Gene Lyons on the pity of 'real Americans'

[mooseandsquirrel]

"The rise of Idiot America . . . is essentially a war on expertise. . . . In the new media age, everybody is a historian, or a scientist, or a preacher, or a sage. And if everyone is an expert, then nobody is, and the worst thing you can be in a society where everybody is an expert is, well, an actual expert."-Charles P. Pierce, "Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free"

Pity the poor "real Americans," because they sure feel sorry for themselves.

snip

Pierce is right (as usual). And Gene hits another home run (week after week).

http://moose-and-squirrel.com/gene/gene.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. Remember, the political mentor of FDR and ER always advised them never to act like the smartest guy

in the room.

That strain has been in our culture a long time.

[Wapsie B]

2. I have relatives who grew up in small town Midwest in the 30's & 40's

who dumbed themselves down in order to fit in. One in particular is highly intelligent and by all family accounts could've gone on to any profession he chose; medicine, law, engineering, what have you. But he let himself slide through high school with C's so he wouldn't be picked on or beat up for being the class brain.

[MotorCityMan]

4. I don't think that things have changed much since then

When I was in jr. high/high school in the late 70's/early 80's, I was a good student, a heavy reader, didn't have trouble with tests or homework, was in Honor Society, and usually got A's and B's.

I had fellow students tell me how much they hated me for this reason. I was a constant target of ridicule and abuse, by certain kids who didn't like the "smart-ass, know-it-all, four-eyed faggot" in their math class.

No sin like being "different". I cared about my school work and I didn't party like most of my classmates.

The fucking Republicans know that this dumbing down of America works to their advantage. Look what happened to Gore; they managed to turn his intelligence into a negative. I couldn't believe some of the arguments I had with Republicans over this. How they saw it as a bad thing that Gore was too smart, and liked "regular guy Bush".

[Wapsie B]

5. Yes I remember talking to repugs who dissed Gore for not being a "common man."

They'd rather have the class doofus running the most powerful country on earth than god forbid one of those intellectual elitists. And now look at the mess Obama's got to clean up. :eyes:

[izquierdista]

3. Bite your tongue, Gene!

Don't give Palin any ideas about a reality show. The reality of her on the national scene was scary enough. But to put that family of losers on TV would move the country many steps closer to 'Idiocracy'.