How did America let this man become an icon of the working class?

[appa69]

I would never argue there are no problems with the system. This isn't about a system but individual choices towards media and entertainment.
In this context I say each man and woman makes their own choices. No system is making you watch Larry the Cable Guy or fawn over the exploits of Paris Hilton.
Sometimes it is easier to blame a faceless system than asking individuals to face their choices.

I think we have a situation with a little from column A and a little from column B. I believe it's largely a cultural problem where American culture has been largely replaced by pop culture. And, sadly, failing to conform to the pop culture phenomenon is met with ridicule. We are, therefore, allowing people (especially youth) to be conditioned to be idiots. Until popular culture embraces knowledge again. Soon I hope.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I believe it's all part of the "dumbing-down" of the average American. They've made stupidity admirable, not just for young men through good 'ol Larry, but for the ladies too, think Paris Hilton. They want the average American to be only semi-educated and placated through cable tv and cheap domestic beer in order to opress the middle class.

The irony of course is that the middle-class American today is more highly educated than at any other time in our history. The more educated we become as a people, the stupider our culture is.

Try this experiment. Listen to an episode of the 1930s radio quiz program "Information Please," a program which was highly popular at the time with the middle class. See how many of the questions you can answer -- and then consider that all of the questions used were actually submitted to the program by ordinary people, most of whom never went to college, and many of whom might not have finished high school. And then think about how "educated" we really are today.

 

[appa69]

Knowledge and wisdom are two different things. And one does not necessarily assure the other.

 

[rue]

Hmmm...
Seems to me that few...if any here...have attended a Nascar event. Larry's are definately in the crowd. The south isn't far from my location..in fact many migrated here years ago. 'Good ole boys'..uncouth..down home...raw and sometimes obscene. Often the dumbness facade only camouflages an underlying quick wit and clever mindedness. The character of Larry appeals to these folks..as well as many of those that know 'em. Just because..he has captured the charactoristics(often to the extreme)...and mindset very well..ya'all.

I have... several times and you are exactly right. I lived about fifteen miles from RIR (Richmond International Raceway in Virginia) and the majority of the crowd is just like that. Don't ever go to one of those races and say you like Jimmy Johnson or Jeff Gordon or you'll come face to face with a Larry in no time flat lol I'm a Harvick fan, but my brother's friend is a fan of Gordon and he got ribbed so much he had to turn his shirt inside out.

 

[jamespowers]

That's what was probably said about vaudeville a century ago.

I knew you would defend modern Hollywood Charlie Sheen!

 

[JimWagner]

When the educational system became more interested in the process of education and social engineering disguised as political correctness instead of actual content the seeds were sewn for the current situation. When teachers are educated in how to teach but not what to teach and are they, themselves, actually ignorant in the subjects they are expected to teach then how can we possibly expect their students to graduate with anything approaching actual knowledge?

But at least they feel good about themselves and have high self esteem. :doh:

 

[Marc Chevalier]

...entertainment has been considerably dumbed-down in recent years.

That's what was probably said about vaudeville a century ago.

Worse: it was said back then that Jewish theater owners were to blame.

 

[appa69]

But at least they feel good about themselves and have high self esteem. :doh:

Amen. They have PRIDE in their ignorance.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Amen. They have PRIDE in their ignorance.

Very true. People have pride in a lot of ignorant things: racism, sexism, extremism...

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I have... several times and you are exactly right. I lived about fifteen miles from RIR (Richmond International Raceway in Virginia) and the majority of the crowd is just like that. Don't ever go to one of those races and say you like Jimmy Johnson or Jeff Gordon or you'll come face to face with a Larry in no time flat lol I'm a Harvick fan, but my brother's friend is a fan of Gordon and he got ribbed so much he had to turn his shirt inside out.

Right as rain,rue!
I always play it safe and wear a black T shirt with the number 3 on it...

 

[jamespowers]

When the educational system became more interested in the process of education and social engineering disguised as political correctness instead of actual content the seeds were sewn for the current situation. When teachers are educated in how to teach but not what to teach and are they, themselves, actually ignorant in the subjects they are expected to teach then how can we possibly expect their students to graduate with anything approaching actual knowledge?

But at least they feel good about themselves and have high self esteem. :doh:

:amen:I have seen it more than once. :eusa_doh:

 

[Atticus Finch]

Don't ever go to one of those races and say you like Jimmy Johnson or Jeff Gordon or you'll come face to face with a Larry in no time flat...my brother's friend is a fan of Gordon and he got ribbed so much he had to turn his shirt inside out.

I'll admit it....I'm a male Southerner and I don't follow NASCAR. I'll probably have to move to New York or somewhere after posting this, but I've only been to one race and that was when I was about twelve. I remember it being loud and hot and I remember going home covered in black tire soot. Not to derail the thread....but why would a "Larry" disapprove of someone being a fan of Jimmy Johnson or Jeff Gordon?

AF

 

[AtomicEraTom]

The working class hurts itself, too. They feel that they didn't go to college and get a piece of paper, so they don't have to know things. A lot of my co-workers are my age and they ask me if I went to college, because I'm 'too smart' to work in the factory. Personally, I don't think of myself as being smart, just not stupid. People I work with don't seem to know about anything but video games these days. That's all they do is go play video games and watch Netflix. Read a book, take up a hobby, do something that's going to expand your mind!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nobody I knew growing up had any idea what NASCAR was, if it even existed then. But every person I knew, male or female, young or old, followed baseball -- even elderly grandmothers could tell you what Jose Santiago's earned run average was, or why George Scott was bumped down to sixth in the batting order. Maybe the difference between the working class then and the working class now is the difference between baseball and car racing?

