New DU group - former average children?

[reichstag911]

I know there are lots and lots folks at DU who are what the eggheads call "average" or "mediocre." At the risk of sounding like a whiner, I am, at the age of 42, finally realizing that my membership in this group has kinda screwed up my life. Living among "smart" people (no offense intended) can be extremely difficult. I mean, come on, when we were back in school and we just wanted to blow a joint after football practice (or cheerleading for you average gals out there), those "brains" would be off reading a book or studying, actually studying, for the following day's test. Christ, they kept screwing up the grading curve for the rest of us, making us do the hard work that teachers claimed would pay off later in life. Duuuuuuuuude! They were so wrong. I got me a city job like a bunch of my teammates, and some even got to walk into their dads' businesses as junior executives, but I've started to feel this guilt about making a lot more money than those "brains" who bought the teachers' BS in school, and now have nothing to show for all their learnin' but a trove of useless knowledge...heh, heh.

Most of us wish we were smarter folks. Most of us deny our mediocrity, and consequently make a lot of bad (but strangely remunerative) decisions in life. "Average" and "successful," but guilt-ridden about our relative success, go together a lot more frequently than most folks would think. "Mediocre" and "miserable," or "troubled," on the other hand, probably intersect a lot less often. I think it would be great if there was a DU group where we could hang out with our peers, instead of all these "gifted" or "smart" people who analyze things, instead of just reaching poorly informed snap decisions. Remember, the president of these here United States is one of us, and he doesn't seem to suffer any pangs of guilt about his unearned successes in life, does he? Anybody?

(Apologies to mopinko at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1647823 )

[Poll_Blind]

1. Bwa-ha ha! I've been waiting for that message since this started. 8^)

PB

[reichstag911]

7. Your wait has ended, PB!

Customer satisfaction comes first here at DU!

[Der Blaue Engel]

2. Someone once asked me if I'd rather be smart but unhappy or stupid but

happy. I have to admit, I sometimes envy the blissfully ignorant.

[redqueen]

3. yeah, i guess i'm done with everything but lbn anymore. n/t

[uppityperson]

4. isn't this what GD is for?

:evilgrin:

[Der Blaue Engel]

8. That inspired a spit-take

:spray: :rofl:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. Maybe I'll start a Second Childhood Support Group.

Because I'm roughly fifeteen years old and aging backwards, mentally speaking. And I've still got my driver's license.

[lyonn]

6. Thanks, finally someone I can relate to!

[Cerridwen]

9. Amazing.

The Democratic Party I grew up in actually put great value in the intellect of its people. I can remembering being proud that I was part of a party that recognized intellect and gifted individuals as people to be admired; education was valued and higher education and rewards for excellence were to be aspired to.

Remember all the talk about how Kerry was so great in the debates compared to * and his mumbling, stumbling and (possibly) prompted mutterings. The Democrats were the "thinking man's" (and later, the "thinking woman's") party. JFK, RFK, MLK and today RFK, Jr., Randi Rhodes, Janine Garofalo and so many others. So many talented and gifted writers and actors and artists and sports figures; many of whom have discussed the problems they've confronted in their lives trying to conform to the dominant society's definition of normal.

The repubs were always labeling us "elitist" and "snobs" and "arrogant" because we value our gifts and the gifts of our members when all we were doing was trying to debate issues which included the nuanced and subtle language required to fully understand an issue rather than 30 second sound-bites of "black and white" pablum.

And now, because a group of those very same people within our party and on this board want to come together to discuss how those very same attacks and ideas influenced their lives, for good and ill, and I read with amazement the same words, "elitist," "snob" and "arrogant."

Well, okay, then...welcome to *'s amerika. I'm so proud.

[reichstag911]

12. Uh, you do realize, Cerridwen,...

...that that was my point in posting this? I find it absurd that mopinko's attempt to form such a group was derided by many, for whatever reasons -- maybe they still resent having to work a little harder in school to keep up -- and denied by Skinner. Other distinct groups of people can get together, presumably with many less naysayers than mopinko's threads attracted, but not those of us who'd care to share our experiences and frustrations about having been "gifted" students (and adults, presumably).

