I Just Watched 'Idiocracy' For The First Time

As the title states, I have just finished watching the film, 'Idiocracy', for the first time, and I have to say, sadly, it has got to be the most potentially prophetic film that I have ever viewed.

Seriously, I'm a little depressed over this; not surprised, mind you, but just a little depressed.

I had heard from several people that if I hadn't seen this film, I needed to. They were correct.

Now, I realize that it's just a movie, and it really doesn't depict the future of mankind, but it does depict a potential future for our race, that, quite frankly, seems extremely likely, given the state of society at present.

I feel that the most depressing part of this film is that even if we, as a race, knew we were headed in this direction, collectively, we wouldn't take the necessary steps to stop it.

Am I a pessimist? Probably, but I just don't have much faith in humanity. I realize that there will be some (or many) of you that will tell me that I'm overreacting to the movie, and that may be true in a sense, but I think that what I'm reacting to is what I see everyday on the streets, in the stores, and at work.

Here's hoping that my misgivings about Humanity are misplaced.

Honey Booboo's having Honey Booboo's having Honey Boo's..
Boo!!

DenyFlatulence
Honey Booboo's having Honey Booboo's having Honey Boo's..
Boo!!

Precisely. I find that to be frightening.

Buzzkill Alert!

Democratic self-government does not work, according to Plato, because ordinary people have not learned how to run the ship of state. They are not familiar enough with such things as economics, military strategy, conditions in other countries, or the confusing intricacies of law and ethics. They are also not inclined to acquire such knowledge. The effort and self-discipline required for serious study is not something most people enjoy. In their ignorance they tend to vote for politicians who beguile them with appearances and nebulous talk, and they inevitably find themselves at the mercy of administrations and conditions over which they have no control because they do not understand what is happening around them. They are guided by unreliable emotions more than by careful analysis, and they are lured into adventurous wars and victimized by costly defeats that could have been entirely avoided.

- Frostburg State University, Plato's Democracy

The fate of a society that is fat, lazy, preoccupied with shallow trivial crap and intellectually inane must surely be extinction.

Our fate is in our own hands, the direction of our current society is in the hands of a few very powerful bloodlines - they want to see a society of fat, lazy, preoccupied idiots, it makes their task of global dominance and control easier.

In light of the Bundy ranch fiasco and the US governments display of how to control - Idiocracy is a good motivating movie - of what not to become.

That movie was awesome. Soo many quotable lines. Brought to you by Carls Jr.

reply to post by ProfessorChaos


Great movie with such a strong message to everyone.

I was just thinking about this movie...there are some People who do not know how to make 'flour'; they don't know how to 'catch their food and butcher it'... if carp was the only thing left to eat... they would not know how to prepare it and eat it.

People criticized me because I am a proud Mother of my Son who hunts food, butchers it and brings it home for us to eat. The skills are being lost and there a many who will not survive if the supermarket or the local butchers is gone.

& I also believe those People without the knowledge of how to survive are the ones that are the first to pick up guns and kill others because they have more food etc in a SHTF scenario.

Sublimecraft
The fate of a society that is fat, lazy, preoccupied with shallow trivial crap and intellectually inane must surely be extinction.

Our fate is in our own hands, the direction of our current society is in the hands of a few very powerful bloodlines - they want to see a society of fat, lazy, preoccupied idiots, it makes their task of global dominance and control easier.

In light of the Bundy ranch fiasco and the US governments display of how to control - Idiocracy is a good motivating movie - of what not to become.

Having followed the Bundy situation, I think that this movie hit home with me with greater precision because of it.

reply to post by ProfessorChaos


Evolution: The arrival of the most frequent

Welcome to Costco, I Love You... See everybody at the Museum of Fart later.

SaturnFX
That movie was awesome. Soo many quotable lines. Brought to you by Carls Jr.

As much as the movie bothered me with regard to my perception of reality, I did enjoy it, and had a few good laughs as well.

Thurisaz
reply to post by ProfessorChaos

 

Great movie with such a strong message to everyone.

I was just thinking about this movie...there are some People who do not know how to make 'flour'; they don't know how to 'catch their food and butcher it'... if carp was the only thing left to eat... they would not know how to prepare it and eat it.

People criticized me because I am a proud Mother of my Son who hunts food, butchers it and brings it home for us to eat. The skills are being lost and there a many who will not survive if the supermarket or the local butchers is gone.

& I also believe those People without the knowledge of how to survive are the ones that are the first to pick up guns and kill others because they have more food etc in a SHTF scenario.

