I am getting sick of hearing about the average American—the igorant bastard who is careless, and uncompassionate. If you talking about the average teenager, it gets even worst—fat, violent, stupid, controlled by the media. If you take the average look at mankind, your highly unestimating it. When we do profiles, we all to often look at the fringes. The drug using, music blasting, poor people stick out the most. But from what I have seen, that isn't a true profile of people.

Most of the people I have met are friendly, helpful, and smart. Part of that has to do with the clics I hang out with. You tend to associate with people who are like you. Statisics are nice, but they hardly paint an accurate picture of what the US is. The majority of Americans are hardworking, smart, critical and not blind. Stats are dangerous in another sense—they lead to stereotyping. A man makes only 25k a year. With that one fact, you dismiss that man as lower class, as someone who struggles to make ends meet, and is depressed. Of course, if you knew him personally, you would find he is working a job he really likes, and being single and young he still has enough money to get some niceties for himself. He has a BS in Forestry and will move much farther up the ladder as time goes by. Statisics are misleading. The way a question is worded can and will change the results dramatically.

Recent events can sway public opinion dramatically day to day. The general public also lacks the ability to the best possible decissions from day to day—there is simply too much knowledge for everybody to comprehend, that's why we have specialication. Averages and extremes are a dangerous way to judge a group. If you judge a group by averages or extremes, you are guilty of prejudice.

Prejudice is a very bad word (as your parents/teachers/peers taught you), and for good reason. Prejudice is everywhere. Blacks are inferior. SUV drivers are yuppie jerks. People living in trailers are "trailer-trash". City people are ignorant. Rural residents are hicks. Republicans are anti-enviromentalists (excluding Nelson Rockefeller, Barry Goldwater), etc. Get to know these people. They have really interesting stories to tell (for sure). Try to meet as many people as possible, you will find there is no consenses.