"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.”
That was in 1980 and I think we can all agree it has gotten much worse. We see it in anti vaxxers, climate change deniers, the belief that Muslims are overtaking the West, even a million Facebook nostalgia pages reflecting how life was better when the Boomers were young, forgetting that sexism, racism, poverty and disease were even more a part of life then than now. Anyone is allowed to have an opinion on anything. Anyone can decide they have the right to have their opinion taken seriously. Andrew Bolt is an authority on climate change. Pauline Hanson gets media time for her opinions on Uluru. Soon I expect to see this:
Physicists controlling the quantum movements of beryllium atoms in electromagnetic fields. Pauline Hanson appearing on Sunrise tomorrow to discuss the developments, since she knows as much about quantum mechanics as she knows about anything else. https://t.co/Pd2ckMgJtJ— Sikamikanico 👩🏻💻 (@Sikamikanico) July 23, 2019
This article from Tom Nichols, professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, looks at the phenomenon in more depth. I don't agree with his conclusion it's partially due to the entitlement of millennials - when everything really started to go downhill was when Baby Boomers discovered the comment section. But it's an interesting look at how we got here, and how we might get away.
The Federalist
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