Ladies, there is something out there plaguing the minds of many of our fellow Americans. Anti-intellectualism is creeping into society and gaining followers left and right... but mostly right. What I can't understand is why anyone would place value on being uneducated...
For some reason, in our society, being anti-intellectual is seen as a good thing. Instead of placing value on higher education, people who have little to no idea what they are talking about are given many people’s full attention and their statements are valued. President Bush, for example, was admired because he thought not with his head, but with his gut. He could condense problems into simple solutions, America was good and terrorists were bad. These ideas were respected and supported by many other anti-intellectual, anti-elite people. This idea of anti-intellectualism is not new in America; there have always been a group of people who disliked the elite and intellectuals. These people were generally Protestants, populists, and practical businessmen. Not surprisingly, this remains a strong basis for the Republican Party today.
Today, the leaders of this anti-intellectual movement can only be Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. Sarah Palin is famous for her knack for misspeaking and coming off as an uneducated radically conservative woman who loves giving her opinions on issues she knows nothing about. Instead of apologizing for her frequent false statements, Palin instead celebrates her ignorance and refers to herself as a regular person against the elites in government. Her lack of education about politics has turned into her greatest asset and the basis of her platform. Palin could be seen as the head of the Tea Party movement, which is the basis of the conservative movement right now. After tuesday, we see how powerful this movement is becoming. I'm not going to comment on Palin's own education, or the educational choices her children made. All I'm going to say, is the information is not hard to find...
Glenn Beck certainly represents the center of the conservative media movement. Beck has a large number of followers, many who met with him in Washington in August for his “Restoring Honor” rally. Beck is well known for his conspiracy theories and coming up with radical accusations and explanations for problems with the country and its socialist president. Beck has a strong desire to share his outlandish and mega-conservative ideas with the world, which is what inspired him to create Beck University. This is an online course that fans pay to watch Beck approved speeches that talk about evil government and progressives. Of course Beck is a crazy person, and not all Republicans think the same way he does. We should keep in mind however, he has a show on Fox news, which we all know is FAIR AND BALANCED. I mean really, who could ever call Fox anything besides bipartisan, straight-fact news? All sarcasm aside, millions of people watch Glenn Beck, and he is celebrated for his bogus theories, and strong anti-intellectual views.
In America today, as a whole, it can be argued that we are smarter than we’ve ever been. More than three times as many Americans had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2008 as compared to 1960. We view nerds as heroes, which can be seen through people’s admiration for people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Despite these developments, it seems our politics are still being ruled by the uneducated. Anti-intellectuals still value feelings and morality over education. Creationism is still being discussed as a possibility for the curriculum in schools. How is it possible that these people are getting a second look from anyone, let alone a strong base of followers? America needs to readjust its admiration of nerds to encompass the people making their law and policies. What possible explanation could there be for not wanting the people who lead the country to be educated? These people should be the most educated and well-informed people in the country. Regardless of whether they decide to use anti-elitism as a way to attract supporters, they better know what they are talking about.
I don't think anyone could help support my argument that Glenn Beck himself. This quote needs no introduction, it is anti-intellectualism in its purist form, and it's scary...
"There are a lot of universities that are as dangerous with the indoctrination of the children as the terrorists are in Iraq or North Korea... We have been setting up reeducation camps. We call them universities."
So yeah... steer clear of Fox... and GO TO COLLEGE!
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