Call Me An Elitist....
Susan Jacoby has a worthwhile piece in the Post this morning. Here is the link:
Jacoby has just written a book call the The Age of American Unreason, inwhich she argues that we have become a nation of dunces, perilously without a grasp of the most basic scientific and political facts of the world around us. Yeah... yeah.. she is an elitist who just wants to criticize the common folks... yada.. yada. But I witness this phenomena everyday. I work with people who are highly educated, highly motivated, and make a living solving complex problems in a contentious atmosphere. Yet, at times it is difficult to get an conversation going about even the most basic front page news. What is more troubling is that anyone who has even the mildest interest in the world is seen as some type of elitist freak. As though current events are like foreign stamps ... any interest in them is highly suspect and of marginal utility
Perhaps the most troubling is that this sort of willful ignorance seems to be a hallmark of our elected leaders as well. Remember when Al Gore and John Kerry were derided as some type of effete snobs because they just plain knew more about the world than George W. Bush? Gore in particular was catigated for snorting when W offered a seventh grade answer to a question in a debate. But I guess in the New World Order, the guy who is resolute and wrong is more electable than the guy who is right.
Jacoby has just written a book call the The Age of American Unreason, inwhich she argues that we have become a nation of dunces, perilously without a grasp of the most basic scientific and political facts of the world around us. Yeah... yeah.. she is an elitist who just wants to criticize the common folks... yada.. yada. But I witness this phenomena everyday. I work with people who are highly educated, highly motivated, and make a living solving complex problems in a contentious atmosphere. Yet, at times it is difficult to get an conversation going about even the most basic front page news. What is more troubling is that anyone who has even the mildest interest in the world is seen as some type of elitist freak. As though current events are like foreign stamps ... any interest in them is highly suspect and of marginal utility
Perhaps the most troubling is that this sort of willful ignorance seems to be a hallmark of our elected leaders as well. Remember when Al Gore and John Kerry were derided as some type of effete snobs because they just plain knew more about the world than George W. Bush? Gore in particular was catigated for snorting when W offered a seventh grade answer to a question in a debate. But I guess in the New World Order, the guy who is resolute and wrong is more electable than the guy who is right.
posted by Jack Reed at 9:41 AM
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