Stoopider is not a word. Increasingly, it is becoming a way of life.

The city we live in is becoming stoopider

The state we live in is becoming stoopider.

The country we live in is becoming stoopider.

And so on – you get the idea.

Why? Every day, people forget how to think for themselves. In the culture of now, there are pundits for everything, and pundits to pontificate about the pundits. Blogs, radio shows, channel after channel of stuff on television. Nothing new in that statement. Then there is a time factor – folks have increasingly less and less of it. Again, nothing new there. With so many opinions from so many directions (and yes, we realize the irony here) and so little time to distill them and formulate their own opinions, it is very difficult for individuals to think for themselves. No time for reflection. No time for thoughtful consideration.

So what happens? People latch onto folks with thoughts and opinions that they think are closely aligned with their own, or what they think would be aligned with their own if they had time to consider what their own thoughts and opinions are. At this point, people allow themselves to be manipulated. Group thinking. Herd mentality. Dangererous – feeds the stoopification of our society.

What does it mean? Who knows. But it isn’t good. The key question everyone needs to really ask is this: why do I believe what I believe?

OK then. Not sure where all that was going, but we do know this – politicians, actors, athletes, writers, they run afoul of the law, exhibit poor ethics, have questionable morals, and so on. They appear happy to urinate on their adoring public, only to tell them it’s raining. Some manage to put in a serious effort to make mockeries of their own lives while trying to tell you how to live yours. They are the people who have the microphone, the pen, the spotlight. Through their words and actions they formulate the basis of much of the warped perspective we all see.

So what we’ll try and do is entertain at the expense of those who are, momentarily or permanently, efforting to be stoopider than anyone else. We’ll also look at past efforts at stupefying behavior, and try and identify patterns with the best of the stoopid. Maybe natural selection can take over from there. Unless you don’t believe in natural selection. In that case, saddle up your dinosaur and let’s go hunting!

Politics is a great place to start, and given the current focus on the candidate nominations, that’s where we’ll spend the bulk of our time initially. Over time, we’ll take a look at entertainment, sports, and just weird stuff we encounter day-to-day.

OK then. Hope that all makes sense. Stoopider it is. And stoopider it shall be.