Wow. A quote that explains so much with so few words.

[louis c]

Democracy Quotes

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always 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 1980

Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/84250-anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding-its-way-through

[lagomorph777]

1. Asimov's a hero of mine

Thanks for the quote.

[whathehell]

2. A negative side effects of democracy, perhaps..

That said, I still prefer Democracy over Elite Rule.

[mountain grammy]

8. True, and I've been thinking a lot about that lately..

looks like the side effects may turn out to be fatal.

[whathehell]

25. Think about what Winston said..

[maxsolomon]

11. what we have is elite rule

with a veneer of democracy.

the elite are the wealthy elite, the kakistocrats and their hirelings, not the scientific or cultural elite.

[not fooled]

15. Yes

100% agree. The installation of dump and the more open looting of the country under his "presidency" just makes it a little more obvious. What is good for the American people and what they want--e.g., health care--gets little or no serious consideration. What the wealthy and corporations want prevails.

[whathehell]

23. The wealthy elite, as we can see with Trump, can be as ignorant

as the poor. Were Assimov now alive, I think he'd agree.

[whathehell]

29. That "cult of ignorance" is not limited to America, as

as the recent post BREXIT Google search for the definition of the European Union illustrates.

[Myrddin]

47. Agreed! n/t

[Mosby]

45. if more people voted it wouldn't be this way.

[Lucky Luciano]

22. Winston is with you

[whathehell]

24. Yes..

Thank you.

[tomp]

31. Also....

..."
the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."

[Lucky Luciano]

43. Ahh yes - another great one!! nt

[yurbud]

38. education should be the cure but the financial elite are kneecapping that

through privatization, standardized testing, and everything possible to suck the life out of it--and suck the money out if and divert it into their own pockets.

[hvn_nbr_2]

3. "The cult of ignorance" YES

We should be hearing this phrase every day, and we should be using it every day.

Trumpzis = cult of ignorance = deplorables = cult of ignorance = ...

"Fake news" is the mantra of the cult of ignorance.

[Clarity2]

4. So true

So many trumpsters that voted for Trump because he spoke to the "common man". He dumbed things down.

Except we should NEVER accept an ignoramus as president. We WANT them to be smarter than us. A lot smarter! Drop your ego and get over yourselves. Someone running this country better know wth they're doing. I realize nothing can prepare you completely for the job of President, but you best be intelligent enough to catch on fast & you best have some kind of political background to prepare for the job.

I personally think trumpsters translate "elites" as intellectuals. Meanwhile we see the rich & powerful as elites (which includes their beloved leader).

[bigbrother05]

28. Jon Stewart spoke of that in respect to President Obama

Paraphrasing, "you bet I want an 'intellectual'. I want someone so smart he can read my mind or levitate the White House".

[Tobin S.]

40. He spoke to the ignorant man.

I'm the common man and I have a good understanding on who better represents my interests when I step into the voting booth. Trump used social conservatism and outright regression on people to appeal to their ignorance and prejudices and conned them into voting against their own interests. Either that or they are the white supremacist true believers who will take the hit on the destruction of social programs that benefit them personally, and knew that was coming, to instigate what they thought would be actions taken by Trump to start the preservation of the white race in America. But although there is that element out there, I don't think most of them are that complex in their thinking.

About 40% of the electorate didn't cast a vote in the last election. They are mostly common people who don't feel like anyone in government truly represents them. Democrats need to start talking to those people. Those of us who keep up on political issues are often highly critical of those who do not even bother to vote. We see it is as their failure and say all kinds of unkind things about them. This is actually a failure of the political establishment in America. Establishment Republicans really like things just as they are in America right now. They are not going to try to try to represent that 40% because they know they aren't getting anyone there on board with them unless they make some serious changes, which they won't. As Democrats, we have in the history of our party the kinds of policies that will appeal to a great many of these people.

I spoke to one of those people here recently. He said he didn't bother with politics because he thought that most politicians were corrupted by special interest money and high dollar donors, and were more interested in trying to stay in power than doing the kinds of things that really help ordinary people. That is a politically astute observation.

[Cosmocat]

52. It SO did not start with 45

17 years ago, the republicans foisted a hapless son of priviledge on the country with the proud refrain, parroted by the jackass media a million times, "a guy you would like to have a beer with!"

Cause, the super intelligent, capable and decent opponent was an elitist, can't have that!

You are right on the last point generally.

And, that is a nut that I have no clue how to crack.

