Ignorance is not Bliss

Sixty-four year-old Kansas City
woman drags naked intruder
out of her house by his beard.

According to a Pew Research Center survey some 61 percent of Americans believe Obama’s either a Muslim or that he may not be a Christian. Forty three percent don’t know what his religion is, and 18 percent believe he is a Muslim. According to Time magazine 61% of Americans are opposed to the construction of the New York Muslim Community Center. One third of Americans do not believe Muslims should be allowed to run for President and some twenty-eight percent don’t believe Muslims should be allowed to sit on the Supreme Court. I have taken this information from an article today that appears in Truthout, entitled “Mediated Racism: Orientalism, Birtherism, and the Muslim Community Center.” You should read it as it shows pretty clearly that when it comes to Muslims things are even worse than the above.

I am not surprised by these findings. I am surprised they are not even worse than they appear. I am not interested here in the precise findings but, rather, by the deeper problem they reveal. Namely, that large numbers of Americans are uneducated, uninformed, lazy, and indifferent louts. Information about Muslims and the Muslim faith, Obama’s birth, racism, and related topics is not hard to come by if one merely takes the time to look. This requires at least a minimum amount of time and involves using the internet and, more importantly, reading, activities many Americans cannot be bothered with. Many seem to prefer getting their information (if they have any at all) from the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, or perhaps from their fundamentalist preacher, information they pass back and forth between themselves and their friends who are equally as ignorant as they are. This is a sad commentary on American democracy and culture. It is in large part a result of the failure of our failed educational system that is, in turn, related to the American ethos.

There is a strong anti-intellectual current that runs through American life. Education, both scientific and humanistic, are simply not highly valued by most Americans. Educated people, whether considered intellectuals or not, are in general regarded with suspicion if not contempt. This can be seen clearly in such commonplace sayings as “those that can’t do, teach,” or “pointy-headed intellectuals,” or “ivory tower dreamers,” and so on. There is also the sense that educated people probably lack common sense, or must be unable to understand the lives of those who are not well educated because they have themselves not graduated from “the school of hard knocks.” I have often heard it said that just because someone is educated that doesn’t make his opinion any better than mine, or there are lots of “educated fools,” or “absent minded (or even nutty) professors.” And there is also sometimes resentment against highly educated people because they “think they are better than we are.” Even science is regarded with suspicion here where I currently live. Because scientists sometimes do not always agree about something is taken as evidence they do not know what they are doing. More importantly, there are people here who seem to believe that the function of scientists is to keep them from doing the things they want to do, or in some cases, have, up until now, always done (overfishing, overhunting, unsustainable logging, using harmful pesticides, etc.). It is easy to understand how individuals believe their job is more important than, say, a spotted owl, or regulations about oil drilling and such, but this overlooks situations like Garrett Hardin’s well-known “Tragedy of the Commons.”

This anti-intellectual, even anti-schooling, anti-knowledge attitude that has become characteristic of American culture did not always exist. Not so long ago going to college was the dream of many Americans (for at least some it still is). Generations of Americans wanted their children to become educated, at least more educated than they themselves were. Professors, as they still are in Germany, were highly regarded individuals whose knowledge was actively sought. They were honored for their contributions. Teachers were respected members of their communities. This belief system has slowly changed over time.

Perhaps this would not matter so much if it was not a direct threat to our democracy. While the attitudes and beliefs about education and learning have changed, one of the most important underpinnings of a viable democracy has not. A democracy can only survive, thrive, and function adequately with a well-educated, well-informed citizenry. But this is precisely what has eroded over time. There is no doubt that the invention of radio, and more importantly, television, has played a role in this change. Mass marketing and mass entertainment caters to the lowest common denominator and not only creates a demand for crap but then satisfies the demands it created for short-term profits. The lack of long-term planning, so characteristic of the U.S., is also no doubt related. We used to make fun of the Russian five-year plans and there are at least some at the moment who will deride Obama’s recent six-year plan, but the lack of planning has contributed to our current demise, and those who warn against long-term planning and the possible perhaps undesirable consequences are more often than not shouted down in favor of the short term. Christianity too, at least many of the brands of it as currently practiced in the U.S., has also contributed to our abysmal ignorance. That anyone in the 21st century, for example, cannot believe in the theory of evolution and in favor of creationism is absolutely appalling. That anyone could still believe the earth is a mere 6000 years old is even worse. European nations do not have this problem, having moved into the 21st century, at least when it comes to having abandoned ultra-conservative religious beliefs. There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that average citizens of European countries are far better informed about current events than average American citizens. This is partly because they lack the luxury of the relative isolation we in the U.S. have enjoyed, which has influenced our relative lack of interest in other languages and cultures, as well as a necessity to know about them. Our attitudes have been and are being influenced by a few corporate powers that control our communication system and allow us to hear and learn only what they want us to hear and learn. It is in their interest to keep us dumb and they have been successful. Nowhere has this neglect of education been more apparent than in our consistently underfunded and deteriorating schools, underpaid teachers, and lack of adequate supplies. Business, the basic institution of U.S. society, has permeated the schools where it influences curriculums and peddles its unhealthy foods. There is a growing trend toward “For Profit Schools,” (as well as for profit prisons), a trend that not only is an excuses for governments not to fund education, but is fundamentally disgraceful, a complete abandonment of responsibility for citizens and their welfare. It does not take much in the way of thought to realize that schools run for profit are not in the business of providing quality education. On the contrary, they make money by providing the least amount of education for the most amount of money. Our neglect here is beyond shameful and must be rectified. Obama is right to insist we have to become better educated and better informed. I hope it is not too late.

LKBIQ:
Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.
James A. Garfield

TILT:
According to Nielsen, the average American spends 4 hours a day, or 28 hours a week, two months a year, or nine years of an average lifetime watching TV.





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