People are stupid.

When I teach beginning Economics, I point out to my students at the start of the course that these basic theories are based on the idea that people are rational. But, of course, we all know the truth....PEOPLE ARE STUPID!

Take football players for instance. With the notable exceptions of Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle and Packers President Mark Murphy (a friend from high school who I know to be very intelligent), football players have to be some of the dumbest people on earth. Plaxico Burress is the latest example. He carries an illegal concealed weapon in a city that is on an anti-gun rampage, then takes it out in a bar for some reason, and manages to shoot himself. If that were the only stupid thing done by a football player this year, it would just be hilarious. But these guys are constantly getting themselves in all kinds of trouble, threatening their huge paychecks with dumb behavior. And they all supposedly went to college!

But, let's not leave out the rest of us. I personally spent 3 hours yesterday watching a particularly stupid group of football players called the Buffalo Bills, who are so stupid they don't know where the end zone is. What does that say about me, wasting my day watching the stupid be stupid?

Then there's Black Friday. This is perhaps the stupidest thing Americans do all year, other than vote, and I think more people shop on Black Friday than vote. The marketers and the media have convinced millions of morons that they HAVE to be at Walmart at 4AM. So what if workers get stampeded to death.....there are bargains to be had. Are cattle even that stupid?

And here's a beauty from today's NY Times: In New Jersey, where they call a toxic waste dump "The Meadowlands", they built a commuter railroad station, but put no place for the commuters to park. What do you expect from a place that is almost totally paved yet calls itself "The Garden State"?
I could go on and on.....I haven't even mentioned General Motors or loaning $700k to people making $14k .....but I have to go fix a broken light switch with the power on.