I finally got around to watching ‘Idiocracy,’ a movie by Mike Judge of ‘Office Space’ fame that depicts lead character Joe Bowers being projected 500 years into the future as the result of a failed government experiment.

Bowers wakes up to find the U.S.A. of 2505 has been so dumbed down by mindless entertainment and mass commercialism that good old Joe, who was originally selected for the time travel experiment because he was perfectly mediocre, is immediately hailed as the smartest man in the world.

The movie is both funny and alarming at the same time. That said, I honestly don’t think we have to wait for 2505 to find that our country has become an idiocracy.

How else to explain:

– the latest American Idol developments heralded as lead new stories on The Today Show and Good Morning America.

– a contestant on ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ using all her lifelines to try and figure out which U.S. president was known as ‘Give ’em hell Harry.’

– a Harper’s Bazaar survey showing that 10 percent of respondents thought Joan of Arc was married to Noah.

Sadly, the lowest common denominator continues to trump everything else. I fear for our children (and their children) since such mass dumbing down will inevitably wreak havoc on our global competitiveness. It’s an image and reputation issue that, if not addressed in the near-term, will have huge repercussions down the road. And not one presidential candidate is addressing it. Talk about an idiocracy!

Thanks to Deb Schleuter-Brown-Schleuter for the idea.