Today, I’d like to introduce another entry by Linda Stowe. Linda addresses each of her topics with such wisdom and intelligent curiosity. The following piece is no different. In it, she addresses the “evolution” of our society’s acceptance of ignorance. As I would point out, our country has somehow slipped into lauding ignorance. Cheering it on. Encouraging it. At the same time, the quality of being intelligent and aware of social needs is often scorned by these same people.
And so, here are Linda’s thoughts on some of this.
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Profiles In Ignorance by Linda Stowe
Currently I’m embroiled in Andy Borowitz’s book, “Profiles in Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber.” I read a lot of political books and, although this one doesn’t contain a lot of surprises, it is interesting to see how this society’s acceptance of ignorance has evolved. There was a time when misspelling the word ‘potato ‘was enough to wreck a political career. Now, to some people, ignorance is something to brag about.
The book got me to thinking about how uncomfortable it must be to be a politician. Especially if one is a person who is intelligent, well read, and capable of feeling shame.
In this vein the other day Lindsey Graham came to mind, and I did a little research. There was a time in his political career when Graham was respected. He was a leader in the Republican Party who worked across the aisle to advance American interests. His whole career had been one of advancement up to the point of running for President of the United States. At that time, Graham was an outspoken critic of one of the other candidates, Donald Trump, particularly taking issue with Trump’s treatment of his good friend John McCain.
All that changed in March 2017 when Graham and Trump had a private meeting. Graham came away from that meeting a changed man. Overnight Graham became an outspoken advocate of Trump. Today people see him as a mealy-mouthed toady, a caricature of his former self. There has been much speculation about what took place at that meeting, but no one knows for sure except for Graham, Trump, and whoever else was in the room. Maybe someday I’ll be able to read a book about that.
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Scenes from ignorance. By Linda Stowe
