In 2006 a comedy came out called “Idiocracy” staring Luke Wilson. It was about the decline in human intelligence as the natural way of evolution until in the future the world would be nothing but a bunch of hicks and morons. The movie is rather funny, my husband and I love it, but the sad thing is how possible the movie’s scenario actually seems.

The way society is heading now we really are doomed to one day have our own Idiocracy.

I remember really enjoying H. G. Wells’ book “The Time Machine” when I first read it in school. I even more or less enjoyed the 2002 film with Guy Pierce. That story begs the question that while mankind continues to grow and prosper and learn, we are doomed to destroy ourselves through our own ignorance whether that means war and bombs and genocide or the overpopulation of stupid people.

My inspiration for this week comes from an announcement that came out in June about Wal-Mart offering college credits to its employees.

Yes, you read that right.

“Wal-Mart Vice Chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright said the company is partnering with online educator American Public University (APU) to offer the college credits and tuition assistance to help employees get a higher education.” -CNNMoney.com

Okay, that sounds noble enough at first, right?

“The credits will be given for Wal-Mart’s own training as well as on-the-job experience. Many of the courses for which Wal-Mart workers can get credit are business-related, such as retail shipping and receiving, ethics, commercial safety and finance fundamentals.” -The Washington Post

I’m sorry, hold on a minute. Did that just say “ethics”? It sure did, and that is where most of the uproar has been coming from since this announcement was made. Where is the justification to offer college level ethics courses for working in customer service at a giant conglomerate?

I’m not saying ethical situations never present themselves for Wal-Mart workers, I’m saying the type of situations a Wal-Mart employee would have to face that might have some ethical implications is no different from what anyone at any job dealing with other humans beings might go through. And if that is the case then we all deserve some added ethics course credits.

I have no problem with offering college assistance to people who are working at Wal-Mart so that they can get ahead, get better educations, and leave Wal-Mart for good.

But no one should be rewarded arbitrarily for work they have not done.

That very idea, that spoon-fed stupidity, is one of the reasons consumers and workers alike have this disease of entitlement. People think they are owed, that they deserve things without earning them.

That is not how the world works. Or at least it isn’t how the world should work, and we cannot allow it to turn into that.

So often in today’s and much of the past’s science fiction we imagine the future as a place and time of great innovation, when most of the world’s problems will be solved, and life will be easier for everyone. Well, that’s a nice thought and all, but I think “Idiocracy” hits a little closer to home these days, and it is a sad, sad thing to see the truth in that.

Allow me to share the opening segment of the film with you.

There is actually a scene later on in the movie where the character Frito, played by Dax Shepard, is leading others through a giant mega mart and says that he went to college there. Oh, but only because his father was able to pull some strings to get him in.

You can understand why this Wall-Mart development literally sent an icy chill down my spine when I first heard about it. Face it folks, we are already on our way to the horrors of Idiocracy.

At this point I’d rather take “The Time Machine” ending and have Jeremy Irons trying to eat me.

~G³

I have been neglecting the Books category more than any other and would like to talk next week about “Supplementary Fiction.”

Some of my favorite books were written to accompany (not simply retell) the stories of TV shows and standing fiction worlds, like Dungeons and Dragons.

Thanks for tuning in.

 

Images taken from:
http://unnaturalhabitat.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/fox_news_idiocracy.jpg
http://www.tunesmate.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/walmart.jpg
http://images.allmoviephoto.com/2002_The_Time_Machine/2002_the_time_machine_015.jpg