There will always be foolish people...but there can come a time when society itself begins to encourage, train, protect, and even import truly stupid people because someone in society benefits from their presence. Unfortunately, this happens regularly in democracies, as elected officials can benefit greatly from a voting block of people who are easily persuaded into complacence.
Politicians learn to not only depend on such folks to stay elected, they can even use them as "muscle" or to create crisis situations which call out for "martial law" or other misuses of government power. We have seen this in countries all over the globe over the last century or so. It's become standard practice for demagogues and would-be tyrants.
The process begins with the practice of alleviating risk...a degree of which is actually good for society in general, but it does slowly start to erode the ability of people to think fast, make decisions, and see the world realistically.
My most important education as a child was to live for some years in the wilderness. I had to learn, very quickly, that there was no 9-1-1 number to call...no one to help me if I screwed up...and that I could die if I made even one simple mistake. Once you come near death a couple of times...and escape by pure luck more than skill...you learn to focus rather intently on your current surroundings and situation. You learn to be realistic, to be centered, and to eliminate stupid ideas from your inventory.
Our public education system, unfortunately, has managed to erase a lot of risk from life...even to the extent of removing the risk of being a "loser" in a sporting event. Everyone's a winner after all. They reward the simple act of staying in school as an accomplishment, and stress image and self-love over substance in most every subject.
When I was young, one of my acquaintances left a candy bar in his sleeping bag with him one night...and was killed by a black bear intent on getting to it. In the wilderness you either win or lose...for real...and a teacher telling you you're special isn't going to save you from a stupid mistake.
My father, who had grown up living off the land during the depression, often times alone in the wilderness, once told me, "there is no such thing as an accident in the woods...there is only stupid, because accidents are the result of mistakes, and making mistakes is simply stupid."
There is no real excuse for perfectly normal, average, folks like myself to be stupid. Everyone makes mistakes...some dumber than others...but being stupid is on a whole different level. Politicians create laws and institutions which encourage stupidity, and discourage discourse or discussion, being the enemies of stupidity, in order to create permanent voting blocks.
To maintain these voting blocks, they must keep the people within ignorant. It also helps to keep them angry, paranoid, and desperate. The use of emotions is the bedrock of managing stupidity.
It's important to make sure people have the basic needs of life, but not too much as they would then begin to think "outside the box" of obedience. They have to be paranoid...they should believe they can't succeed outside of the box because "the man will just keep me down" or some other rationale. They remain desperate as they are constantly living from paycheck to paycheck, or welfare check to welfare check. Angry, because they are told by the politicians that "rich, white republicans/democrats are pulling the strings" and keeping you from the life "you deserve."
There's a key phrase...does any intelligent person actually believe they "deserve" anything? Or do they believe they can "earn" things? Do they demand respect, because a teacher told them they "deserve" it, or do they work hard in order to earn respect?
Obviously these strategies work...sometimes it takes decades to really bear the fruit of these stupification programs...but they do eventually create increasingly stupid blocks of voters and supporters of "causes." This is invaluable for the politician who needs to increase their political power, or to rob society of its wealth for their own benefit, or to create a support base for permanent re-election.
So when a politician says you "deserve" something...they believe you are among the stupid. When they tell you that "it won't cost you a penny as long as you don't make $250,000 a year or more"...they think you are stupid.
When a politician explains you have a "right" to other people's labor or property...such as "giving" you health care paid for by others...they are assuming you are too stupid to think about that statement before cheering.
And when you find yourself marching in protests...waving signs like the one in the photo...you can be sure the politician was right. The guy in the photo is amazingly stupid...almost beyond description stupid...but like most truly stupid people, he is incapable of knowing it. He is desperate, paranoid, and arrogantly angry at those who refuse to be stupid along with him.
The Professor
