I totally agree with you about guns, but it ain't gonna happen here.

98 they say. So 50% are that or lower. Tetra Ethyl Lead was fairly responsible. Crap foods with industrial chemicals also.

The other comment I got was that the guy DIDN'T shoot anyone but himself, so my fears are moot.

The guy shot himself sitting in a car outside a school. The guy who responded to my post didn't even understand the point I was making about irresponsibility--if the "shooter" shot himself accidentally, he is NOT responsible.

@rogerbenham I just looked up the average IQ of people in Missouri: 99.5. Oklahoma: 98.2. Arkansas: 97.1. The last two are states which border MO to the south.

@Gwen_Wanderer The really sad part is that university entrance in the UK was said to be 120 IQ or higher and barely represented 5% of the population. The number of people below 110 is enormous and I wonder how much thought they can demonstrate.
Democratic government suggests that the 99 IQ should elect their kind. I suppose Sarah Palin and Marjory Taylor Greene are true representatives of the IQ crowd,

@rogerbenham "I suppose Sarah Palin and Marjory Taylor Greene are true representatives of the IQ crowd"

Yes, but in this case, IQ means Idiot Quotient?

@TheoryNumber3 Democratic voting is incredibly dangerous as the IQ 100 and lower tend to be easily influenced by charisma as is probably what is going on with the MAGA crowd. But few interlectuals are interested in seeking power. Unfortunately power tends to attract just the completely wrong people. Ideally power should be given to thoughtful clever people who do not want power.

@rogerbenham you are being too generous in guessing Sarah and Marjory's IQs.

Are you familiar with the Dunning-Kroeger effect? If not, it explains how people with subnormal intelligence (and, I suppose, people with average intelligence) overestimate their intelligence and/or competence. Palin, Marjory, Trump, et al definitely suffer from this syndrome, i.e. Trump called himself a "stable genius."

It has long been a stereotype among people who lack intelligence that intelligent people lack common sense. I have been told that because I am educated, I do not have a grasp on reality or the "real world." One man told me that I live in an ivory tower (not his words as he would not be familiar with the term) surrounded by people who are like me. Because I have degrees, I am one of the "privileged" and never had to struggle or experience what other people experience. I told him that until I was six, I lived in a house with no running water--we drew water from a well and had an outhouse. To say we were poverty stricken is an understatement. I am still paying on the student loans for my MA--nothing was ever given to me.

@rogerbenham That's the difference between power and leadership. True leaders command respect and adoration. Malignant narcissistics can only demand it.

@Gwen_Wanderer I have a friend who grew up in the same town in Alaska as Marjory. They were not friends.
Trump's grasp on reality is staggeringly odd. He appears to consider that he is better than anyone at everything. I just cannot understand how a person can think that unless he is insane, yet he is mostly just said to have dementia. It is extreme narcisism. But like Greene he is also nasty.
I don't think he knows answers so he makes them up but he also repeats his made up world and the MAGA folk eat it up especially if it is angry. Did he spend his childhood being mocked for his stupidity?
Yes I am familiar with the Dunning-Kroeger effect with the sad opposite effect that clever people doubt theirknowledge. I don't doubt my knowledge but know that other people in all spheres know more and therefore I may well be mistaken.
I think people around me think me clever but no more than plenty of others. They know that I was an engineer but they do not know what that entails and probably are mystified as to why I would give up that position if in fact I'd been any good. Interestingly when I was at the top, I was beset with the knowledge that there were aspects of my knowledge where I had severe gaps!
What I do find wrong is the pay of peoople who do the jobs noone wants and at the opposdite end the pay of CEO's, bankers and Wall Street gamblers. The top directors are often there because they are nasty. The stock traders could not care a fig about the employees of the companies whose shares are being traded. My solution is to have a maximun of 16 levels of pay so that the lowest paid has a 1/4 of average and the highest 4 times the average. Ideally we all shouldhave the same but I fear human nature demands incentives.

@TheoryNumber3 We used to talk about statesmen. Despite his faults, Churill was one of them. They said M.T.Cicero was the greatest of all time. I think Jimmy Carter could have been but your electorate preferred idiots like Reagan. I'm sure that you could have had many wonderful leaders but sadly they did not push themselves to the frontof the queue. I recognise that attribute as I never demanded to be first served at a bar.

@rogerbenham only a psychiatrist would be able to answer our questions about Trump. However, it is apparent that some are age related as he shows clear signs of dementia/senility.

He is an extreme narcissist, but how did he "get" that way? Was it nature or nurture? Did he develop his sense of being smart due to feeling inadequate per parental influence? I don't know anything about his childhood, but it seems that either his parents (most likely, father) belittled him and he developed defenses or he was considered the "special" child who could do no wrong. Bullies are nasty and he is a bully--it is a form of control and to elevate their own sense of self-worth.

I don't doubt my knowledge base or that I am smart. However, my knowledge base is in literature and writing, not math. I never took an algebra class because I was not interested in learning math--the basics are enough for me per my career choice. I do not know all the laws of physics, but I was also not interested in learning them. There are at least nine types of intelligences and they are varied. A car mechanic can be a genius when it comes to fixing cars, but not be able to read well. Honestly, the only type of "intelligence" Trump might have is his ability to sway ignorant people. He inherited his money and is not a good businessman, but his people think he is. I remember when he ran for president the first time and the guys at the auto repair shop thought Trump was a great businessman. I asked if so, why did he file bankruptcy so often? They had no knowledge that he had done so. On the other hand, after they thought about, I am sure that they would say that he beat the system by doing so.

Then there are the ones I can't classify--I wrote about an erstwhile friend who has an MA but supports Trump and also believes the moon is hollow and aliens have a base there. What is her problem? Though she has a degree and teaches, is she just crazy in a negative way? Why does my Xtian cousin who is not an idiot support him?

@rogerbenham Carter was a good man and a better president than was Reagan (who sucked). He did not have the presence that Reagan had but then, Carter wasn't an actor.

@Gwen_Wanderer I come from a family of mathematicians. But I was never much good at any sports. I do not really know my failings as at school I failed at pretty well everything. What I do know is that I had the intelligence to forsake wealth and the system by dropping out at 35 and staying out for 40 years.. I lived on my own wits. As an engineer I realised working in Alberta that nearly all I designed in some way was tied to the oil industry and its employees.

@Gwen_Wanderer Trump supporters don't care how nasty he is. Nor did Hitler's. They love his anger and complaining about the things they complain about. The most illogical facet is that his policies would drive many of them onto the streets as like Bush Junior (Oct 19, 2000 ... George W. Bush " This is an impressive crowd. The haves and the have mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base ... you by good ...". For sure Trump will reward the richest, not the poorest. Not those living on food stamps or in tents.

@Gwen_Wanderer Carter has honesty. Few people do. Perhaps he made people uncomfortable. Trump has not a shred of honesty but that seems to gain him popularity.

@rogerbenham I came from a family of poor dirt farmers and men who worked in lumber camps. My dad was smart, but had little education. My sister and cousin were the first in my extended family to get a high school diploma (and the cousin was the only one to do so among her four siblings). I was the first to get a college degree.

It is ironic that the one line of my ancestors who emigrated to the Colonies (they were Ulster Irish) in the 1730s appeared to be literate. I think it was my 8th great grandfather who emigrated--he became the first minister of the NJ Cohansey Baptist Church. His son fought in the Revolutionary War and was a Postmaster General in NJ (perhaps the first) and given the title "Squire." However, just a few generations later, an ancestor had moved to Missouri and I think it was his son who was illiterate. What happened? From literacy to illiteracy in a few generations . . .