I guess it isn't clearly shown in the movie, but I never thought it was a group of people who chose Joe to solve America's problems, just President Camacho and then everyone followed him because he did such a great job selling the idea. Joe being the smartest man alive doesn't automatically mean that everyone else is incapable coming up with good ideas and acting on them, etc. Even if President Camacho isn't as smart as Joe, he is smarter than his contemporaries and that's enough to start things moving in the right direction.
I think there are people who go into politics or government work for the good of their country and the world, but probably a lot of them give up, become jaded and demoralized or even corrupted by the system. I'd be curious to see how other (more socialist) countries compare to the United States in the world of the movie; hard to believe there aren't islands of smart people out there, somehow.

don't you think that with this level of idiocy would these people ever think of picking the smartest guy in the world to solve their problems?
Taking just this thread as an example, the answer is no. Apparently, stupid people are too stupid to both recognize a smart person, or to understand that a smart person might solve their problems. Or perhaps, even to understand what problems they have.
This is most evident with Trump supporters. God help us all.

The way I understand it is that they are running on a system that they didn't created, for example when the computer fired half of the population. They don't understand how the computer works or why, but they just follow what the software says. In the same sense they didn't develop the IQ test the computer just told them this guy needs to be in power and they follow what the computer says.
About the real world there is a lot of made up problems that politicians try to fix and a lot of real problems that they deny and/or ignore.

I agree with your well thought-out reply but I think they are outnumbered by those who are simply psychopaths. For whatever reason, there is a subset that believe the rest of the planet should submitnto them.

Yes, there are definitely smart people in Government trying to solve actual important problems in a real way. As importantly, there are people all across the Country / World in every walk of life trying to understand problems and make things better in whatever ways that they can.

if trump is stupid and popular doesn't that make his voters stupid ?
Yes. It does.
The problem is there are more "stupid" normal people than "smart" folks.
Pure selfishness on the part of many voters had them blinded by lies of rich men without morals.
Dump regs that hurt business! Ban EPA! Kill my Grandchildren!
Just so Corporations can earn more money, and still ship jobs overseas.
If you only think about yourself, you do more harm than good.
Help others live well, and you live well, too.
You Fill Me with Inertia.

if trump is stupid and popular doesn't that make his voters stupid ?
Yes. It does.
The problem is there are more "stupid" normal people than "smart" folks.
Pure selfishness on the part of many voters had them blinded by lies of rich men without morals.
Dump regs that hurt business! Ban EPA! Kill my Grandchildren!
Just so Corporations can earn more money, and still ship jobs overseas.
If you only think about yourself, you do more harm than good.
Help others live well, and you live well, too.
You Fill Me with Inertia.

if trump is stupid and popular doesn't that make his voters stupid ?

I think that's partly the point of the movie. High IQ people are often arrogant and do not understand gradations of intelligence, nor are they especially focused on survival in the long run, being too enmeshed in their complicated activities that seem so important. Because they value their career, they must behave within the confines imposed by it. A typical businessman may be more intelligent than your local electrician, but he was taught to ignore culture and race; he was taught to
be good
. He'll have major problems if he favours white employment, say. He will gradually adjust his views to fit this restricted routine. He will just watch in silence as his country slowly turns into a second Mexico. In fact, he and his family will remain on top of the hierarchy, just like the Spanish elite in Mexico. He will live like a magnate in a nation-wide Detroit. The whole country - and humanity, including Mexico - will suffer as a result of his selfishness. To a typical high IQ individual, there is no real difference between a Hispanic fruit collector and a white construction worker; they are all equally lowly and working class. But there is colossal difference between a country with an average IQ of 85 and 95.
You cannot budge the businessman from his complacency, while the just ire of the electrician at being equated with a janitor can be exploited. If one needs to talk like Trump to do it, then so be it - evidently, talking like Jared Taylor doesn't work.

people frequently side for someone that they identify with"
True, but it's only racist when whites do it.
Signatures are dumb-
me

Nothing to do with liberals, people frequently side for someone that they identify with. That's normal human behavior which, by the way, is full of contradictions. Yes, the deep-seated racism in America IS problem, regardless of your meaningless retort.

sure that some people voted for him because he's African-American and that's okay; I think he showed many Americans how the color of your skin is irrelevant and his presidency has also revealed how much deep-seated racism remains in our country (I'm white man with two college degrees, if that matters.)."
So it's ok to vote for a president for his skin colour, but at the same you condemn 'deep seated' racism' in the US ? Kind of contradicting don't you think ?
Oh well, liberal logic I guess.
Signatures are dumb- Me

