...And therein lies the problem.

[kiaa]

This is just a minor example. The problem goes much deeper and wider. What I'm talking about here is a cult to ignorance, actually. It's as if ignorance is a virtue, as demonstrated by the ascent of the likes of Trump (but he's not the first one to start that phenomenon; just look at Congress -- snowball demonstrations, anyone?)

Unless Americans recognize that if the cult of ignorance continues it'll become more and more difficult to compete both politically and economically with societies that highly value education, intelligence and learning, it'll be the doom of American prosperity and hegemony. Nowhere in the developed world (I'm not talking Third World) is this more problematic than in the US, and the problem is that a growing number of elected officials turn out to be a product of that cult of ignorance. These people are in a position to make decisions affecting millions of people both at home and beyond borders. So I'd argue this is not just a domestic problem but an international one. A problem of national security even if you like. Because a population and its leadership lacking the knowledge and intellectual tools necessary to analyze domestic and world affairs in a way that's smart and complex enough, is extremely vulnerable.

The problem here is not the educational system per se; it's rather the very educational culture. As Thomas Jefferson once said, if a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.

Comments

[garote]

Hey, I didn’t say they were right to see those things, just that they did. The Republican Party practically handed him the role, what with fielding so many long-career politicians for him to jab at, and those things the voters saw were exactly what Hillary appeared weak on. (To them.)