Culture and the Media are Making People a Lot Dumber Than They Actually Are

There is a lot going on right now that just proves that people are not actually as dumb as they seem right now. The media is covering all the riots, the only thing people see on the news are protesters smashing storefronts and lighting police cars and buildings on fire, and the cycle of police brutality and rioting death spiral continues to escalate to an extraordinary level. Why does this cycle exist? It exists because people don't accurately understand the problem, or how to fix it. This brings me to my next point: the educational system. The media is death spiral fuel, but the educational system is the reason that people are so dumb right now. Our educational system is based on standardized testing, everyone has to perform at the same standard in every subject, and if they don't they are held back and prevented from moving forward in life. So everyone is held to the same standard, and everyone is expected to work at the same pace, which creates a problem. Some kids are smart, and others are (in my words) not so bright. But our system does little to accommodate everyone to the same extent. If a kid is smart, they are held back by the system because they are required to work at the pace of the average kids in their grade, which creates boredom, which leads to poor performance. If the kid is not so bright, they are just held back because they can't keep up. This creates a massive problem in our society, because we are all held to the same standard, and this is where the phrase "you're either with us or against us" comes into play. School systems are brutally competitive, and kids are categorized as either being smart or not smart. But kids who are not as bright have their own talents, which are almost completely disregarded by the school system. I was considered middle-of-the-pack for most of my school life, and I was always pretty good at drawing. The teachers only cared about the kids who were the best drawers, or the best singers, or the best musicians. There are a lot of different types of intelligence, and they all deserve their own recognition.