Itās a clichĆ© to say that democratic states canāt function properly without an informed electorate. But itās absolutely true. And this is why, heading into the 2016 election year, Iām nervous about the future. With Donald Trump leading the Republican presidential contenders, even many Republican die-hards are shaking in their boots.
But Trump isnāt the cause, just the symptom. The deeper cause is a strain of anti-intellectualism that runs through the roots of American culture. And while this strain is found on both sides of the political spectrum (see some liberals on vaccines and chemtrails), itās mostly concentrated among religious conservatives on the political right. For those who espouse anti-intellectualism, conspiracy theories have the same clout as legitimate science, the opinions of non-experts are just as credible as those of the experts, and ideology takes precedence over the cold hard facts.
The culture of anti-intellectualism in America is fueling hateful, racist demagogues ā in politics and on TV
