Whence the cult of stupidity?

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Whence the cult of stupidity?

Postby Arneb » Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:29 pm

What I never got about U.S. culture, is its hostile streak to knowledge, to understanding and intelligence. This is the country with the most nobelists, the best hospitals, the best universities and the best innovative science-based tech corporations (not that I admire everything they do, but oh are they smart). The country literally, physically depends on the smarts of these people.

Then again, not knowing, not understanding, not having the faintest fucking clue seems to be all the rage right now. Can anyone explain this to me?

Case in point: Why the Scariest Nuclear Threat May Be Coming from Inside the White House.It took me an hour to read that behemoth, but I am glad I did. I don't get it. I simply, simply don't.
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Re: Whence the cult of stupidity?

Postby Lance » Sat Mar 17, 2018 12:42 am

Idiocracy. The stupid population grows far faster than the smarter, and has reached that critical mass where they're now driving the formation of the government.
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Re: Whence the cult of stupidity?

Postby Enzo » Sat Mar 17, 2018 1:31 am

Because we have universities and hospitals and stuff, but then we also have the unwashed masses. We are not homogeneous.

In the USA we have a wide streak of "You ain't no better than me" running through the middle. I recall a racist once asked why he hated black people, why he thought he was better than they were. he said "If I ain't better than them , who AM I better than?"

They have always been there, but Trump has brought it to the fore. No one wants to be the first one to clap or the first one to speak in a group. But if someone goes first, then we all loosen up. Trump is the guy who goes first. Now of a sudden it is OK to be a raging moron, so the idiots are now unrestrained.

We also tend to be fiercely independent, translated: Don't tell me what to do. When I buy a Prius car to be efficient or ecological, they interpret that as an affront. I am telling them their choice is somehow "wrong", and who do I think I am? We see stickers on cars that say "My child is an honor roll student at Northwood school." Which generates stickers on big pickup trucks that say "My child can beat up your honor roll child."

And we tend to look at any disagreement as a challenge.
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