The Death of Intellectualism

The American public, according to Chris Hedges, is strictly divided into two sects, the enlightened and the unenlightened. One third of the nation’s population is either illiterate or barely literate, so there is predictably a rather large divide between those who of the print-based culture and those of the image-based culture.
For the most part, however, this divide is largely covert. The general consensus on what divides America the greatest would be race, religion, socioeconomic status or political affiliation. I’d have to agree with Hedges, however, that it is the print vs. image divide that has alienated this country the most.
Hedges references in his article how political campaigns must pander to those who do not think critically about issues, that campaigns are not contrasts of ideology but contrasts of images. These are embodied by slogans of things like “change” and “country first.” The 2008 presidential race lasted for almost two years and at no point during it was the debate ever entirely focused on policy or ideology. Hedges asserts that this is because we as a nation are unable to think critically about ideology, so instead we comfortably align ourselves with candidates that we come to identify with. The unenlightened (or who Hedges refers to as “the image-based culture”) often don’t vote at all, which is exemplified by the fact that only 56.8% of the voting age population in this country voted in the 2008 election, and that was a relatively high number for our country.
For me personally, the most disturbing thing about the 2008 campaign was the anti-intellectual movement spearheaded by the Republican Party. Barack Obama was continually referred to as an “elitist”, as if somehow being elite was in some way negative. I’m not sure about other voters but I personally want the president to be smarter than me.
Hedges refers to the idea that political debate is often used less to inform and more to entertain. This is clearly shown in seemingly all cable news programs. Oftentimes in cable news shows he who yells the loudest wins the debate, with rational thought taking a backseat. Political discourse has thus turned into a shouting match, coming to a ridiculous head during the current health care debate. Those who stand up and yell at their elected representatives are not the enlightened, the informed or the well-read. They are the semi-literate. They see the fact that our country’s demography and economy are rapidly changing, exemplified by our president’s skin color, and become fearful of their place in America. Hedges, who is a very outspoken critic of the religious right, states that this fear oftentimes leads to people turning toward Christianity for comfort. Barack Obama foolishly said that these people “cling to guns and religion”. What was not said enough about that mishap, however, is the fact that he is totally right.
Carr mentioned in his article that Google may perhaps be making us stupid. Instead I believe that it is our culture that is making us stupid. The thought that intellectualism is looked down upon in this country is a scary one. The idea that Barack Obama’s intellect and exceptional educational background could effectively be used to smear him during the campaign is equally fearsome. Ignorant people have always lived in America, just like every other country. Now, however, ignorance is almost being celebrated. The new culture of anti-intellectualism that’s emerging in this country makes one wonder if America will be able to maintain our strength and influence in the future. This scares me, but at least I now know what the anti-health care protestors feel like.