"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"
true or false?
your opinion on it
sure
>define yourself as an "intellectual"
>try to micromanage peoples' lives
>everyone who doesn't do what you tell them to and think what you tell them to think is now guilty of "anti-intellectualism"
People are stupid all over the world. USA has over 300 million people, reality shows are popular, video blogs are popular, etc. so all the stupid comes out easily and ends up online.
>>59765965
>"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States,
true
>and there has always been.
false
Universities used to be somewhat balanced in terms of representation for Democrats and Republicans. Sometime in the 1960's, they adopted a huge Democrat bias. Many studies show it is difficult to work, or even get hired at a university as a conservative, republican, or openly religious person. The result is that republican intellectuals are relegated to the private sector.
The backlash against this political bias in American education has been unfortunate. Instead of only opposing the politicization of education, a lot of conservatives have gone to attack intellectualism in general. There is also a segment of very religious conservatives who dislike segments of intellectualism that oppose the theology that they believe in, but don't necessarily dislike all science/knowledge.
Anti-intellectualism from liberals has different sources. A lot of it has to do with class-warfare (educated people make more money, and we don't like rich people so we don't like educated people). Some of it has to do with identity politics (latinos and blacks are less educated in general and have lower IQs, so they identify with low-intelligence and smart people are seen as an out-group). Blacks I knew in college were told by their high school peers to "stop acting white" when they studied and were diligent in class.
>>59766323
this exactly
>>59765965
No.
This line of thinking comes from self-described "intellectuals" who are mad that they aren't given the respect they think they deserve.
College professors push this shit really hard. I once had an English professor who spent a whole semester complaining about the patriarchy and racism, and he once went on a whole rant about how America hated English professors and how he'd be more respected in other countries.
Basically, most people realize that sort of shit is useless so liberal arts professors whine that the country is anti-intellectual.
>>59767084
Also, many liberals push it because they think the only reason someone could disagree with them is if they're stupid dum-dumb who hate knowledge.
the "intellectuels" from universities are always commies anyway.
Universities are literally commies factories.
>>59766323
But sometimes there is a good way of going about things and an idiotic way
Calling your self intellectual is a pompous thing to do and none will really treat you seriously but the defntion of intellectuality is something we should all be as humans
Thus acting "un-intellectual" is a universal concept
T. R/atheism mod
If the choice is between wine-and-cheese university "intellectuals" and Daily Mail/CNN clickbait bullshit I'm confidently with the intellectuals every time.
You notice it especially when the discussion comes up about education for the sake of education. If it's not about bettering your financial or social standing it's not worth it for them. Culture générale/Allgemeinbildung are completely foreign concepts to them.
In the Netherlands only journalists call themselves intellectuals.
