“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
~ Isaac Asimov
“I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness...
“The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance”
~ Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
The two quotes above are far from cheery or encouraging messages, and perhaps it is scary and depressing to grapple with these kinds of issues. After all, it brings to mind another telling quote, this one from Bill Murray, that is particularly apropos these days:
"It's hard to win an argument with a smart person, but it's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person."
Yet it feels more urgent to actually begin to tackle this issue, because most people are beginning to recognize that anti-intellectualism is starting to be a very serious problem in this country.
For a very long time in the United States - far too long, frankly - we have collectively sat back and watched a serious deterioration occur within the country. Since roughly the early to mid-seventies, the nation's standard of living has consistently fallen behind that of several other nations of the world. During that time, we have found ourselves too often electing "leaders" who smile in our faces and tell us pretty lies. They tell us what we want to hear, rather than what we need to hear, and so we as a nation collectively never allow ourselves to be challenged. The results can be downright frightening. We saw that with the rabid intolerance targeting those opposed to the Iraq invasion during the Bush years. And we are seeing that now by the rabid intolerance targeting people who are sickened by Donald Trump, and/or the gun lobby, and/or the rejection of science which, frankly, is beginning to feel more and more like national policy.
In 2016, the United States elected a man as the President who fits into a lot of the worst stereotypes that people around the world have of Americans. Donald Trump is a monstrous narcissist of epic proportions. This man is a pig in the way he treats others, and he is offensively arrogant and ignorant of so much, to the point that it is difficult to claim that he is not outright stupid. This man is full of himself. An elitist from birth, this man has been handed some incredible, staggering blessings. Yet, he is the first to complain and suggest, straight-faced, that he has been cheated or treated unfairly. He is the poster child for all sorts of elitism and an inflated sense of self and entitlement, and yet far too many Americans completely sympathize with him, and feels that he "gets" them and cares about them, although there is absolutely nothing in this man's past or present to suggest that he does.
Obviously, it is depressing to see such an imbecile ascend to the highest office in the land. Yet, it also triggered something hopeful. There was a strong reaction, as finally, millions of Americans reacted to the shocking, yet undeniable evidence that we truly have allowed this country to decline so low that a man like this could be elected President.
During this holiday season, you get to see and talk to family more frequently than usual. One family member that I saw more of was my brother, and naturally, Trump came into the conversation. Fortunately, no one in the family is a fan or supporter of Trump, so it was not a dreaded discussion in that regard, although we all feel depressed and discouraged at the still unbelievable notion that this man is now officially the President of the United States.
One thing that my brother mentioned was a movie, Idiocracy, which he had actually mentioned once before. It was a kind of science-fiction comedy movie, where a man and a woman are basically frozen in what is supposed to be a one-year experiment. But through a series of unusual circumstances, they are frozen for 500 years, and when they wake up, the future is more than a little bleak. People have grown incredibly stupid during that time, to the point where a man of, at best, medium intelligence in the present age qualifies in this future as far and away the smartest man in the world. Specifically, My brother mentioned one scene where the President of the United States in this future needs a teleprompter to say some unimpressive things that most people today would think are actually quite dumb and unthinking remarks.
Well, I found this movie for free online, on Youtube. It played a little fast, which made the voices and other sound effects almost comical. I would have preferred regular speed, of course, but you cannot beat the price of being totally free, and so who would I be to complain about the speed or sound? Besides, this is a comedy, and the points made came across very clearly.
Indeed, Luke Wilson plays a soldier who is singled out for how remarkably average he is in every sense. He lacks ambition, and just basically wants to literally sit in a room for the remainder of his nine years, so that he can retire and get collect his pension. But he is chosen by military leaders to basically sit out, frozen for one year. But as already mentioned, something goes wrong, and he gets sent hundreds of years into the future.
But unlike many of our most hopeful notions of a more enlightened future, this future is very grim. Human beings are incredibly, mind-numbingly stupid, or at least they are in the United States. This man of average intelligence in our time and place is far and away the most intelligent person in the world, and before long, once this is discovered, he is sent to the White House and ordered by the President to fix all of the obvious problems. There are food shortages, and problems with avalanches because of the literal mountain range of garbage everywhere. The world has been totally and unashamedly been taken over by commercial culture, and people are fixated by sex at every turn, and by such a level of immature humor, that it even makes asinine shows like "Ridiculousness" and some reality television shows like "Jersey Shore" look sophisticated by way of comparison.
Perhaps inevitably, because the problems are not fixed literally immediately, he is sentenced to death. At every turn, he finds himself stunned by the levels of stupidity that he encounters. And whenever he tries to speak, people dismiss him and are angered by him. They literally cannot keep up with anything that he is saying.
In other words, it is a very bleak and depressing take on the future that we sometimes certainly seem to be headed towards. We might not be there, and frankly, if and when you see the movie, you will probably understand that we cannot get there, because humanity would literally have killed itself well before things reach that point.
Yet, I must say that this film is also very entertaining and hilarious. It is meant as a comedy, even though it sometimes seems like an alarmingly accurate forecast of where we are headed.
This movie is a bit crass at times, although this is perhaps necessary, given the nature of the statement being made. And let me say that I personally found it hilarious, in an almost tragic sense. I think this one is worth a watch, and most likely, you'll be tearing up at some things in this movie, as well.
Whether or not the tears are from laughter, or from sadness at how scary and accurate the similarities are getting to our own world is the question.
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