- My first blog. Long time lurker, fairly new member. Please be gentle.
- I’m a scientist by trade (PhD in biochemistry), so I tend to be analytical, even overly so. It also means that I love, love, LOVE bulleted lists. I like to keep things organized.
- The FDA I speak of in the title, is not the US Food and Drug Administration. (I deal with them on a regular basis in my line of work, which is developing and validating immunoassays.) They’re actually a bunch of great people, so long as all of your work is documented thoroughly and you’ve followed regulations. If you haven’t… then they will rip you to shreds (as they should).
- No — the “FDA” I refer to in the title is the Fucking Dumb Asses of America. Profanity has its place in any good discussion, but I’ll use the acronym from now on. If it seems like I come down hard on them… let me make a distinction. By “FDA”, I don’t mean your garden variety person of sub-average intellectual capacity. I mean a moron who is aggressively idiotic, and refuses to accept any arguments or evidence that could prove them wrong, about anything.
There’s a well-known quote, often attributed to P.T. Barnum, which goes “nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people”. There are two problems with that quote: (1) Barnum didn’t say it — H.L. Mencken did; (2) the common version of the quote above isn’t what Mencken actually said. The actual quote came from a column Mencken published in the Chicago Daily Tribune on September 19, 1926, titled “Notes on Journalism”. Here’s the meat of the actual quote:
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
He goes on to say the following:
“Because the plain people are able to speak and understand, and even, in many cases, to read and write, it is assumed that they have ideas in their heads, and an appetite for more. This assumption is a folly. They dislike ideas, for ideas make them uncomfortable.”
This was written 90 years ago — and as true as it was back then, it is more true now. It was a damning statement in 1926, and things are far worse today. Begin bulleted list #2, for why the situation is in decline:
- The rise of the internet. Don’t get me wrong… I love many things about the interwebs. E-mail is awesome. I love being able to check sports scores on my smartphone, and to get news updates without wasting trees to make paper. I can look up information on anything, quickly and easily. However — as you may know, not everything on the internet is true. Plus, it is now possible for any FDA out there to broadcast their opinion, loudly and repeatedly, to anyone. No attribution is needed. No sources for data are required. Just an internet connection, and the ability to type on a keyboard.
- The decline of public education, especially the emphasis on “teaching to the test”, as opposed to teaching critical thinking skills. My wife is a high school teacher for 13 years now (chemistry and biology), and she is a saint — but she often is demoralized by how many of today’s teenagers lack just basic reasoning skills. I’m not talking about memorizing the electronegativity series… I’m talking about realizing that the answer to “who invented the periodic table” is not “proton”. It is not crucial that students can rattle off the elements of the periodic table, or remember what year the Battle of Hastings occurred, after their schooling is done. They need to be able to THINK CRITICALLY. They need to be able to ANALYZE a situation, and EVALUATE the motives and reasons behind what they see going on in the world. Conservatives do not generally see any benefit in having a citizenry that possesses these skills.
- And, the big one. The absolute lack of regard in this country for intelligence, as being something to be desired or cultivated. I can personally attest to this... the number of times that I was insulted for being the “smart kid” would require scientific notation to list accurately. (I believe the best one was, “you must jack off to your calculus book, instead of Playboy". I had no pithy response ready.) I developed a thick skin as a result, but I also noticed that the best athletes in school were not derided. The most handsome or beautiful kids were not mocked. Envied, perhaps. There is a reason for this, in my opinion: people of less-than-average intelligence fear and resent those who are truly intelligent. You can work on becoming a better athlete; you can hit the gym, get a nice haircut, and buy some new clothes to become more attractive. But when a person of truly high intelligence solves a problem in 5 seconds, that had someone else stumped for 15 minutes… it at first seems as if a magic trick was performed. Then, the person feels embarrassed that they couldn’t figure it out. That quickly moves to resentment, as it’s obviously the smart person’s fault for making the person feel that way.
Which (finally) gets me back to this post’s main point. I believe, strongly, that Donald Trump is NOT stupid. He is definitely amoral, narcissistic, racist, sexist, and ignorant. (Note: ignorance =/= stupidity.) He is quite shrewd, in the way of a con artist, and he knows the general character and temperament of a large portion of the American public. I believe that Trump is INTENTIONALLY targeting his campaign to appeal to the FDA’s of this country. The final bullet list:
- For the FDA, complicated and detailed explanations of policy proposals make them angry. They don’t understand why the solution to a problem should be complex. They want simplistic answers, that reaffirm their existing worldview and prejudices. This is why they adore Trump. Build that wall! Bomb the shit out them! National debt — just refuse to pay it!
- I believe that the main reason that HRC has such high unfavorability ratings has much less to do with her various “scandals” or “trustworthiness”, and MUCH more to do with the fact that she is quite obviously really, really, REALLY damn smart. Most FDA’s cannot stand anyone who is much smarter than them. They dislike being “talked down to” or “told what to do”.
- Related to the above point — if the FDA in question happens to be racist, or sexist… then if the smart person happens to be a minority, or a woman, it becomes absolutely INTOLERABLE. There is a reason that when the adjective “uppity” is used, it is very often immediately followed by the word “n***er”. And, the epithet “bitch” is just code for “highly intelligent and capable female”.
Trump has tailored his campaign to appeal to the FDA’s of our society. As Mencken said, ideas make them uncomfortable. He is their dream candidate, as he never asks them to think, or question their assumptions. Every problem in their life is someone else’s fault. Everything can be fixed quickly, with decisive action taken by the Great Leader. Why would he ever bother with specifics about any of his ideas? The FDA’s don’t want details - details make their brains hurt. They want vague assertions that someone will fix things, and that things will get better, and that they won’t need to make any sacrifices along the way.
To prevail in this election, HRC (and Democrats down the ticket) need to do two things: (1) continue to make the case for why you SHOULD vote Democratic, and (2) continue to make the case that Trump CANNOT be trusted. Both are equally important. Lay out all the good policies that you’re going to promote; share your vision of how America will become stronger, and more inclusive. Share your priorities of protecting the environment, protecting individual rights, and promoting income equality — and you will persuade the “non-FDA” portion of the country. Continue to HAMMER at Trump for his shady dealings, for his bankruptcies, for his hidden tax returns, for his lack of basic knowledge of world affairs, for his Russian connections, and for his racist and sexist statements. You won’t convince many FDA’s to vote for HRC, but you’ll persuade some of them to stay home, or vote third party.
To close, allow me to quote Isaac Asimov: “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.” We cannot allow ignorance to gain the upper hand.