This sounds more like YOU were the problem and that YOU were listening to the wrong people and bought into some crazy fantasy. I voted for Obama, twice, because both times he was the superior candidate. I'm sure that some people voted for him because he's African-American and that's okay; I think he showed many Americans how the color of your skin is irrelevant and his presidency has also revealed how much deep-seated racism remains in our country (I'm white man with two college degrees, if that matters.)
The only people who say he is the worst are the same people who voted for Bush and the same people who think that nut with the hairy yellow thing on his head is actually a leader, not a conman. Most of us remember what a mess we were in after Bush left office: an economy in the dumps, companies closing, homes being repossessed, 401 k plans losing 1/3 of their value, and American soldiers were losing their lives in two misguided and unwinnable wars. The rich were paying less tax than ever and more of the burden had been shifted to the shoulders of the middle class.
Eight years later, Obama has made so many things better, in spite of an opposition that has gone out of its way to block and derail his every movie. the economy is on the mend, although it will take a long time to really fix it, fewer people are unemployed, fewer soldiers are being killed; there are fewer illegal immigrants; fewer people with health insurance; and the stock market is way up. His administration has been scandal-free and he is the first president in recent memory to have such high approval ratings in the 8th year of his term.Ther REAL idiocracy comes from that sad right-wing bunch who lack the integrity and the grace to acknowledge this. Most of them are white, elderly, religious, lack a college education, and live in a red state that ranks in the bottom half of the states when it comes to quality-of-life. As long as they keep pretending that Trump,Palin, Cruz, etc. are legitimate candidates for the Executive office, their ships (the GOP & the Tea Party) will keep sinking into irrelevance and oblivion.

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condemned as the worst president
Where, other than Fox News and other right wing sites has he been called the worst? Most presidential historians without an agenda to promote have rated the Obama presidency as mid to high-mid.

Actually my TSP is always at record levels when the left is in office and tanks when the GOP is in office. Also the GOP obstructed and Obama still got bin Ladin, cut unemployment, cut the deficit and millions more have healthcare.

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Yeppers.
Twilight zone again.

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You are special.
You know John Lennon was very left wing in ideology no you probably didn't. I assure you he would be standing for President Obama not against him. If he were alive, he would be endorsing Bernie Sanders.
Did I say too much?

therefdotcom
look, another prime example (i love this guy):
"Now that you got that put of your system don't you remember the news reports and YouTube videos praising the guy? Even a song titled I'm in love with Obama was popular for a while. Also at least I know what the politicians I vote for stand for."
so, he ignores everything that was achieved in favor of some irrelevant pseudo arguments.
instead he celebrates that he has no problem with a guy that:

• want to bring back torture
• build a wall to mexico
• keep muslims out of the land
  als long as he really stands for it.
  and even funnier: he thinks that either cruz or trump will keep word.
  "and love Bernie for promising free this or that with no way to pay for it."
  wow, so your whole argument is "bernie=crap", so much for idocracy.
  "Also the criminal clinton."
  oh, and while we are at credibility: you are fired. xD
  ironically she is the only moderate republican in the race.
  "To many idiots for sure out there."
  oh the irony.
  Wow you're making an awful lot of noise for someone who didn't actually, oh, I don't know SAY ANYTHING?
  You spent three paragraphs smashing the other guy without actually putting up ANYTHING of substance.
  I love people like you; you're all so very predictable.

I love when somebody calls people idiots, yet can't correctly spell second grade words.

look, another prime example (i love this guy):
"Now that you got that put of your system don't you remember the news reports and YouTube videos praising the guy? Even a song titled I'm in love with Obama was popular for a while. Also at least I know what the politicians I vote for stand for."
so, he ignores everything that was achieved in favor of some irrelevant pseudo arguments.
instead he celebrates that he has no problem with a guy that:

• want to bring back torture
• build a wall to mexico
• keep muslims out of the land
  als long as he really stands for it.
  and even funnier: he thinks that either cruz or trump will keep word.
  "and love Bernie for promising free this or that with no way to pay for it."
  wow, so your whole argument is "bernie=crap", so much for idocracy.
  "Also the criminal clinton."
  oh, and while we are at credibility: you are fired. xD
  ironically she is the only moderate republican in the race.
  "To many idiots for sure out there."
  oh the irony.

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