I agree with you about the lack of real world skills that exists in today's society.

reply to post by ProfessorChaos

Here's hoping that my misgivings about Humanity are misplaced.

They aren't. We're already there…

Dumbdowned population whose only need is to get high, have sex and consume. Mega corporations, crumbling infrastructure, celebrity politicians, hyperinflation (well, maybe not yet on that one). Stay tuned…

If you liked Idiocracy, check out "Brazil".

In all honesty, I believe we're fighting the wrong enemy.

The enemy is not the other guy.

The enemy is the complacence within ourselves to allow these things to happen.

anyhow, here ya go

Sadly, watching that vid will only make you feel like its all hopeless.

My thoughts on it...well, I can only choose my path towards knowledge and higher ideals, and maybe pass on some of that influence to others close to me.
But I think its also a mistake to suggest society is definitely doomed to stupidity.
Not because we are trending towards increasing our intellect normally...but rather, because we are merging with our technology.
I think in 500 years, we will be a race of super genius cyborgs..granted, the main preoccupation of cyborgs will be probably about the same...humor and sexuality being the main pursuits, but the average "person" may be able to build a quantum computer out of spare parts found in a kitchen.
-brought to you by Carls Jr.

intrptr
reply to post by ProfessorChaos

 

Here's hoping that my misgivings about Humanity are misplaced.

They aren't. We're already there…

Dumbdowned population whose only need is to get high, have sex and consume. Mega corporations, crumbling infrastructure, celebrity politicians, hyperinflation (well, maybe not yet on that one). Stay tuned…

If you liked Idiocracy, check out "Brazil".

THAT'S the name of the other movie that was suggested to me! Thank you! I couldn't remember the name.

It's Darwinism at its best!

The strong will survive, but it takes either natural intervention or an epiphany.

Translation for the ignorant: A sudden realization about the nature or meaning of something. An epiphany can often come about due to some experience that may trigger the sudden realization.

just to add a little bit of hope and peace of mind.

47 percent of roughly 4.7 million in 1696. As wars, depressions and disease riddled 18th century Europe, the pace of literacy growth slowed but continued upwards, reaching 62 percent among the English population of roughly 8 million by 1800.

Literacy rates followed a similar trajectory in North America. At the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, nearly 60 percent of about 3 million American adults could read1 but in the following 19th and 20th centuries, literacy rates in America grew rapidly. In 1870, almost 80 percent of 38.5 million Americans were literate and by 1940, almost 95 percent of 131 million citizens could read. Now, nearly 294 million Americans of about 300 million are literate and most children can read by the time they’re six or seven. According to the Census Bureau, 25-34 year-olds are now the best educated group of Americans: nearly 58 percent have some college education, and almost 27 percent have a bachelor’s degree or more. The percentages drop with each subsequent age group, retrospectively suggesting that over time, each new generation will be more educated, and therefore more literate, than the last.

Worldwide, literacy has steadily increased from 56 percent of almost 2 billion adults (ages 15 and over) in 1950 to 83 percent of about 4.5 billion adults in 2008. In 2008, UNESCO reported that between 1995 and 2008, there was “an overall global increase of about 6 percent (from 77 percent to 83 percent) in rates of adult (aged 15 years and older) literacy (representing a relative increase of 8 percent).

Source
So, it seems we are ok. Actually, we are better than ever in regards to intellectual pursuits. Our entertainment may not dictate our overall worth as a intelligent society, so its best not to take only the absurdity of society and suggest that is society as a whole. That may say more about us than about any reality of what we see.

Its a bit like Japan. If we go by just the silly media that comes from Japan, then we would assume the whole country is just flippin nuts.

But if you go over there, you will see very normal society for the most part.


Best not to paint a society based on their absurdity I think is the lesson.

ProfessorChaos
I realize that there will be some (or many) of you that will tell me that I'm overreacting to the movie, and that may be true in a sense, but I think that what I'm reacting to is what I see everyday on the streets, in the stores, and at work.

Yep, you're overreacting. The society depicted in that movie was a commentary on today's society and two extremely average people made a difference when they put their minds to it. I think that's a pretty decent lesson.

reply to post by jrflipjr



the fittest are those who have had to eat pests and hunt for their own food. Most of them will find a way to eat anything and survive.

reminds me when I read in the bible.. 'the meek shall inherit the earth'... the meek are the poor People; and they will inherit the earth. They will survive because they had to while all the rich effluent People bought their goods or had others preparing their meals for them.