[zanana1]

5. Don't you know that being educated is a bad thing?

That's what's wrong with you smug, liberal elites. You should be ashamed to have a high school diploma. If you went to college, you must be punished.
I'm so tired of the "silent majority" mouthing off about intelligent people. We don't fight back about important things. So they think we look down on them? We should look down on them! For years, I tried to hold back for fear of hurting people's feelings. The hell with that; now I'll sound like a walking dictionary.

[tblue37]

33. A majority of Republicans now believe that colleges have a negative impact on American

society. (A poll reported on a couple of weeks ago revealed that.)

[Virtual Burlesque]

48. USA Today is one of the MSN that has the story

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/07/11/majority-republicans-say-colleges-have-negative-impact-country-poll-says/468869001/

[smirkymonkey]

6. K&R

[mtngirl47]

7. I keep this on my desktop....and send it to people who

send me ignorant emails!

[Left-over]

9. An incredibly true quote, thank you.

[thesquanderer]

10. What has changed since 1980 is that the ignorant have more/bigger soapboxes.

So many more "news" sources, plus social media. It's so much easier now for people to share and spread their ignorance-based information.

[lunatica]

12. Asimov is one of my favorite writers and not just in Science Fiction

He was a brilliant man! I heard he's the only writer who had books published in every genre. I wonder if that's still true.

[Dave Starsky]

18. Not only in fiction, but non-fiction.

Everything from science and math (naturally) to history, theology, and even collections of jokes.

I don't think anyone has rivaled his breadth and output. The only writer who I can think has approached it is Stephen King, and his nonfiction works center around writing.

[KPN]

13. K&R!

Excellent ... thanks for sharing. So true ... and useful to boot!

[iluvtennis]

14. + 1

[alterfurz]

16. "Ignorance is Strength"

[lark]

17. Asimov has always been one of my heros, he gets it.

I was lucky enough to get a signed copy of one of his books from a friend that was good friends with Asimov and his wife.

[WinkyDink]

19. Ignorance has been promoted by Republicans, with "insults" such as "egghead" (Adlai

Stevenson) and "Harvard boutiques" (41, about Dukakis), and so on.

Republicans have always known that an uneducated electorate is easy to dupe into self-destruction.

[WinkyDink]

20. And before Asimov was Richard Hofstadter and the 1963 book "Anti-Intellectualism

in American Life" (Pulitzer Prize).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-intellectualism_in_American_Life

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. I read that in college.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

[WinkyDink]

35. In this case: Alas. I used to tell h.s. students that thinking is hard work. If it weren't, more

people would do it.

[tiptonic]

21. Wow again

I wish I had said that. Pretty much covers the state of the union and why we are, where we are. Hope that makes sense!!

[Motley13]

27. "willful ignorance as a badge of honor"

don't remember where I heard it

[CrispyQ]

30. I love Asimov.

The first scifi book I read was Asimov.

on edit:

The Last Question

http://multivax.com/last_question.html

My first sci fi short stories were an Asimov collection.

[tblue37]

32. There is a famous book about American anti-intellectualism:

Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Intellectualism-American-Life-Richard-Hofstadter/dp/0394703170

[WinkyDink]

36. See Post #20. 😀

[niyad]

34. and it is getting worse every single day.

[WheelWalker]

37. You can lead a person to knowledge, but you can't make them think.

[TwistOneUp]

39. And the reason is...

Organized religion.

Science flies a man to the moon;
Religion flies a man into a building.

[Hekate]

51. Much too simplistic an analysis. Try again.

[KPN]

53. I like it!

Maybe as Hecate said, it isn't a complete explanation -- but it's definitely a big part of it today. I'll be using that one for sure!

BTW, welcome to DU.

[bucolic_frolic]

41. Wisdom does not lie

in, as the Founders called it, mob rule, rule by the masses

The Electoral College was supposed to prevent this. As was Senators elected by state legislatures, one-man one-vote.

Mass media, gerrymandering, money in politics they did not foresee or prevent very well.

This one-party country has been engineered and planned for over 50 years, by many politicians, domestic and foreign.

[Bob Loblaw]

42. From the comic strip Frank and Earnest

"If ignorance isn't bliss, I don't know what is."

[liberalla]

44. I'm with you... Wow.

Simple and succinct.
Sad too.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

46. K&MFR!

[Hekate]

49. A toast to Asimov -- so sad, and so true

[oasis]

50. Asimov never imagined dealing with so many Deplorable Dumbfucks.

x 60 million.