 

[1961MJS]

The working class hurts itself, too. They feel that they didn't go to college and get a piece of paper, so they don't have to know things. A lot of my co-workers are my age and they ask me if I went to college, because I'm 'too smart' to work in the factory. Personally, I don't think of myself as being smart, just not stupid. People I work with don't seem to know about anything but video games these days. That's all they do is go play video games and watch Netflix. Read a book, take up a hobby, do something that's going to expand your mind!

Hi

Oddly enough, the whole "too smart to work in the factory" isn't just a saying. I work in aerospace as an engineer. Years ago, we checked to see if we could go work in the plant popping rivets when we got laid off. We couldn't. No one with a degree was allowed to work in the plant (back in 1984). Now its different. You can get out of high school and work at a Tae Kwon Do place, OR you can get an engineering degree from a top 5 engineering school and work at the same Tae Kwon Do place. Yep, I know the kid.

Later

 

[jamespowers]

The working class hurts itself, too. They feel that they didn't go to college and get a piece of paper, so they don't have to know things. A lot of my co-workers are my age and they ask me if I went to college, because I'm 'too smart' to work in the factory. Personally, I don't think of myself as being smart, just not stupid. People I work with don't seem to know about anything but video games these days. That's all they do is go play video games and watch Netflix. Read a book, take up a hobby, do something that's going to expand your mind!

Sometimes it helps to start with a mind to expand.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I'll admit it....I'm a male Southerner and I don't follow NASCAR. I'll probably have to move to New York or somewhere after posting this, but I've only been to one race and that was when I was about twelve. I remember it being loud and hot and I remember going home covered in black tire soot. Not to derail the thread....but why would a "Larry" disapprove of someone being a fan of Jimmy Johnson or Jeff Gordon?
AF

To be honest...I don't and have never followed NASCAR...but from what I have picked up..Gordon and Johnson...just aren't considered 'Country Boys'...but more 'Pretty Boys'. Gordon had the rep as a 'Cry Baby'...and happens to be part owner of Johnson's car as well. I think that they both come from California. that's about as 'uncountry' as NYC.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Well, that's overqualification. I've heard of that happening a lot, it's changed now with the economy. I work with a girl who has a masters in business, and I make more money than her, now. I have always thought the over-qualified stuff was a crock of hooey. Some people can't find a job in what they got their degree in and have to take something else. I don't think it's fair to say no.

Hi

Oddly enough, the whole "too smart to work in the factory" isn't just a saying. I work in aerospace as an engineer. Years ago, we checked to see if we could go work in the plant popping rivets when we got laid off. We couldn't. No one with a degree was allowed to work in the plant (back in 1984). Now its different. You can get out of high school and work at a Tae Kwon Do place, OR you can get an engineering degree from a top 5 engineering school and work at the same Tae Kwon Do place. Yep, I know the kid.

Later

NASCAR began with moonshiners back in the 30's and 40's they would race each other to see how well they could outrun the law.

Nobody I knew growing up had any idea what NASCAR was, if it even existed then. But every person I knew, male or female, young or old, followed baseball -- even elderly grandmothers could tell you what Jose Santiago's earned run average was, or why George Scott was bumped down to sixth in the batting order. Maybe the difference between the working class then and the working class now is the difference between baseball and car racing?

I used to be a die-hard NASCAR fan, but they took Winston out, banned the Confederate flag, the whole 'team' thing is stupid, and in general, they've just sold out. It's as fixed as the WWE.

To be honest...I don't and have never followed NASCAR...but from what I have picked up..Gordon and Johnson...just aren't considered 'Country Boys'...but more 'Pretty Boys'. Gordon had the rep as a 'Cry Baby'...and happens to be part owner of Johnson's car as well. I think that they both come from California. that's about as 'uncountry' as NYC.

 

[Atticus Finch]

The working class hurts itself, too. They feel that they didn't go to college and get a piece of paper, so they don't have to know things. A lot of my co-workers are my age and they ask me if I went to college, because I'm 'too smart' to work in the factory. Personally, I don't think of myself as being smart, just not stupid. People I work with don't seem to know about anything but video games these days. That's all they do is go play video games and watch Netflix. Read a book, take up a hobby, do something that's going to expand your mind!

Tom, attending college doesn't make one smart. Not attending college doesn't make one stupid. The main advantage of going to college is that it exposes one to many different ways of thinking in a relatively short period of time. It allows one to understand, at an early age, that there are many valid opinions about almost every issue and seldom does one person know all there is to know about any given subject. It’s not so much that it teaches “stuff” as that it opens a person’s mind.

But all of that can be understood without going to college, too. I've read many of your posts here on FL. It seems pretty clear to me that you've gotten on your own all that an average person learns in a typical liberal arts education.

AF

 

[AtomicEraTom]

AF - I agree with you, completely. I've always said a piece of paper doesn't make you smart. It seems like that's what the general populous things, though. Degree = smart, Diploma = nothing.

Also, thank you, that's the nicest thing I've been told in a long time.

Tom, attending college doesn't make one smart. Not attending college doesn't make one stupid. The main advantage of going to college is that it exposes one to many different ways of thinking in a relatively short period of time. It allows one to understand, at an early age, that there are many valid opinions about almost every issue and seldom does one person know all there is to know about any given subject. It’s not so much that it teaches “stuff” as that it opens a person’s mind.

But all of that can be understood without going to college, too. I've read many of your posts here on FL. It seems pretty clear to me that you've gotten on your own all that an average person learns in a typical liberal arts education.

AF