Republicans (mostly Palin) and anti-intellectualism

[IAMX 3,055]

Not shocking to see a campaign running on anger turned at the wrong people, and while their predictions are a bit out there (particularly of Cambodia), it would be naive to suggest we can't go there:

Palin and the dangerous news anti-intellectualism

When the shell-shocked, illiterate, and pissed-off country folk of Cambodia who later came to be known as the Khmer Rouge finally drove back government forces and stormed the capitol of Phnom Penh in the 1970s, they focused all their pent up rage on one class of people — intellectuals.

Basically, if you had a college degree, you were killed. If you were a doctor, you were killed. If you wore glasses, you had your face bashed in with a bat. The initial killing spree that took place was rabid and brutal, carried out with the type of rage that is only seen when a people who have lived under the boot of a real or perceived enemy for years are finally let loose.

In this case, however, the rage was misguided. The intellectuals in Cambodia weren’t really the problem. And the disproportionate anger towards them was not historically intrinsic to the peasantry; it was a slowly, methodically developed political tactic employed by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot to do one thing and one thing only — whip his base into a frenzy and keep him in power.

Certainly scapegoatism is not a new political tactic — the Nazis being the classic example. But what is interesting and terrifying about cases like Cambodia is the particular type of rage that is generated when a country-dwelling ‘underclass’ who have felt inferior and put down by the ’smarter’ urbanites finally get their day to… shine.

Unfortunately, the years that follow such bloodbaths tend to be — to put it mildly — not very fun. During the cultural revolution in China for example, infant mortality rates soared because qualified doctors were often seen as elitists and were either not allowed to practice or were killed outright.

There’s a simple reason why the years after anti-intellectual purges aren’t fun. Because intellectuals matter. It really shouldn’t even need to be said, but frighteningly in the current political climate, it does.

Obviously no-one in the United States is overtly advocating violence against the intellectual elite, but in metaphorical and increasingly real terms, the Republicans are waging a war pitting middle American ‘Joe Six Pack’ and ‘Hockey Moms’ against coastal elitists with Harvard degrees. Sarah Palin is the personification of this, taking George Bush’s strategy of ‘everyday speak’ to even greater heights (or lows) than George ever did. Apparently, in the Karl Rove strategy book, ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’, so much so that now the war of ‘everyday America’ vs. ‘the smart people’ is absolutely central to Republican electoral strategy.

There should be no underestimating how dangerous and toxic this strategy is. By simultaneously gutting the very educational and social programs that support and sustain ‘Joe six pack’ with one hand and with the other creating a vitriolic culture in which those who actually are educated are seen as ‘other’ and therefore not worthy of governing, the Republican party is toying with the future of this country in ways that can and will cause irrevocable damage.

We all might laugh or cringe when Sarah Palin talks about being ‘five weeks on the job’ and bringing ‘Joe Six pack’ into the white house or describes herself as a ‘pitbull with lipstick.’

What we should be is very, very afraid.

Leaving aside the fact that what America needs both domestically and abroad at this particular juncture in history is to be governed by a pair of really, really smart people, the truly frightening prospect is what will happen if the Republicans continue with this tactic. The historical parallels are ugly. Nineteen-thirties Italy comes to mind. As does post WWI Germany. As does — in an extreme example — Cambodia.

In immediate terms, the natural outcome of this ‘everyday man’ nationalism and anti-elitist frenzy combined with economic downturn is a drastic drop in America’s ability to compete in the world. Our nation’s economy lessens as our nations ability to lead the global conversation lessens, and then, as the economy tanks and jobs diminish, the gap between ‘Joe Six Pack’ and the coastal elites widens, the hatred and division grows. To the point that to half the nation’s people, it somehow, astonishingly, becomes a negative to speak of how smart, or well educated, or articulate, or worldly a person is.

A nation such as ours, founded on a very heady document written by some very smart and very well educated people, should never, ever shy away from electing scholars as president. We have, and we should, embrace it.

There are two saving graces here. One is that thinking Republicans are actually starting to realize the danger that Palin — and the campaign of class war that she represents — poses to their party and are becoming more and more vocal about it.

The other is that everyday Americans have suffered the most at the hands of the current administration and many of them realize it. Hopefully more will.

The ones that don’t — the ones that rabidly call for a ‘hockey mom’ in the white house while the rug is being pulled out from underneath them — they’re the ones whose blindness would soon have them picking up the metaphorical bat and taking it to the very doctor that could heal them.

Hopefully the rift in the republican party over the new Palinism — and a democratic victory — will create a shift towards a more thinking, issue-based Republican party. Otherwise, to put it bluntly, we might as well close our schools, shut down our borders, send more of our sons and daughters off to die, and rename 2008 Year Zero.

GNN contributor Josh Schrei is a producer, writer, and nonprofit strategist living in New York City.

