Wednesday, July 26, 2006
You Can Fix Stupid (When It Runs for Office)
These days, I am frequently reminded of the classic observation from renowned economist John Stuart Mill: "While it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that all stupid people are conservative."
Though it is something of an overstatement -- I know some liberals who have done some pretty stupid things as well (mostly in the name of "political correctness") -- Mill's comment does shed a great deal of light on the current American political situation. And offers some hope that the current crop of stupidity will be replaced soon by something a bit brighter.
Inherent in the estimable economist's statement and the current state of political affairs is the recognition that the stupid people have taken control of America's political scene. This has occurred because those conservatives who aren't stupid people have -- being smart as they are -- pretty much abandoned the arena inside the Beltway around D. C. and the halls of the various statehouses of America for more intelligent and productive pursuits.
They have been replaced, of course, by the stupid people who are conservative. That explains how we can, as a country, be in the mess we are currently in. The Barry Goldwaters are gone, and the Rick Santorums and Sam Brownbacks have replaced them. Reasonable, fair debates about political philosophies have been supplanted with babble (and vetoes) about stem cell research (wherein fully realized humans with Alzheimer's, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease have been judged less valuable than a tadpole in a test tube), flag-burning, the Pledge of Allegiance in classrooms, creationism (not to be confused with "intelligent design"), gay marriage, and public displays of the Ten Commandments (although at least one of the sponsors of the legislation for same can't recite the Ten by heart).
The hopeful part of all of this is that the stupidity is showing signs of becoming, as it often does, its own downfall. Rick Santorum is getting his clueless butt kicked in Pennsylvania; the super-sanctimonious Ralph Reed has already has his handed to him in Georgia. And the same is happening to his fellow Forrest Gumps (and at least ol' Forrest knew that "stupid is as stupid does") around the country. By this time next year, expect most of them to be gone, replaced by the conservatives and liberals who aren't stupid people.
That should head off the present spiral into the black hole of political stupidity, the drive toward an American theocracy (and something opposite but equally untenable in Middle Eastern countries), and a Mad Max-style foreign policy.
Of course, that won't last forever. There is something contagious about the stupidity within the bounds of the Beltway. It lingers behind like powdered anthrax in the air-circulation system. The people who go in fresh this fall will eventually catch the stupidity bug -- be they conservative or liberal -- and have to be purged, just like the current crop of morons. It's called the American political cycle, and I think even John Stuart Mill would have seen the inevitability of it all.
(For the stupid people smart enough to hire libel lawyers, the above was meant only for satirical purposes and does not seriously mean that any of the actual people truly are stupid, by standard intelligence-testing means.)
Though it is something of an overstatement -- I know some liberals who have done some pretty stupid things as well (mostly in the name of "political correctness") -- Mill's comment does shed a great deal of light on the current American political situation. And offers some hope that the current crop of stupidity will be replaced soon by something a bit brighter.
Inherent in the estimable economist's statement and the current state of political affairs is the recognition that the stupid people have taken control of America's political scene. This has occurred because those conservatives who aren't stupid people have -- being smart as they are -- pretty much abandoned the arena inside the Beltway around D. C. and the halls of the various statehouses of America for more intelligent and productive pursuits.
They have been replaced, of course, by the stupid people who are conservative. That explains how we can, as a country, be in the mess we are currently in. The Barry Goldwaters are gone, and the Rick Santorums and Sam Brownbacks have replaced them. Reasonable, fair debates about political philosophies have been supplanted with babble (and vetoes) about stem cell research (wherein fully realized humans with Alzheimer's, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease have been judged less valuable than a tadpole in a test tube), flag-burning, the Pledge of Allegiance in classrooms, creationism (not to be confused with "intelligent design"), gay marriage, and public displays of the Ten Commandments (although at least one of the sponsors of the legislation for same can't recite the Ten by heart).
The hopeful part of all of this is that the stupidity is showing signs of becoming, as it often does, its own downfall. Rick Santorum is getting his clueless butt kicked in Pennsylvania; the super-sanctimonious Ralph Reed has already has his handed to him in Georgia. And the same is happening to his fellow Forrest Gumps (and at least ol' Forrest knew that "stupid is as stupid does") around the country. By this time next year, expect most of them to be gone, replaced by the conservatives and liberals who aren't stupid people.
That should head off the present spiral into the black hole of political stupidity, the drive toward an American theocracy (and something opposite but equally untenable in Middle Eastern countries), and a Mad Max-style foreign policy.
Of course, that won't last forever. There is something contagious about the stupidity within the bounds of the Beltway. It lingers behind like powdered anthrax in the air-circulation system. The people who go in fresh this fall will eventually catch the stupidity bug -- be they conservative or liberal -- and have to be purged, just like the current crop of morons. It's called the American political cycle, and I think even John Stuart Mill would have seen the inevitability of it all.
(For the stupid people smart enough to hire libel lawyers, the above was meant only for satirical purposes and does not seriously mean that any of the actual people truly are stupid, by standard intelligence-testing means.)
