BTW, Tae Kwon Do and Karate are only similar at a superficial level. Kungfu is not really similar to either and actually has hundreds of different styles, some of which are quite foreign to one another. Capoeira we know is different.

Tae Kwon Do is an ancient fighting art with roots that go as far back as Japanese Karate. There is nothing inherently anymore ineffective about it than any other popularized martial art. If we are talking about the bastardized, overly simplified, westernized versions of it; the kind where you can indeed earn a black belt in two years, then I would agree that it is ineffective.