So, apparently we've reached the point in our present national decline when our modern day Father Coughlin has decided it's time for full-blown anti-intellectualism:
I'd like to think that it was best to just ignore this guy, but he's got the ear of way too many of the frightened and confused. And for all of his stupid references to despots, he's the one pulling the fascism act here. Demonizing intellectuals is right out of the playbook of the Khmer Rouge or the move to ramp up the Wehrmacht and demonize the Jews.
Not that Glenn Beck, a single-semester college drop-out, would have much idea about what actually goes on in a university, but that's really beside the point. Nor does it really matter that universities educate, not re-educate. Nor does it matter that universities educate young adults, not children.
Our politics are horribly broken. Economic conditions have been degrading for the majority of Americans for decades now. And any expertise we might have is effectively ignored. We no more heed the warnings and advice of climate scientists than we heeded economists, either in regards to the imminent bursting of the housing bubble or the necessary response.
In light of the apparent impotence of expert consultation in the face of our twisted politics, how should Americans be expected to feel about intellectuals and their expertise? How many times have we read that no one could have or did predict the housing crash (they did)? How many times has it been presented that there is broad disagreement among climate scientists about current climate trends (there isn't)?
The media, and particularly television, play a huge role in this. This is, unfortunately, why Beck matters. He has the ear of millions and is furiously sowing the wind with every passing day, but it will not be Beck who reaps the whirlwind. It will be the rest of us.
Demonizing intellectuals is right out of the playbook of the Khmer Rouge or the move to ramp up the Wehrmacht and demonize the Jews.
Not to mention Mao and Kim Jong Il.
But there's no need to look so far abroad. The U.S. has its own tradition of anti-illelectualism to fall back on, and Beck's charges of academic sedition owe much to Joe McCarthy.
I was just recently re-reading his Paranoid Style in American Politics, which is likewise relevant. If I'm not mistaken, it's been something of a touchstone for Genghis during the composition of his book, but I'm sure he could better illuminate how he views Hofstadter's work with respect for his own.
Yes sir. I think that the trends Hofstadter observed have become more defined and widespread today. But I'll let you wait for the book because it's a iittle difficult to explain in a comment.
Yes, The Paranoid Style is also superb, and relevant, although I think I've only read the essay-length version. I should probably put more Hofstadter on my list, behind Genghis.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was horrified (yet not surprised) at Beck's invocation of the "reeducation camp" meme in reference to universities and colleges. As a college teacher, I was bemused at what Beck seems to think faculty spend their time and energy on. But as you say, that's not the point. Ironically, Beck is acting precisely like Mao and Kim Jeong Il: the first rule in the despot playbook is to attack (rhetorically, and ultimately existentially) the intellecuals.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Federal election officials say John Edwards owes taxpayers more than $2.1 million in public matching funds improperly received after he dropped his 2008 run for the White House, yet disclosure reports show his failed campaign is still spending freely.
Edwards’ hopes for the Democratic presidential nomination imploded in a sex scandal four years ago that left him facing criminal charges. But reports filed last week show his 2008 primary campaign spent $836,712 in 2011 on airfare, hotel rooms, cell phones and other expenses [....]
News came hours after police surrounded the US consulate in Chengdu prompting rumours of an attempted defection
By Tania Branigan in Beijing, guardian.co.uk, 8 Feb., 2012, 07.30 EST
A high-profile Chinese official is receiving "vacation-style treatment" for stress, officials have announced – hours after police surrounded a US consulate, prompting widespread speculation of an attempted defection.
The rumours around Wang Lijun's sudden disappearance from public life are an unwelcome development for his patron, Chongqing's ambitious party secretary, Bo Xilai. Bo has been widely tipped for promotion when a new generation of leaders takes power in China this autumn [....] rumours of a split between the men emerged when Wang was abruptly moved to a non-police portfolio last week [....]
Joe Arpaio is called the 'America's toughest Sheriff', but Maricopa County is not so tough if you are white, booked on suspicion of 8 felonies, caught with stolen items in the home of your grandmother who is trying to kick you out, along with body armor, guns and drug paraphernalia. The Maricopa County Attorney's office, headed by a Republican, released the suspect with no charges being filed, just weeks before two grisly murders, because of the need to 'develop evidence' (like, maybe Grandma stole the motorcycle, owned the drugs, guns and body armor?) If the 8 felony suspect was Latino, would he have been set free so easily?
The individual involved was later arrested with four others, for the crimes of robbing and killing a wealthy Paradise Valley Arizona couple whose burned bodies were found bound in their destroyed house. The Jaguar automobile of the couple was found burned at another location.
MIAMI – A former Ecuadorean newspaper columnist who faces prison and millions of dollars in fines for his criticism of President Rafael Correa requested asylum Wednesday in the U.S., claiming he is the victim of persecution aimed at stifling free expression. Emilio Palacio, 58, said in an asylum application that a criminal libel judgment against him in his homeland shows he "is being severely punished in Ecuador for expressing legitimate opinions and subjective interpretations of factual events."
A four-hour, closed-door hearing was held Wednesday in Miami [....]
The Inter-American Press Association, for example, called the president's actions "a systematic and hostile campaign to do away with the independent press." Similar claims have been leveled against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an ally of Correa's [....]
By David M. Herszenhorn and James Gorman, New York Times, Feb. 8/9, 2012
MOSCOW — In the coldest spot on the earth’s coldest continent, Russian scientists have reached a freshwater lake the size of Lake Ontario after spending a decade drilling through more than two miles of solid ice, the scientists said on Wednesday.
A statement by the chief of the Vostok Research Station, A.M. Yelagin, released by the director of the Russian Antarctic Expedition, Valery Lukin, said the drill made contact with the lake water at a depth of 12, 366 feet. As planned, lake water under pressure rushed up the bore hole 100-130 feet pushing drilling fluid up and away from the pristine water, Mr. Yelagin said, and forming a frozen plug that will prevent contamination. Next Antarctic season the scientists will return to take samples of the water [....]
The need to prevent even the slightest contamination of the lake is acute. Its environment is comparable to conditions on the moons of Jupiter, which are among the candidates for extraterrestrial life. If life exists in Vostok, it may well exist on Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter [....]
Not to mention Mao and Kim Jong Il.
But there's no need to look so far abroad. The U.S. has its own tradition of anti-illelectualism to fall back on, and Beck's charges of academic sedition owe much to Joe McCarthy.
Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life feels as relevant today as it did when it was published (just after McCarthy's downfall).
I was just recently re-reading his Paranoid Style in American Politics, which is likewise relevant. If I'm not mistaken, it's been something of a touchstone for Genghis during the composition of his book, but I'm sure he could better illuminate how he views Hofstadter's work with respect for his own.
Yes sir. I think that the trends Hofstadter observed have become more defined and widespread today. But I'll let you wait for the book because it's a iittle difficult to explain in a comment.
You mean you don't want to take all of your hard work, condense it into a blog comment and spoil your upcoming book?
Yes, The Paranoid Style is also superb, and relevant, although I think I've only read the essay-length version. I should probably put more Hofstadter on my list, behind Genghis.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was horrified (yet not surprised) at Beck's invocation of the "reeducation camp" meme in reference to universities and colleges. As a college teacher, I was bemused at what Beck seems to think faculty spend their time and energy on. But as you say, that's not the point. Ironically, Beck is acting precisely like Mao and Kim Jeong Il: the first rule in the despot playbook is to attack (rhetorically, and ultimately existentially) the intellecuals.
My open letter to Beck on exactly this issue:
http://paxrhetorica.blogspot.com/2010/09/open-letter-to-glenn-beck-on-why-he.html