Building a Nation of Know-Nothings - Timothy Egan ?
It would be nice to dismiss the stupid things that Americans believe as harmless, the price of having such a large, messy democracy. Plenty of hate-filled partisans swore that Abraham Lincoln was a Catholic and Franklin Roosevelt was a Jew. So what if one-in-five believe the sun revolves around the earth, or aren’t sure from which country the United States gained its independence?
But false belief in weapons of mass-destruction led the United States to a trillion-dollar war. And trust in rising home value as a truism as reliable as a sunrise was a major contributor to the catastrophic collapse of the economy. At its worst extreme, a culture of misinformation can produce something like Iran, which is run by a Holocaust denier.
It’s one thing to forget the past, with predictable consequences, as the favorite aphorism goes. But what about those who refuse to comprehend the present?
Well, we’re raised from birth to believe in a fat red man who gives us gifts once a year (among other fictional tales) and we’re surprised in the colossal ignorance of Americans?
I guess we are. Because, you know, we’re stupid.
I think everyone needs to go listen to the episode of the 666cast where I suggest we wage a War on Stupid.
