Ignorant America

[babylonsister]

Ignorant America

Tunku Varadarajan


How is it possible that a fifth of this country believes Obama is Muslim, without any evidence? Tunku Varadarajan on other cockamamie American beliefs—and why so many cling to them.

I have just returned from London, which I pronounce to be a saner city, by far, than New York. And the one question I was asked repeatedly—by friends, by cabbies, even by complete strangers seated next to me at a cricket match—was how on earth a fifth of all Americans could maintain, in the absence of any respectable evidence to support their belief, that Barack Obama is Muslim. (The Pew poll that uncovered this fevered, adamant state of mind made quite a splash in Britain, where the natives rather enjoy feeling superior to Americans.)

The fact that this mind-boggling disconnect between perception and reality does not worry Obama himself is proof, perhaps, of his sang-froid, and maybe of a certain weary resignation. On a broader canvas, the fact that the disconnect exists at all suggests that something is very wrong with America's political discourse—and certainly on its fringes. It suggests ignorance, of course, but a very provocative, toxic ignorance, one in which there is an imperviousness to facts in the pursuit of political warfare. This is not dumbness, or denseness, or illiteracy, but belligerent unenlightenment.

But what does all this stem from? And is the explanation for it as simple as David Brooks suggests, in pinning the blame on "mental flabbiness" and a national "metacognition deficit"? And how is the Obama-is-a-Muslim brand of ignorance different from the other sorts of disconnects between perception and reality that are rife in American society, not merely in politics, but in our approaches to science, culture, history and business?

more...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-08-30/obama-not-muslim-the-roots-of-americans-cockamamie-beliefs/?cid=hp:mainpromo3

[sellitman]

1. Great read. Thanks Sis!

I dunno about the part of Dubya not being as dumb as a stump though....lol

[babylonsister]

2. I loved the term 'belligerent unenlightenment'. I think I'll be

using that vs. willful ignorance. :D

[Demeter]

3. Why? Because they can.

Until the law of Man or Nature smartens them up, they will remain belligerently, willfully ignorant and ill-informed and bigoted to the point of death.

[tridim]

4. The Idiocracy is trying really hard to become the majority

They have LOTS of help, because it's exactly what the top 1% wants.

It's up to us to make sure it doesn't take hold.

[The Doctor.]

6. Yep. Keep people ignorant enough and they'll never see the true enemy. nt

[starroute]

5. I think a lot of it is conspiracy theories run amok

Ever since John Kennedy was assassinated, Americans have become increasingly convinced that their government is not telling them the truth.

This is reinforced, of course, by the fact that the government *isn't* telling us the truth. But instead of just believing that it isn't telling the truth about reasonable things, like how much oil is still in the Gulf, a fair number of Americans are prepared to believe that it's also covering up totally outrageous things, like Area 51 or United Nations black helicopters.

That isn't just misinformation. The people who hold these fringe beliefs are typically *proud* that they know the hidden truths which the mainstream media are hiding. The real problem is not so much deliberate ignorance of the facts as it is a lack of the ability to tell plausible conspiracy theories from implausible ones.

It's also partly the result of deliberate misdirection by corporate interests -- which find it convenient, for example, to convince people that there is no global warming problem and that it's all a conspiracy by climate scientists looking to get grant money and advance their careers.

But there's a catch-22 in all of this. If someone is merely misinformed, you can give them better information. But if someone believes that anyone who comes across in that way must be part of the cover-up, the harder you try to change their minds the more convinced they will become that their conspiracy theories are correct.

I suspect the only solution is a long-range one based on greater transparency in general. But unfortunately, we seem to be headed full speed in the other direction.

[awoke_in_2003]

7. if they hadn't lied about JFK...

then maybe we would still believe them.

[vduhr]

8. I've been living next to an older couple for 7 years...

well...I say older because they are older, but around my age. I speak to them occasionally, and they have always been very nice. They're quiet, and I talked to the husband more often then his wife. The husband always struck me as being a gentle, quiet man, but his wife seemed a bit more outspoken and sometimes unkind to her husband. I ran into his wife at Walmart this morning because she works there. We started discussing retirement and it came to a comment I made about cuts in Social Security. I can't remember the exact details of the conversation, but she ended up saying that she wanted anyone else as President other than "that man", because she "didn't appreciate a Muslim being President". I kind of suspected that they (or at least she) leaned toward the conservative side, but I was dissappointed to discover that she believes the 'Obama is a Muslim' crap. When she said that, I told her, "He's not a Muslim", and she proceeded to tell me how she "heard" him say it. Because they are neighbors and I have always gotten along with them, I changed the subject, but I'm still disturbed by her stupidity. I just don't get it. Why would people believe that crap? And, even if he were a Muslim, why would that make any difference? Why are people equating the entire Muslim religion with terrorists? It's like the intelligent test questions: "The terrorists that attacked us on 9/11 were Muslims, therefore all Muslims are terrorists - True or False? Also, people were screaming and fussing about Obama attending Rev. Wright's church for 20 years. What happened with that? Wasn't that a Christian church? So first, they didn't like that he attended a Christian church, and "how could he have attended that church for 20 years and not agree with Rev. Wright?", now they turn and accuse him of being a Muslim? The stupidity in this country is absolutely scary.

[Diclotican]

9. babylonsister

babylonsister

This days, as in the last decade I think most brits are happy that they lost the war of independence, when the american colonies desided to get out of the agreement with UK.. over a cop of tea... Wel, with as the times goes, maybe the britts can get back their colonies - and some more when their old colonies are going into peaces...

(Hopefully the americans can get their acts togheter, and stop beeing so silly as they are now)

Diclotican