Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Why are Americans so stupid?
Relax, it’s just a question not an accusation. Not yet, anyway. I will leave that part up to you.
Stupid — and only in this context — can be interchangeable with words like unknowledgeable, undereducated, willfully ignorant ... and millennial. At least that’s the way baby boomers tend to see it these days. We don’t know what happened to our country while we were busy messing everything up.
The concern, as you might imagine, is not for where those of us in an older generation find ourselves, because history and the actuarial tables remind us that we will not be here that much longer.
But we do fear for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, because the next 50-100 years will be theirs to manage as the Earth keeps spinning and the world keeps tumbling toward who knows what.
Whether or not our progeny live through the challenges we have created for them has a lot to do with the challenges they continue to create for themselves.
For example, how do they expect to sort their way through the existential challenges to our American democracy when they appear ill-equipped to even understand what makes a democracy work? Yes, we have failed to teach them the civics courses we had as students, and the history lessons pounded into our young minds by teachers determined to make sure we knew what it takes to avoid the mistakes of the past.
So it is unfair to expect them to know how to protect their democracy, especially when so many Americans are blithely voting their way down the path of autocracy and, dare I say it, dictatorship.
Young people don’t seem to know enough to recognize this clear and present danger to their way of life, while older, angrier Americans — for whatever many and varied reasons they may entertain — seem only too happy to cheer for the ridiculous.
How else do we explain the entirety of the Republican House caucus — led by a newer generation — voting for an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden while they refuse to muster a simplemajority of GOP members to support — without conditions — our allies like Israel and Ukraine who are fighting for their very existence?
How else can we explain how students at universities and institutions of higher learning seem to have learned nothing about history as they march their way into a darkness designed by TikTok, Twitter and other social media sites whose algorithms prey on our worst and most fantastical fears?
And how else can we explain to our friends and allies around the world — you know, the ones we and other peace-loving countries depend on — that their pleas for help take second and even third place behind Congress’ holiday travel plans and the demented political designs of those who seek power for themselves at the expense of patriotic service to their country?
And how else can we explain why simple concepts like right and wrong continue to get twisted into knots by bot-farms on the internet and bought politicians in Congress with nary a word uttered in opposition from those we trust to protect and serve their constituents?
The simple explanation is that Americans have lost their way. We no longer know or care enough to stand up to autocrats, stand up for justice and push back against those who claim murder and mayhem are somehow justifiable in the pursuit of some warped political goals.
Baby boomers are perplexed. Even though we bear a large part of the blame for failing to educate the next generations, it is still difficult to believe that young America would be so deaf, dumb and blind toward the obvious signs of democratic decay that permeate our daily lives.
Baby boomers are taking stock, and the stock is being devalued as we speak. Sure, there are good and decent folks who resist taking part in this mass mauling of our democratic institutions, but they are being overwhelmed by the undereducated and willfully ignorant members of society who desire a more perfect union but refuse to put in the work it takes to achieve one.
Meanwhile, the world — and more specifically, Russia, China and Iran — is looking at the United States and seeing only opportunity. The opportunity, finally, to break down our resolve and break through the once-impenetrable U.S. wall of support for friends and allies around the world.
Are we stupid for letting that happen? Are we stupid for failing to hold the line against tyranny? Are we stupidly short-sighted when we fail to stand up for what’s right in this world rather than what’s expedient?
Forrest Gump said “stupid is as stupid does.” What would he say about America today? And what do you say?
Brian Greenspun is editor, publisher and owner of the Sun
