NEW COMMANDMENT: Thou shalt deport anyone who supports Donald Trump.
— God (@TheGoodGodAbove) September 20, 2015
Our question for the day: Does ignorance matter? Our lead exhibit — you will not be shocked to hear this — is Donald Trump…. It’s a fact that speaks volumes about the present state of the Grand Old Party. This is, after all, now the third presidential election cycle in a row in which one of its stars has shown him or herself to be spectacularly clueless on some relatively simple question of presidential readiness. There is a straight line from Saran Palin in 2008 — unable to give coherent answers to questions about the economy, foreign policy and her own reading habits — to Herman Cain hemming and hawing and shifting in his chair in 2011 when asked about Libya, to Trump bristling and pouting because he was quizzed about major figures in Middle East terrorism.
I’ve written extensively in the past about my belief that the movie Idiocracy is less a comedy than a documentary about the current state of America and the Right-wing which view politics as their rightful property and domain. The continuing success of Donald Trump is proof that, at least on the Far Right, ignorance really doresn’t matter much anymore. There have been studies showing a direct correlation between racism, conservatism, and low I.Q.- which would seem to be borne out when one listens to Trump’s supporters (and the candidate himself.) Almost to a person, Trump’s supporters can’t tell you what he stands for- because they really, truly have no idea- perhaps because he’s yet to elucidate anything even faintly redolent of a policy proposal. What they do know, even if they can’t articulate or admit it, is that Trump appeals to their fears and prejudices.
It’s far easier for too many Americans (those Newt Gingrich once charitably referred to as “low information voters”) to react emotionally than think critically. The whys and wherefores of this phenomenon present an interesting question, albeit one best left for another time. My interest here lies in establishing that fact, reality, and truth are often the first casualties of Right-wing politics. It no longer matters what the facts are; what matters is what a candidate can convince the American Sheeple to believe. Such a statement may strike some readers as condescending, but I’d defy anyone to prove me wrong. Ignorance, lack of information, and willful disregard for the truth are no longer seen as problems…because they’re what drives American politics today.
Is it any wonder why I fear for our future?
Hodson and Busseri (2012) found in a correlational study that lower intelligence in childhood is predictive of greater racism in adulthood, with this effect being mediated (partially explained) through conservative ideology. They also found poor abstract reasoning skills were related to homophobic attitudes which was mediated through authoritarianism and low levels of intergroup contact.
What this study and those before it suggest is not necessarily that all liberals are geniuses and all conservatives are ignorant. Rather, it makes conclusions based off of averages of groups. The idea is that for those who lack a cognitive ability to grasp complexities of our world, strict-right wing ideologies may be more appealing. Dr. Brian Nosek explained it for the Huffington Post (link is external)as follows, “ideologies get rid of the messiness and impose a simple solution. So, it may not be surprising that people with less cognitive capacity will be attracted to simplifying ideologies.”
I’m not about to claim that Liberals have a corner on the market when it comes to intelligence and a commitment to the truth. There are Conservatives also committed to living in a reality-based world. The problem, though, is that the popularity of Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and other GOP Presidential candidates reveals a large segment of the American electorate willing to react rather than think. For too many on the Far Right, having an opinion ipso facto translates to abject truth…when in fact having an opinion in no ways insulates one from being wrong.
American has never been a nation known for its devotion to intellectual rigor. Unfortunately, ignorance, lack of factual information, and the devotion to religious dogma over scientific fact are these days no impediment to political power. In fact, they may actually make winning elections easier. Tapping into fear, emotion, and prejudice is much easier than trying to appeal to our (virtually nonexistent) capacity for critical thinking. Welcome to our ignorant, ill-informed republic.
The sad reality is that Idiocracy was more truthful than satirical, something that doesn’t bode well for our future.
