Anti-intellectualism

Nick Kristof has a really good column up in the Times today.

The extent to which anti-intellectualism has infiltrated our society is really alarming. Despite a disastrous war in Iraq, a tanking economy, and a power-hungry administration threatening to unravel some of the most basic tenants of our democracy, our evening news continues to be dominated by Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, and the pretty missing white girl from rural Kansas. But, perhaps more importantly, on the few occasions the media turns its attention towards politics, or the war, or some other serious matter, they rarely engage in substantive dialog. Rather, they talk about how certain events will affect public opinion without engaging in any discussion of the events themselves.

On talk radio, anti-intellectualism is taken to new heights. I can't listen to talk radio for more than about 5 minutes without becoming nauseous. But, on occasion, my morbid curiosity wins out and I'll tune in for a few minutes. You'll notice that all talk radio hosts speak with a similar cadence. It's loud, and each point they make comes with an understood clause that "if you don't agree with me, you're a pussy." I listened to a long rant several months ago about why Mexican immigrants were threatening to destroy our country. The "illegals," as they were repeatedly called, are draining our resources and they <gasp> don't speak English! So, we must kick them all out, regardless of what the repercussions may be. Repercussions are for pussies.

A similar speaking cadence and style has spilled over into sports talk radio. Try making this argument to someone who listens to The Ticket regularly: The Texas Rangers have a solid bullpen. Never mind that the Rangers had the 5th best bullpen ERA in baseball last year (3.69), and had a 33-22 won/loss record, despite logging the most innings of any bullpen in MLB due to an historically awful starting rotation. In fact, a reasonable argument can be made that the Rangers had the best bullpen in baseball last year. But, clearly, I'm a pussy for making such a ridiculous assertion.

Last week, I listened to several great American speeches, after hearing Obama's speech on race. If you have ~45 minutes to spare, listen to FDR's Arsenal of Democracy speech. I think it ought to be required listening for every voter. It really drives home the point that the threat we face from Islamic terrorism is a minor annoyance compared to the Nazis. They had taken over most of continental Europe, and people legitimately worried that Hitler would be able to take over the entire world. And, yet, in the face of that, when FDR addressed the nation, he didn't try to obfuscate or dumb down his points. He made some rather complex arguments, expecting his listeners to keep up with him. If George W. Bush went in front of the TV tonight, and delivered a speech with coherent, complex arguments, that didn't try to obfuscate the facts, I might go into shock.

As Kristof points out, the really scary thing about all of this is that the rest of the world is not inflicted by this anti-intellectual disease. If you tune to CNN International, they broadcast actual news. How in the world can we expect to compete with the rest of the world if our citizens are not only poorly educated, but willfully so? I sure hope the spectacular failure of the Bush administration will mark the beginning of the end of this dark era for our country. It will be difficult to unwind all of the damage it has inflicted.