Thursday, November 09, 2017

The Dumber Citizens Get


It used to be an oft repeated trope that democracy could not survive without a strong public education system. The truth of that trope is now on display in the United States. Henry Giroux writes:

George Orwell's "ignorance is strength" motto in 1984 has materialized in the Trump administration's attempts not only to rewrite history, but also to obliterate it. What we are witnessing is not simply politics but also a reworking of the very meaning of education both as an institution and as a broader cultural force.
Trump, along with Fox News, Breitbart and other right-wing cultural institutions, echoes one of totalitarianism's most revered notions: That truth is a liability and ignorance a virtue. 

For decades now, conservatives have viewed education with disdain. When Mike Harris -- himself a failed teacher turned golf pro -- appointed John Snoblen as his first Minister of Education, education in Ontario was placed in the hands of a high school dropout. Snoblen immediately cancelled grade thirteen and set about rewriting the curriculum. For the new regime, education meant training -- and training meant teaching to the test.

In the United States, Donald Trump has appointed Betsy DeVos as his new Secretary of Education:

Higher education is being defunded, corporatized and transformed to mimic Wal-Mart-esque labour relations by the Trump administration under the preposterous ill-leadership of a religious fundamentalist, Betsy DeVos.
It's also, according to a recent poll, viewed by most Republicans as being "bad for America." Higher education is at odds with Trump's notion of making America great again.
This assault on higher education is accompanied by a systemic culture of lies that has descended upon America. The notion that democracy can only function with an informed public is viewed with disdain. Trump apparently rejoices in his role as a serial liar, knowing that the public is easily seduced by exhortation, emotional outbursts and sensationalism.

Consider "for instance, two thirds of the American public believe that creationism should be taught in schools and more than half of Republicans in Congress do not believe that climate change is caused by human activity. Shockingly, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, only 26 per cent of Americans can name all three branches of government."

In addition, a majority of Republicans believe that former President Barack Obama is a Kenyan-born Muslim, a belief blessedly skewered upon Trump's arrival a few days ago in Hawaii, Obama's birthplace.

Ignorance is the ally of modern conservatives. The dumber citizens get, the more they can accomplish.

Image: Quotefancy

14 comments:

rumleyfips said...

All is not lost. Ol Betsey got a boot to the head in Colorado last night. School board candidates, lavishly funded by charter school con men , lost .Americans are beginning to look behind the curtain.

Lorne said...

It is sometimes hard to retain hope, Owen. That the Benighted States of America has conflated ignorance with national pride is deeply troubling.

Owen Gray said...

E. J. Dionne had an interesting column in The Washington Post yesterday, rumley. That's precisely what he said. Now that Americans have had a chance to look under the hood, they've decided this one is a lemon.

Owen Gray said...

Orwell understood how autocracies work. Lorne. What's disturbing is that the American Right has taken 1984 not as warning but as a training manual.

Rural said...

Its been many years since I read Orwell, Owen, but if memory serves it would seem that Animal Farm also has an equally disturbing message for those that care to listen.

Owen Gray said...

Absolutely true, Rural. Orwell understood autocrats. Orwell's pigs were autocrats of the worst kind. They changed the rules for their own benefit.

Steve said...

Ronald Reagan really released this weapon of mass stupidity. He was the first to make the Secretary of everything against the ministry they were working for. Except of course War and Subversion.

We shall soon see just how dumb the public is. Israel and Saudi Arabia are itching for war with Iran. How many Americans will buy the new theory that is was not Iraq behind 911 but in fact it was Iran, GWB could not spell thats all.

Fascinating fact of the day. The x files spin off Lone Gunman episode one correctly predicted the attack on the twin towers. I guess Condelezza Rice never watched.

The Mound of Sound said...


I'm convinced the root cause of this is government's failure to defend a free press. In the US this took the form of the rise of the corporate media cartel through the dual scourges of concentration of ownership and media cross-ownership (one company dominating the media in a market, print, tv and radio). For a time that was offset by the "fairness doctrine" which required news outlets to offer equal time to other sides of a story - cumbersome but at least more than one side might be heard. The Repugs scrapped the fairness doctrine and the way was clear for FOX, Clear Channel and the likes of Limbaugh and Alec Jones. All propaganda, all the time.

It's not a function of education levels. Even well-educated Americans fall for it just as well-educated Germans fell for something quite similar a century earlier. Critical thinking would hold that the inexplicable is viewed with suspicion if not rejected outright. However when the inexplicable becomes the only option and is repeated constantly people are drawn to overlook the gaps, the contradictions and yield to it. It's part of a process of conditioning that's powerful and remarkably successful.

Owen Gray said...

Goebbels understood the power of the Big Lie, Mound. Anyone -- uneducated and educated -- would believe it, if it was repeated often enough -- unless they understood how the technique worked.

Owen Gray said...

Jonathan Manthorpe -- at ipolitics -- claims that the shake up in Saudi Arabia is a sign that the Kingdom of Saud is preparing to go to war. We'll see, Steve, if Manthorpe is right.

Lulymay said...

I don't think we should be so smug here in Canada, Owen. Only have to look at Alberta to see very similar attitudes by the populace to education and the wearing of a "thinking cap" once in a while.

And, really, how long did it take us to rid ourselves of his majesty, St. Stephen of Harper and his Office of Religious... whatever.

The current leader of the You See Pee in Alberta is no different than a Betsey Devos.

Owen Gray said...

I agree, Lulymay. We have our own version of the Ignorance Is Bliss Right.

Anonymous said...

As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” — H. L. Mencken

Cap

Owen Gray said...

Just as Mencken predicted, Cap, that day has arrived.