The rise of idiots

Dinosaurs on Noah’sArk ? The peculiar spectacle of Terry Schiavo? Book bans targeted at gay authors?

Charles Pierce grew weary of this nonsense long ago, well before Sarah Palin was claiming foreign policy experience from Juneau and Glenn Beck descended into full-blown delirium. In his irreverent and smart essay for Esquire in October 2005, Pierce offered that“the rise of Idiot America today represents — for profit mainly, but also, and more cynically, for political advantage and in the pursuit of power — the breakdown of a consensus that the pursuit of knowledge is a good.”

Obviously, not much has changed. If anything, the problem was exacerbated by the revival of the Democratic Party in 2006 and the subsequent decline of the Republicans. I'll let you be the judge of who's most responsible.

Anyway, Pierce has expounded on his theory in his new book Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free. If you like the essay, the book should definitely hold some appeal. Then follow it up with a viewing of the cult classic, Idiocracy.

Because there was a time when reading wasn’t just for fags. (Before you get offended, watch the movie.)

(x-posted from Weekend Endorsements at PostBourgie)