More dumbing down of society

[NoJobRob]

It's pretty scary when you have to force a police department to lower hiring standards, especially when they only require the equivalent of a C and a D to get hired (pathetic). Now it's a D and an F. Call me crazy but I believe in raising standards in order to get better employees, especially in emergency services. That and medicine is where it's critical to have only the best people, because other people's lives are in their hands. I don't know about you but I'd be pretty pissed if I died just because a police or fire department was forced to be politically correct (which is a farce of a concept anyway...). I think this just goes to show how bad affirmative action is. Do you think it's right for someone to get hired just because of their race? I don't. It's racist, plain and simple. If they really wanted to make a stride towards ending racism they would just stop making it an issue. That perpetuates it more than anything. Why does the government feel the need to put fences around people and section us off to be categorized by race? That's what racism is.

Let's say an Mexican guy and an Asian guy are applying for the same job. The Mexican guy has more education and more certifications but the Asian guy gets the job so the company can fill a racial quota. Is that right? The answer is no, it isn't right. It's racist and stupid.



YouTube - Obama forces Dayton police to lower testing standards to hire more Blacks

Back to the lowering of the bar issue...

It's getting to the point where one could put common sense on their resume and it would make them outshine most other job applicants. LOL The dumbing down has spread into many career fields. I've noticed a trend over the years in text books where what was once required learning later ends up in those little "Nifty Facts" sections that are just there for shits and giggles, and people don't get tested on those for the most part. It's happening in medicine too. My mom said that many of the new nurses are dumber than dog **** and they make really stupid mistakes that get people killed. Pretty scary stuff... And we wonder why America is falling behind. Gee, I wonder...

If this dumbing down of society does not end we will end up just how Mike Judge shows the world in his movie Idiocracy. LOL

This will be our food pyramid:



This will be the news:



This will be our currency:



This will be our cities:



Our hospitals:



Our homes:



The secretary of education:



The movie theater:



Congress (The House of Representin')

[Alstar]

The source you provided is Fox news. Provide a legitimate source if the subject is to be discussed properly.

EDIT: Wow, the hiring standards were atrociously low in the first place. They only have to get 72% on an exam? In any other police force that would be a clear fail. Here the standards are 90%.

[NoJobRob]

Originally Posted by Alstar

The source you provided is Fox news. Provide a legitimate source if the subject is to be discussed properly.

EDIT: Wow, the hiring standards were atrociously low in the first place. They only have to get 72% on an exam? In any other police force that would be a clear fail. Here the standards are 90%.

The substance of my message is in what i typed, never mind the vid.

Yeah that's what I'm saying, the standard was already super low. If they can't find people who meet the standard then wtf is wrong with the educational system in Ohio, or, why are people in Dayton Ohio so stupid? I don't see why they just don't email every police department who've laid off half their force and get the now unemployed officers to fill the gap. In Flint, MI they've laid off so many cops that they only have 8 patrolling the city at any given time. For a really really bad city like Flint, that's nothing. As for their fire service they can't respond out of their area anymore because of cutbacks, so now they don't receive any mutual aid from the surrounding communities. That city is one step away from anarchy.

[ssandra]

I agree with you that "positive discrimination" is also discrimination, and not something to be happy about.

That being said, sometimes it is the only way to "force" people to hire either black people, foreigners or women.

BUT, and this is a huge one; they should always qualify for the job. And if they don't qualify it shouldn't matter if they are a female, black Mexican from Indian descent, they shouldn't get the job.

I do think though that to be a good cop you might not need the type of grades that you would get in school. Other things are more important in my opinion; such as common reasoning skills, being able to talk to people, physical fitness, not a bad temper, ability to learn the law....

[Alstar]

Originally Posted by NoJobRob

The substance of my message is in what i typed, never mind the vid.

Your comments about discrimination are supposedly in reaction to the video. What I want to know is if this move is really to hire more black police officers, or if it's just some spin that Fox has put on the story. For confirmation I would want to see several news sources stating the same thing, or a statement from an official source.

Originally Posted by ssandra

I do think though that to be a good cop you might not need the type of grades that you would get in school. Other things are more important in my opinion; such as common reasoning skills, being able to talk to people, physical fitness, not a bad temper, ability to learn the law...

Poor grades indicate a lack of dedication and responsibility at best, at worst a lack of intelligence. In Europe they look for life experience and people skills in police officers. Grades don't matter as much, but of course they have to pass the Police exams without any of that borderline crap. You either pass or you do it again. From a purely external point of view (so I might be wrong), it looks like in the U.S instead of looking for good communicators they look for people who are physically "tough" and willing to use firearms. Combine that with stupidity and lack of responsibility and you have a less-than-desirable person in a role of authority. Again, I might be generalizing here because I haven't been to the U.S and only see what I get in the form of media and videos. Judging by the fact that American TV and movies heavily romanticize police work (which DOES impact recruitment), it's no wonder that the people applying are just not smart enough to join.

