Decline In The Film Idiocracy, By Mike Judge

A Society In Decline There are many debatable aspects of American society. While America has had multiple achievements throughout the years in medicine, law, entertainment, industry, etc., there has been a noticeable decline within certain aspects of its society. In 2006, Mike Judge directed a movie titled “Idiocracy” which poked fun at a future america where individuals in its society had become remarkably less intelligent. Some critics say the movie is completely off base with modern day America, however others may agree that the movie accurately depicts what America is like today. Despite the popular opinion that America is an enlightened society, it has been proven that from an economic standpoint, 41 million Americans live in poverty
It has become so difficult in America to gain access to public assistance, with laws and regulations that force citizens to jump through hoops to receive financial help. In 1996, it became regulation that single parents with children have a limit of five years of assistance with mandatory work requirements to receive welfare. The number of families on welfare declined from 4.6 million in 1996 to 1.1 million in 2017(Nadasen). The government programs put in place, using taxpayers dollars, just don’t work. Many people receiving benefits still struggle to make ends meet, since the cost of living is high while wages are low. The poverty problem in America stems from the fact that a lot of Americans can only receive employment from low paying jobs that do not provided them with enough money to support their families. The Census Bureau found that 104 million people — a third of the population — have incomes below twice the poverty line, less than $38,000 for a family of three. Half the jobs in the nation pay less than $34,000 a year, according to the Economic Policy Institute (Edelman). Americans citizens barely make enough money to break even each
It is a common fallacy in american society that when it comes to education, that students are in charge of their own success. This is not the case. Many factors contribute to unequal learning opportunities for all students. In the article Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education, it is stated that “the U.S. educational system is one of the most unequal in the industrialized world, and students routinely receive dramatically different learning opportunities based on their social status.” It is taught in our society that education is the path to success and bettering ones life and economic situation. It is hard to achieve this when the quality of education isn’t equal among all schools. Money is distributed differently amongst different schools in different locations, effecting the overall quality of the education that is supposed to help a person rise up financially. In European and Asian countries, schools are funded equally, whereas the wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. school districts spend 10 times more than the poorest 10 percent(Hammond). The wealthier schools in America have distinctly different funding, teacher quality, curriculum, and class sizes compared to the poorer districts which contributes to the unequal opportunities in education(Hammonds). Additional to the unequal opportunities, modern education is failing to create a literate youth. The United States has become one