The average American never travels to another state, let alone to other continents... Same is true for many people in many countries: Asians visiting Europe are top % of population in wealth and brains. It's dissapointing and depressing but fox probably gives you a more true picture of average Americans than Americans you meet while travelling.
The more conservative you are, the less likely you are to travel. The less likely you are to be open to experiencing “them”.
When I went back to my high school reunion, I tried reconnecting with an old buddy of mine. I found it a little odd that his life seemed exactly the same as in high school, but eventually he admitted that he had never been more than about 50 miles from the town we grew up in. Never left the state, much less the country. Never left the surrounding rural cluster of towns. Never flew. Not even a road trip to a coast, amusement park or city. No changes in food from what he grew up with. No people different from him. What the everliving fuck?
The podcasters you follow are not the mainstream in the US. Probably the majority of mainstream podcasters targeting men, were pro Trump in one way or the other. Either by inviting guests that were pro-Trump, or inviting quacks that are telling men that the left is taking away their masculinity.
He has not been consistently pro Trump, he has harshly criticized Trump in the past. But now he's an ass-kisser like Elon. Let's see how well that works out for them. If they can keep daddy Trump happy at the expense of everyone else.
Why do people from Europe go and build monuments and luxury in Saudi Arabia?
Money. Same answer in the US.
The US is an oligarchy, as attested to by this Oxford study. To answer your question, mostly yes, hence places like "Silicon Valley" and institutions like the electoral college.