[secrets0stolen]

Originally Posted by NoJobRob

This will be the news:

Wait, and that's different from now?

[Lioness]

The images remind me of that movie "Idiocracy". I definitely think the US is falling behind in our educational standards. However, this decision is coming from the Dept. of Justice, not "Obama".

I don't know the situation in Dayton but I'll guess that in addition to a shortage of cops in general, you have a largely white police force patrolling black neighborhoods. This makes for a lot of racial tension and charges, both true and falsely perceived of racist police brutality, profiling and selective enforcement.

The idea of increasing the number of African-Americans on the force by lowering the test standards is troubling, but unfortunately, there is an unfair disadvantage of being educated in poor, urban schools. Academic skills and test-taking ability don't necessarily indicate a person's intelligence, judgement, ability to deal with the public, or enforce the law.

That being said, I agree that they should recruit from cities that are laying off cops due to the economy.

[KaleidoskopicVision]

Originally Posted by secrets0stolen

wait, and that's different from now?

qft.

Originally Posted by Lioness

The images remind me of that movie "Idiocracy".

That's because they are from the movie Idiocracy.

[KaleidoskopicVision]

Rob, what's the second law of thermodynamics? Entropy! Us humans aren't immune to it by any means.

Human society is going to inevitably disintegrate into something like Idiocracy provided there is no conscious effort to raise the bar. We are getting too clever for our own good. People who would've otherwise been eaten by lions are now living the good life, working 9 to 5 as a pig and snacking on the best doughnuts money can buy. Job perks include but are not limited to: cracking eggheads with a stick, frisking hot moms, drivin real fast, guns which go bang and are quite exciting and all that, job security that supercedes one's responsibility to be a law abiding citizen, looking important, people who would've otherwise made fun of you now have to fear and respect you etc etc etc. These are all huge attractors for those of base intellect.

[Brutha]

If you are a police force that has to deal with a lot of black people from poor neighborhoods that commit crimes than you profit from having a few black officers.

It increases the chances that people from the black neighborhood will give the police tips.
Having a few black officers also decreases the chances that the white policeman will see blacks as others.

However, this decision is coming from the Dept. of Justice, not "Obama".

The president is responsible for what the people he appoints do. It's part of the role of being a president.

[Double]

You must be confusing school grades with something meaningfull

[LostMyMap]

The movie theater:



I think I saw that movie back in college! But I did get pretty good grades.

Fortunately I haven't had dealings with cops much, but they haven't exactly been Einsteins. I just hope that if I ever end up in an ambulance that the EMT knows what he/she's doing...

[ChrisGinsburg]

The Dumbing Down of America

[Justin Mazza]

I believe when they lower or change standards to apply for a job they are basically challenging the system in place. Maybe it's too unreasonable or isn't working to allow more people in.

I would hire anyone for my business if they are competent and confident in themselves. The physical body that they inhabit is irrelevant.

On a side note, could you imagine if professional sports had to fill a minority quota? Not enough Asians in football, need more Hispanics in Basketball, and why aren't there more Samoans in Golf?

[Lioness]

On a side note, could you imagine if professional sports had to fill a minority quota? Not enough Asians in football, need more Hispanics in Basketball, and why aren't there more Samoans in Golf?

I believe this is what they call a ?false dichotomy? Success in pro sports is based purely on performance, not on academic knowledge of the sport. A police recruit who doesn't have great reading comprehension on a test could still prove to be a great cop on the street, but his classroom test scores prevent him from getting the opportunity to show his mettle.

I would like to see more diversity in sports and I think it's all about cultural exposure to certain sports. To a lesser degree, there can be a general physical disadvantage, since asians and latinos tend to be smaller in stature than other groups. There is a controversy going on right now about the paucity of white American superstars in basketball. Affirmative action in this case would be ridiculous. But encouraging more white kids to pick up basketball skills at an early age could balance things out. Middle and upper class kids of all races have so many other options, whereas an inner-city kid's only outlet may be the free basketball court at the playground.

[garentee]

Originally Posted by ChrisGinsburg

The Dumbing Down of America

Absolutely the ultimate truth... No seriously..

[Justin Mazza]

Originally Posted by Lioness

I believe this is what they call a ?false dichotomy? Success in pro sports is based purely on performance, not on academic knowledge of the sport. A police recruit who doesn't have great reading comprehension on a test could still prove to be a great cop on the street, but his classroom test scores prevent him from getting the opportunity to show his mettle.

