I found myself last week getting pretty depressed about the state of politics in the US. Really? More than half of the Republicans would prefer the next President to be either Trump or Carson? Really?
In one of my undergrad classes, I let slip that I was worried that the American public might just be getting more stupid. Not a pedagogically sound statement, but I am worried about the possibility. My apologies in advance for the harsh language, but I think it is important to use it to make the point.
Not polite to use this word
I know it isn’t polite, but let’s face it, some percentage of any population is not very smart. Might this proportion be increasing? I used to call this fear the “Dukes of Hazards” concern. There was a time in TV history where the number one TV show was an inanity about two “country boys,” their ridiculous, gas guzzling car, and their scantily clad female cousin. All of which had to be insulting to any self-respecting rural resident. If that is what the American people most want to watch, something was seriously wrong.
Today, according to PPP, the polling company, 54% of Republicans think Obama is a Muslim, and another 32% said they weren’t sure. Last year, Gallup found that more than 4 in every 10 Americans believe that God created the Earth in a week, in its present form and about 10,000 years ago.
The good news is that a majority of American’s believe in the necessity to act on climate change. But according to HuffPo, more people believe Fox News’ views on climate change than believe President Obama’s.
We could go on. I am guessing you all have your own data points that cause you incredulity. There does seem to be evidence that the country is getting more and more stupid.
Maybe something else is going on
But today I retracted my statement in class. I don’t think this is necessarily evidence of an increasing portion of Americans with limited critical thinking skills. More likely, this is the result of 50 years of the right wing learning to reach out to, to incite and to activate whatever the portion of American’s that are stupid.
That is one of the main things they have been doing for the last many decades. Opposing Medicare as the greatest threat to our freedom back in 1962. Championing “state’s rights” (with all its racist overtones) in the mid-60's. Promising peace with honor in Viet Nam, and then delivering neither. Reagan promising to triple the defense budget, balance the federal budget and decrease taxes, all at the same time. George H.W. Bush wanting us to address our pressing social needs with voluntarism. George W. Bush and Cheney misleading us into the worst foreign policy blunder certainly in 100 years, maybe of all time. Palin saying almost everything she has ever said. Every rightist economist and politician telling us that the problem with our economy is taxes, “Taxes I tell you!” Trump promising to round up 11 million people and send them “away.”
None of these are going to be attractive positions to people with critical thinking skills. (OK, lots of really smart people bought W’s and Cheney’s malarkey. The exception that proves the rule, I suppose.) In a myriad ways, the right has been selling anger and frustration and hate to the not very smart, and it has worked well for them.
Trump might be their Frankenstein’s monster
But they are possibly going to rue that strategy. Trump’s success is the peak of this decades-long campaign to activate the stupid. He might end up being their Frankenstein’s monster. His campaign is likely to dim the Republican brand, and if he were to win the nomination, he is very unlikely to win in the general election. (Of course, I and many others said the same thing about Reagan in the summer of of 1980. If Trump does become President, all bets are off, and I might go back to my original hypothesis. Canada, maybe?)
So, my new hypothesis is that American’s aren’t getting any more stupid. It is just that that group has been empowered by the right-wing in this country, been handed a platform and a megaphone, and we are just hearing from them more.
Still, it is a dire set of events. If right wing positions are based primarily on ignorance and lack of education, we can try to provide facts and instruction. But if the leading edge is stupid, that is a much bigger problem.
There is a tendency toward hopelessness faced with such a problem. But we who are not stupid can’t give up, can’t allow ourselves to give in. We still have to fight, and maintain hope that the large majority of the people who respond to facts and to rationality and to science can be organized to oppose a government that caters to the stupid.
Stupidity is probably not growing, and is probably not insurmountable. It is just another thing we have to overcome, along the way.
Very interesting article. A friend and I were having this discussion this morning about the vulnerability of politics. Specifically, how certain political figures (and their research teams) do a great job of crafting messages that incite and empower their political base. In this case, Trump is highlighting the thought processes and emotions of a certain base in our country. The scary part is that this is gaining serious traction....which could have far-reaching implications depending on the outcome. I say more people are lazy versus stupid. It is easy to rely on mainstream news media to form your opinions for you, versus doing the required research and critical thinking/analysis to see whats really going on in the wash (well maybe this could be considered as being stupid depending on who you ask). Great read, look forward to reading your other posts!
ReplyDeleteAs an environmental activist in the 70's, I learned that part of public advocacy is having to use "red meat" language, something you waive around to get your troops actively involved. The key to success in politics is intensity, and red meat provides a cheap way to achieve that. But if you are not careful, sometimes the crowd you are waiving the meat in front of becomes a mob, and then you may have a problem on your hands. Trump is slinging the meat for everyone to see. Are the people who mistake the steak for real substance just lazy or stupid? A good question. Maybe, as you suggest, too much lazy is functionally the same as stupidity. DS
ReplyDeleteGood post. I try very hard to share your optimistic viewpoint, though find it very difficult. White noise created by mainstream media...increased economic disparity (and therefore a portion of our country rightfully looking for someone to blame)...lack of leadership among our elected officials...the list goes on and it makes it hard to believe that the discourse will change, though I rationally know that it must! I just have to keep reminding myself that change is incremental, but it's hard to believe in that when the incremental change seems to be occurring in the wrong direction.
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