They want you stupid

 

The present administration is doing its darndest to turn America into a fascist autocracy. To this end, they are attacking many government departments, services, laws, and regulations in order to deliver the nation into the hands of Trump and his billionaire friends. To date, this effort has not been stymied by lawmakers or by the judiciary (although the judiciary is beginning to get its back up). It’s on us, the citizens, to stop it.

There is plenty to complain about. A laundry list of the executive branch’s malevolent actions would fill many pages. Part of their plan is to hit us all with as many encroachments as fast as possible, so that we’re overwhelmed. But what action do we take, and how?

The key piece I would like to address is the attack on education. The destruction of the Department of Education, the defunding of the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, the takeover of the Kennedy Center, and the ham-handed attempt to control the curriculum of universities all add up to one thing: they want you stupid.

We are already faced with the reality that we have a long way still to go to function as an educated and informed public. 90 million people didn’t vote; 54 percent of adults can’t read above the sixth-grade level; 21 percent of Americans are illiterate. 21 percent.

And that’s how those in power like it. Stupid people obey. Stupid people don’t think their way to solutions. Stupid people live in an environment dominated by fear and anger. They fall for a dictator’s lies without the ability to use critical intelligence to peel apart and destroy those untruths.

Mitch Albom writes: “If the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it. Create your own.” Conservatives have been working for decades to create a culture in which minorities, immigrants, the LGBTQ population, women, “unproductive” people (meaning people with disabilities, a subsection of the population that the Nazis murdered), and those who champion them don’t count. Let’s face it, if you’re not an able-bodied white straight Christian male, those in power do not have any use for you. The “official” culture they seek to impose (MMA? WWF? Square dancing?) is a recipe for regimented disaster.

So, it’s time to create a new culture. How do we do that? It begins with creating a space of self-respect, a feeling that you are a valuable and significant human and that you have something to contribute to the larger world. Then, there’s the little matter of will power. Can you make the time in your life to be a little more conscious and informed person?

This is always possible, even for us with full-time jobs and no discretionary funds to speak of. The diverse and multicultural society that America is isn’t going anywhere. It’s there, we just have to celebrate, honor, and exercise in it. The best way to do this is to KEEP LEARNING.

You can do it. Anyone who feels that they have done their due diligence in the realm of their personal education by graduating from college (another rapidly shrinking part of the populace) is mistaken. We need to STAY CURIOUS. We need to utilize our libraries to the greatest extent possible. Every book you check out, every hour you spend on the library’s internet, every class you take there increases your knowledge base, and it certifies the usefulness of the institution. Libraries are the last safe space, the place where you don’t have to buy anything to hang out there, the place where you can read and think and learn.

Every trip to a museum opens up your mind a little. Every concert, even every new type of cuisine you try, every time you try something new – music, art, film, books, plays, dance – you are increasing the I.Q. of the general populace. It doesn’t take much time or money.

I don't come from money, I come from just-barely-making-it. When I was little, I fell in love with the arts. I feasted on them growing up, and I dreamed of being a playwright, of being an actor. After an aborted college career, I decided to continue to work in the culture, to become a comedian. And I became one. (I wasn’t very good, but I do get an A for effort!) When that career ended, I decided to become a journalist. Just like that. I had no training, no certificate or diploma to legitimize my ambition. I just went for it. And I did it!

I created a position for myself where I could dig into and report on the culture extensively. I couldn’t afford to patronize opera houses, concerts, museums. Instead, to get access for free I reviewed plays, concerts, albums, and books. It worked! Soon I was writing on arts and entertainment for newspapers and magazines – while they were still in good health.

Then the bottom fell out of the journalism industry – no more work there. What to do next? I decided to write a book. And I did. Then I sold it. Then I wrote another one, and sold it. I’m working on three more books right now. I look at my efforts and I think, “Wow, how did you do that?” The learning never has to end.

I am still living life on the low end of the economic spectrum, but my days are filled with purpose and interest. You don't have to be rich to enjoy art – and in fact, a non-wealthy people’s perspective on the culture is just the kind of subversive thinking we need. By expressing yourself, you can still create new and better realities.

Keep your mind open. If I can do it, you can. YOU CAN DO IT. Try new things. Think about and discuss issues that perturb you. Culture gives us two great things needed for an ethical society to function – empathy and remorse, neither of which our opponents possess. Live and breathe the culture YOU WANT TO BRING INTO BEING, and spread it.