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Article by Alpha-Girl
Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 12 Comments
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@Hoobahjoobah: A while back I read a book called Nerds: Who They are and Why We Need Them which explored anti-intellectualism in America (apparently it all goes back to George Washington Irving and Ralph Waldo Emerson – bastards) and postulates that anti-intellectualism is the reason why Republicans have been so successful at getting themselves elected (well, barring crooked elections). They style themselves as the party of strength and action (even though they’re flabby, pasty white guys), while Dems come off as a bunch of bookworms who always got picked last for the dodgeball team. Average Americans hate feeling stupid and hate anyone smarter than them. Is there another industrialized country where attending a prestigious university is a political liability?
@ Jess: You said >>Don’t you think it’s remotely possible that some of these Hillary supporters are saying they’ll vote for McCain not just out of anger, but because they have considered some of the issues?<< Nope. I don’t think that’s possible at all in this case, because really the candidates are diametrically opposed on most of the issues. It’s totally a “My way or the highway” kind of thing, w/ the Clintonians essentially sabotaging the party. Again. I’d also say that Obama’s Church issues *are* going to be a problem for him in the parts of the country that take religion seriously. The Midwest, and the South, and Utah. As the last two elections have shown, just because folks in New York and California say those issues are irrelevant doesn’t mean people in Indiana and Texas and Georgia agree, you know? My prediction is that religion will be a bigger matter for Obama in the midwest than in the south this time, as the midwest is vastly more white than the south is. (The 1980 Census of North Dakota showed five (Count ‘em, FIVE!) black people in the entire state!)
@Alphagirl: I think there’s a lot of truth to what you’re saying. We were, after all, a nation of farmers and blue-collar workers for most of our history, people for whom education isn’t much of a priority. I think there’s a bit more than that, too, though: We really are one of the most egalitarian societies on earth, much more so than, say, the English who still have a fairly entrenched social caste system. Egalitarian means basically “We’re all equal,” but it also means “I don’t like snobs” and when “A” with an educated opinion differs w/ “B” who has a completely ignorant opinion, “B” says “Who the hell does that rat bastard think he is saying his logical opinion is any better than my uneducated one?”
So my hunch is that some of our undeniable anti-intellectualism is directly tied to our inalienable American right to deny that anyone is any better than us, no matter how obvious the evidence to the contrary.