The Rising Tide of Ignorance Alexander Massa America is today, more than ever before, plagued by ignorance and a general lack of knowledge. Even though political awareness seems to be rising in light of the tea party movement, it seems as though America still lags behind intellectually. We have the opportunity to be the education capital of the world, but it appears as though our leaders are more than content to let the Communist Chinese and others surpass us and claim intellectual superiority. When the children of America are compared to the children of the industrialized Asian nations, such as Japan and South Korea, they lag woefully behind. What is the cause of this? Is it due to the fact that the Asian countries have a martial-like attitude towards schoolwork? Perhaps, but that has always been the case. That will always be the case; that is a part of their culture. Liberalism is the cause. Liberalism has, over the years, promoted and perpetuated laziness and a poor work ethic. In tandem with the labor unions, which demand exorbitant wages from already struggling business owners, liberals have transformed America into a sedentary, passive nation; a far cry from the industrial superpower that was America in the mid-20th century. The demise of the American work ethic is directly related to the demise of American intelligence and the meteoric rise of ignorance. After all, if people aren't even willing to work hard when they are getting paid, what would motivate them to work to simply educate themselves? Many Americans see education as a waste of time, because they cannot always instantly make a profit from it, and because of the fact that to some it is challenging. This is a product of America's instant gratification culture; many aren't willing to invest the time necessary to educate themselves. This is a direct threat to the Republic - if the vast populace of America is ignorant of current events, both domestic and foreign, how can they possibly vote responsibly and effectively? This is why most of our elections turn into popularity contests. Many are unaware of the complex political issues of the day, and they simply rely on 60-second sound bites and campaign ads when choosing who to vote for - if they even vote, that is. The 2008 presidential election was a prime example of this phenomenon. Barack Obama was wildly popular in America, and won the election by a wide margin, beating McCain in several traditional Republican strongholds. While McCain was generally thought of as a weak candidate, he still (in a normal election with an informed voting population) should have been able to win states like North Carolina and Virginia. But the cult of personality around Barack Obama, which was conveniently crafted by the left-wing media, swayed many to Obama's side, even though a vast majority of Obama supporters weren't even aware of his platform. All they knew was that he was "cool" and "hip", and that he was more of a celebrity than a politician. They blindly trusted and followed him, like cattle into a slaughterhouse or sheep off a cliff, even though it was plainly obvious to intelligent observers that Obama couldn't possibly deliver on his monumental promises of change and government transparency. And it is clear today that he could not and does not intend to keep his campaign promises, which most of the brainwashed Obamaites have already forgotten about. Unless we reverse this trend, we are in store for more popularity contests masquerading as legitimate elections in the future. Therefore, it is imperative that we fight liberalism wherever it rears its ugly head, and wherever it undermines the work ethic of Americans by instituting insidious welfare programs that just distribute free money and do not put people back to work. If anything, welfare perpetuates poverty and keeps the impoverished from rising from the depths of despair and actually climbing the economic ladder. The sad truth is that people would rather receive free money and not have to work, even if it means that they remain in poverty living in dangerous ghettos in cities across America. It is high time that American liberals recognize that New Deal and Great Society type programs do nothing to improve the economic situation of normal everyday Americans and that only the free market and capitalism can set people free. Conservatives and Libertarians must unite to fight this rising tide of ignorance that is perpetuated by liberal policies which are promoted by the supposedly non-partisan mainstream media. Only when American turn their attention away from petty entertainment - sports, television shows, video games - and focus on things that really matter, can our country return to a state of normalcy. Only when the Sheeple stop listening with blind faith to the liberal demagogues can America return to greatness. Only when the American people come to the realization that they are being tricked by slick Marxist puppet masters will they act - until then, they will stay asleep, while the Communists among us ravage our country and enslave the next several generations with unpayable debts. But mark my words - when the people finally wake up, there will be hell to pay. The tea parties are just the beginning; they mark the slow but steady awakening of the populace. The Marxists will pay for their treachery when they awaken the sleeping giant that is America.