Ah, the United States of America. Land of the free, home of the brave and home to a wide variety of individuals. As with any other country with such a large population, you’re bound to find some kooky people. But that’s just part of the fun, right? I’m from the US, and although I’m not always proud of it, as everyone I meet seems to have an opinion on it and knows much more about it than I often know about their respective countries, it will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s where I was born and raised, and my whole family lives there. So I might not bleed red, white, and blue, and I’m well aware that the country isn’t perfect, but I’m always happy to visit!

America’s Cultural Decline Into Idiocy might sound like a harsh name for a Facebook group, but it was created in good fun. It was launched on February 28th, 2015 by Aidan Hand, and it has amassed an impressive 232k members since then. When it comes to how the group was born, the creator shared in its about section, “Now, let me say this. I love America, and I love good old fashioned American culture, too. Baseball, Apple Pie, Family Values, Freedom, and national pride. With that said, there has been an undeniable ‘Dumbing Down’ of America in recent years.”

“Idiocy is all around us,” the group’s about section continues. “It's everywhere we look. I hear it in people's speech, I see it on TV, in advertising, and particularly in signage all across America. It's gotten to the point of not only being accepted, but sometimes defended, as well. When you point this stuff out, you're the bad guy, an insensitive jerk, and sometimes even labeled prejudiced! Well, I'm taking a stand, America! Because I love you, I'll be the bad guy for you!”

“My mission is simple: To point out the idiocy all around us when I encounter it, and hopefully make you laugh your [butt] off while I make my subtle, yet somewhat depressing point: We are in danger of becoming a nation of idiots!” the creator writes. “So, please go ahead and post the funny, insane, innocuous, and downright laughable examples of idiocy that you encounter each day. Let's enjoy it together!” The group is not intended to hate on the United States or bash everyone in it; it’s just here to make light of some of the most ridiculous behavior seen there and provide some good laughs. So please, pandas, understand that we have no intentions of bashing America with this list.

There may be many reasons why the United States has the quirks that it does, but one I can’t help but consider is the public education system. Now, the quality of education an American receives varies greatly based on what state, city, and neighborhood they live in, along with how many resources they have outside of the classroom. For example, a higher-income family will be able to afford tutors and SAT-prep that many other families would not have access to. So we wanted to explore what some of the biggest failures of the American education system are, which Kate Barrington at Public School Review has broken down. 

First, Kate mentions a decline in government funding. “For more than 90% of K-12 schools, funding comes from state and local governments, largely generated by sales and income taxes,” she writes. “Research shows, however, that funding has not increased with need – many states are still issuing funding that is lower than it was before the Great Recession. Lower funding means fewer teachers, fewer programs, and diminished resources."

The next glaring failure of the American school system that everyone around the world is keenly aware of is the decline in school safety. It seems like school shootings are in the news every week, nowadays, and it is absolutely heartbreaking to imagine the trauma that countless children have gone through, not to mention the parents who have lost their little ones. Kids can’t feel safe in their classrooms either, as one poll found that over 50% of teens in the US reported that they worry about gun violence at school, and teachers have to understand that they might be in a life-threatening position at work. There is debate over whether teachers should be armed at work, but these people signed up to be educators, not security guards. Unfortunately, the United States has yet to get school safety under control. 

We all know that having wonderful teachers can have a huge impact on our education, as they can more easily motivate kids and prevent them from viewing school as boring and pointless. Unfortunately, due to the pathetic salaries the US provides for teachers, it’s nearly impossible to find great ones. “Research shows that the average salary for public elementary and secondary school teachers dropped by nearly 5% between the 2009/10 school year and now,” Kate goes on to write. “States like Oklahoma and Colorado experienced a 17% and 16% decrease – these states also saw massive teacher walkouts in 2018.”

Jonathan Haidt wrote a piece for The Atlantic titled, “Why The Past 10 Years Of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid,” and he addresses the fact that social media has essentially been fuel for the fire of political divisiveness, amplifying the more “idiotic” voices on both sides. “The dart guns of social media give more power and voice to the political extremes while reducing the power and voice of the moderate majority,” Haidt writes. “The ‘Hidden Tribes’ study, by the pro-democracy group More in Common, surveyed 8,000 Americans in 2017 and 2018 and identified seven groups that shared beliefs and behaviors. The one furthest to the right, known as the ‘devoted conservatives,’ comprised 6 percent of the U.S. population. The group furthest to the left, the ‘progressive activists,’ comprised 8 percent of the population. The progressive activists were by far the most prolific group on social media: 70 percent had shared political content over the previous year. The devoted conservatives followed, at 56 percent.”

So America’s “Cultural Decline” may actually have much more to do with perception than reality. “Part of America’s greatness in the 20th century came from having developed the most capable, vibrant, and productive network of knowledge-producing institutions in all of human history, linking together the world’s best universities, private companies that turned scientific advances into life-changing consumer products, and government agencies that supported scientific research and led the collaboration that put people on the moon,” Haidt explains.

But this arrangement is not self-maintaining, he goes on to note. It requires work. “So what happens when an institution is not well maintained and internal disagreement ceases, either because its people have become ideologically uniform or because they have become afraid to dissent?”

Haidt goes on to explain what he believes happened to many of America’s key institutions in the mid-to-late 2010s. "They got stupider en masse because social media instilled in their members a chronic fear of getting darted,” he writes. “The shift was most pronounced in universities, scholarly associations, creative industries, and political organizations at every level (national, state, and local), and it was so pervasive that it established new behavioral norms backed by new policies seemingly overnight. The new omnipresence of enhanced-virality social media meant that a single word uttered by a professor, leader, or journalist, even if spoken with positive intent, could lead to a social-media firestorm, triggering an immediate dismissal or a drawn-out investigation by the institution. Participants in our key institutions began self-censoring to an unhealthy degree, holding back critiques of policies and ideas—even those presented in class by their students—that they believed to be ill-supported or wrong.”

If you’re from the United States, I realize that this list might not make you too proud of Americans. But it’s all in good fun; we know that you pandas aren’t anything like this! Plus, every country has its flaws. The United States is simply one of many imperfect nations. We hope you’re getting a kick out of some of these photos, as many of them could apply to people from around the world as well, and be sure to upvote the ones that make you facepalm the hardest. Then, if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article featuring memes about the good old USA, look no further than right here!