[Cerridwen]

19. No, I didn't and Thank You! for taking the time to make sure I did.

I was astounded at the responses and for the reasons given to deny the group its existence. How to prove who belongs in the group? The same way the feminists and latino/latina groups and the deaf group and the blind group prove they belong to their groups, perhaps? It's too divisive? Yeah, because we're all in such agreement in every other arena.

Eesh, sorry, guess I had more rant left in me.

Thank you again for making sure I understood what you were doing.

[reichstag911]

22. Reasoning appropriate to the Supreme Court...

...that gave us Bush v. Gore, no? :evilgrin:

[reichstag911]

23. dupe...self-delete nt

[neebob]

28. Oh, I thought your point was the absurdity of proposing a group

based on some arbitrary standard of intelligence. Damn! I still need to work on that common-sense thing.

[tkmorris]

14. Ugly isn't it?

I can understand some people not feeling like such a forum serves a compelling purpose but the level of backlash against the idea is staggering. Why all the vitriol? All of these sniggering, mocking comments are just nasty. What have we become?

[Cerridwen]

20. We've become the product of 30 years of right-wing

propaganda which has apparently influenced "our own" people. Liberal is vilified as elitist and out of step with the "common man;" "who would you rather have a beer with?" "East coast intellectuals can't get elected as president." JFK must have got in just under the wire. Elitist and intellectual have become almost synonymous.

What have become....indeed.

[Quixote1818]

24. The problem was how the group's mission statement was proposed

When your mission statement includes such statements like: "A safe place for smart, brilliant genius people to let our brains hang out." It's ripe for becoming a watering place for jokes and sarcasm.

Had the OP said something like this below it probably would have had a different response:

Mission Statement:

This group is for those of us who were labeled as "gifted" in school. While we were lucky to be given certain advantages growing up with the label of "gifted" it was not always easy. This group will be a safe place for those of us who had to deal with the difficulties related to being labeled as "gifted" to discuss our hardships, and common experiences. It will also be a place for parents of "gifted" children to discuss ways to help their children cope with the stresses and pressures their children are likely to be presented with.

If it had be stated like that I don't think hardly anyone would have had a problem with it.

The problem was the Mission Statement wasn't too "intelligent".

[reichstag911]

27. What "advantages" were "we" given?

I learned the material better than anyone in my classes, but because I could do so with minimal effort, I kept myself otherwise amused in class, a disengaged demeanor that attracted the enmity of virtually all my "teachers." Meanwhile, the attention went to those who couldn't grasp anywhere near what I could, and affable super-mediocrities were feted as the outstanding students. You don't like the mission statement mopinko proposed, stay the fuck away, but all the jackasses that had to chime in with their disdainful comments won the day, of course, just as they always have.

[KyndCulture]

10. YES! I agree.

How bout those who skipped class, got caught drinking, took their SAT's hungover, got beat by a nun...

I'm down!

[eleny]

13. You're looking for the Slightly Dumb Schmucks group proposed yesterday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5378293

[reichstag911]

16. I'm witcha for the last two!

But I still got 1300-1400 on the SAT...go figure.

[KyndCulture]

17. HA yeah me too!

I was still drunk!

[reichstag911]

26. After getting nothing but...

...99th percentile results on standardized tests my whole academic life, I had to spice it up a little, ya know? Made it a little challenging, at least.

[Benhurst]

11. The so-called brains never learned the basic law governing America:

shit floats.

For those having trouble grasping that concept, just study the career of George Walker Bush.

[reichstag911]

18. But I also learnt...

...that shit rolls downhill, begging the question, "Why is the shit at the top of the hill if it rolls down?" I used that line on a boss once -- needless to say, our relationship did not endure.

[eleny]

15. I'm in - K&R!

[lyonn]

21. Didn't realise your post was facetious

Darn, and you described me so well.

[reichstag911]

25. Sorry to disappoint,...

...but didja know that facetious and abstemious are the only two words in English with all five "regular" vowels in their alphabetic order and unduplicated? (Unless someone informs me of any others, that is.)

[EarlG]

29. To bring this thread into line with all the others on this topic...

I'm locking it.