I would like to see more diversity in sports and I think it's all about cultural exposure to certain sports. To a lesser degree, there can be a general physical disadvantage, since asians and latinos tend to be smaller in stature than other groups. There is a controversy going on right now about the paucity of white American superstars in basketball. Affirmative action in this case would be ridiculous. But encouraging more white kids to pick up basketball skills at an early age could balance things out. Middle and upper class kids of all races have so many other options, whereas an inner-city kid's only outlet may be the free basketball court at the playground.

If you have ever played sports in life then you would know that it is as much mental sometimes even more than physical.

Ask any boxer, martial artist even a defensive lineman on the football field. Physicality only get's you so far in sports, you have to be smart as well.

Look at the smaller NBA players that have dominated in the past. Mugsy Bogues, Spud Webb, even Allen Iverson. Do you think their physical ability was their only way to success on the courts or did some mental knowledge and planning contribute to their game?

Do you believe in affirmative action for all or just the chosen few? You sound overly biased to me for some reason.

[ChrisGinsburg]

Originally Posted by Justin Mazza

If you have ever played sports in life then you would know that it is as much mental sometimes even more than physical.

Ask any boxer, martial artist even a defensive lineman on the football field. Physicality only get's you so far in sports, you have to be smart as well.

Look at the smaller NBA players that have dominated in the past. Mugsy Bogues, Spud Webb, even Allen Iverson. Do you think their physical ability was their only way to success on the courts or did some mental knowledge and planning contribute to their game?

Do you believe in affirmative action for all or just the chosen few? You sound overly biased to me for some reason.

Mugsy Bogues is a serious inspiration.

[Justin Mazza]

Originally Posted by ChrisGinsburg

Mugsy Bogues is a serious inspiration.

Thanks Chris,
Muggsy grew up in Baltimore City and played high school basketball for the legendary Dunbar Poets.

[Andrew Brunelle]

That was a great movie in the sense that that very well could be the world in 500 years, although I think there would be a lot more control by the government, and there would be those who are pulling the strings. People who aren't conditioned as much. I don't agree that we should have failing police officers, they should at least be competent. Non-cops who write parking tickets are going to be allowed to become cops with no tests or qualifications soon. We are headed for a police state, there's no question about it.

There are 1/4 of the whole prison population of the world in America. It is going to get bigger the more police they allow on the streets. Our rights are being taken away in graduated steps, and sooner than later, we'll have none. A shame, but what are we going to do about it?

[Lioness]

Originally Posted by Justin Mazza

If you have ever played sports in life then you would know that it is as much mental sometimes even more than physical.
Physicality only get's you so far in sports, you have to be smart as well.

Smart at playing the game itself, not necessarily smart in, say, calculus or english literature.

I don't know what's on the police entrance exam, but if it's similar to other civil service exams, it's more general academics than specific police procedures. And I think a police officer demonstrates their true skills on the street, not on paper.

Look at the smaller NBA players that have dominated in the past. Mugsy Bogues, Spud Webb, even Allen Iverson. Do you think their physical ability was their only way to success on the courts or did some mental knowledge and planning contribute to their game?

This proves my point, really. These guys have brains, but they were not necessarily book-smart, test-acers in school. No one cares what their GPA was. If a guy can deliver on the court/field, people will pay to see him. I think in the same way, if a cop can do the job, a written test score is not the most important factor. Police candidates should be judged more on their performance in real-life scenarios, people skills, ability to defuse violatile situations, physical and psychological fitness, and weapon skills for the job. I bet plenty of potentially great cops have been turned away because of a test score and some academic whizzes who are a poor match for police work got hired.

Do you believe in affirmative action for all or just the chosen few? You sound overly biased to me for some reason.

Affirmative action is not always the answer. But I think it tries to give a fair shake to people who have been historically disadvantaged because of race. If you lower standards for factors that are not critical to the job itself, where applicants may have a historical disadvantage, and those applicants prove to be capable of the mandatory job skills, I don't think it's a bad thing.

[Justin Mazza]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

That was a great movie in the sense that that very well could be the world in 500 years, although I think there would be a lot more control by the government, and there would be those who are pulling the strings. People who aren't conditioned as much. I don't agree that we should have failing police officers, they should at least be competent. Non-cops who write parking tickets are going to be allowed to become cops with no tests or qualifications soon. We are headed for a police state, there's no question about it.

There are 1/4 of the whole prison population of the world in America. It is going to get bigger the more police they allow on the streets. Our rights are being taken away in graduated steps, and sooner than later, we'll have none. A shame, but what are we going to do about it?

The majority of the masses are not even aware of the situation going on. Try bringing this subject up with someone once. I am beginning to see some of them waking up from their slumber though.

Peaceful non-compliance is the only answer. There is a cool documentary called Pray The Devil Back To Hell about the women of Liberia in West Africa and how they ended a bloody and horrific war by peaceful protest and non-cooperation.Pray the Devil Back to Hell