Experts built the Titanic.
Amateurs Built the Ark.
She uses it to lament the "anti-expertise" mentality in American culture.
From what I've read (and I've seen that sign before), this is hardly a new occurrence: America has always apparently had a strong anti-elitist streak that manifested itself against the intelligentsia. It hit home for me observing the 2000 presidential election (the first in which I was really politically aware), in which Gore's intellectualism versus Bush's frat boy persona was scored as a point in W's favor. And from there on out, I realized every step forward I took in my education would be a step back in my political potential. I had hoped that eight years of experiencing a half-wit for a President would awaken an American desire for intelligence, but so far I'm not seeing it.
So in the mean time, I echo Cottle's wish that all the pro-amateur persons out there remember their commitment to the cause the next time they need surgery.
3 comments:
Let's not get carried away with how "half-witted" Bush 43 is. His grades were actually a bit better than John Kerry's. In fact, his grades hold up well in comparison to Al Gore's as well (though Gore's SAT's are markedly better).
Bush is by no means an intellectual, but that should not be mistaken for his being unintelligent. One can also argue that in both the 2000 and 2004 elections he was "misunderestimated"...to no small degree because his opponents allowed themselves to see him as an idiot.
Elections are not simply an IQ contest. Jesse Ventura was elected as the Governor of Minnesota, but I doubt that ANYONE who voted for him thought he was necessarily more "intelligent" than Norm Colman or Skip Humphrey.
I would argue that one need not necessarily fear being seen as "intelligent" when running for office, but politicians should probably fear the prospect of being perceived as an intellectual.
David,
The anti-elitist/intellectual strands have roots as far back as 2000? Wow. :D
That strand started just a bit earlier. The Quaker and "Backwoods" folkways as identified by David Fisher in Albion's Seed both have it. The former stressed literacy but not "too much" book learning.
Oddly enough, back then, the Puritans, who today would be more closely identified as "conservative" where the strongest intellectual proponents.
I meant that the US has an anti-intellectual streak that stretches deep into our history, which only manifested itself to me in 2000 (where it was on particularly sharp display and when I first started paying attention).
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