[IAMX 3,055]

Sh!t, link is here:

http://gnn.tv/articles/3854/Year_Zero

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Obviously no-one in the United States is overtly advocating violence against the intellectual elite

Not yet. The Republicans will "go there", just not in this election cycle.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well the dumbass that McCain took the microphone away from the other day is one example of this.

[AlHayatZween 2]

You know what gets me pissed about this whole anti-elitism thing...?

Palin, in her rhetoric is trying to separate the middle/working class from academic achievement... as if the class lines can't be blurred?

Many of us are from working class families and worked our butts off to get into "elite" universities. While there, we had to confront social class marginalization simply because, yes... we were not from the same backgrounds as upper class/ private-school educated students (not that there is anything wrong with them either, but when you are an 18-year-old kid thrust into this whole new social and economic dynamic, the adjustment can be challenging and isolating at times...) And yet, some of us still dealt with all that, worked to pay our way through our "elite" universities, got our graduate degrees, etc...

What is wrong with that? Isn't that what our parents hoped we'd be able to do? Why does being working class and having a good education have to be two disparate things?

It's a load of #######...all this rhetoric... people should be insulted more than anything else. Talk about keeping Joe-Six-Pack down... Keepin' the common folk in the dark... Dumbing down the masses...

A la gran puta!

hz

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You know what gets me pissed about this whole anti-elitism thing...?

Palin, in her rhetoric is trying to separate the middle/working class from academic achievement... as if the class lines can't be blurred?

Many of us are from working class families and worked our butts off to get into "elite" universities. While there, we had to confront social class marginalization simply because, yes... we were not from the same backgrounds as upper class/ private-school educated students (not that there is anything wrong with them either, but when you are an 18-year-old kid thrust into this whole new social and economic dynamic, the adjustment can be challenging and isolating at times...) And yet, some of us still dealt with all that, worked to pay our way through our "elite" universities, got our graduate degrees, etc...

What is wrong with that? Isn't that what our parents hoped we'd be able to do? Why does being working class and having a good education have to be two disparate things?

It's a load of #######...all this rhetoric... people should be insulted more than anything else. Talk about keeping Joe-Six-Pack down... Keepin' the common folk in the dark... Dumbing down the masses...

A la gran puta!

hz

You're forgetting of course that in Palin's world there are only "good guys" and "bad guys"

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

Well the dumbass that McCain took the microphone away from the other day is one example of this.

Saw that, she was so shocked that she even asked? "No?"

Those people were at the end of the line at the IQ giveaway

[AlHayatZween 2]

True that, PD...

And how come GW isn't considered an elite as a Yale graduate from a wealthy family...?

Or is there a GPA minimum that you have to maintain in order to qualify?

[HAL 9000 96]

Well the dumbass that McCain took the microphone away from the other day is one example of this.

Saw that, she was so shocked that she even asked? "No?"

Those people were at the end of the line at the IQ giveaway

How elitist of you!

You mean to say that they ran out of IQ points to give out. That line never ends.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

True that, PD...

And how come GW isn't considered an elite as a Yale graduate from a wealthy family...?

Or is there a GPA minimum that you have to maintain in order to qualify?

Probably when he opened his mouth...

Seriously that's what bugs me about all this - pretty much all of these people are "elites" in some form or other, the difference as far as "elitism" goes (which, like irony, actually has a different meaning to it most common form of use) is the suggestion that a person somehow sees themselves as better than everyone else and talks down to people.

Its a silly criticism at the end of the day - the sort of thing that people make a big deal about in election seasons (as they make a big deal about lapel pins or hand gestures) but becomes absolutely irrelevant when elected.

So Palin comes across like a nice, down-to-earth person. Great - if only being nice and down to earth equated with being clued up about complex policy issues.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

You know what gets me pissed about this whole anti-elitism thing...?

Palin, in her rhetoric is trying to separate the middle/working class from academic achievement... as if the class lines can't be blurred?

Many of us are from working class families and worked our butts off to get into "elite" universities. While there, we had to confront social class marginalization simply because, yes... we were not from the same backgrounds as upper class/ private-school educated students (not that there is anything wrong with them either, but when you are an 18-year-old kid thrust into this whole new social and economic dynamic, the adjustment can be challenging and isolating at times...) And yet, some of us still dealt with all that, worked to pay our way through our "elite" universities, got our graduate degrees, etc...

What is wrong with that? Isn't that what our parents hoped we'd be able to do? Why does being working class and having a good education have to be two disparate things?

It's a load of #######...all this rhetoric... people should be insulted more than anything else. Talk about keeping Joe-Six-Pack down... Keepin' the common folk in the dark... Dumbing down the masses...

A la gran puta!

hz

You're forgetting of course that in Palin's world there are only "good guys" and "bad guys"

Of course. Them and Us. Just like she learned from Bush and Cheney.

[alienlovechild 75]

Seriously that's what bugs me about all this - pretty much all of these people are "elites" in some form or other, the difference as far as "elitism" goes (which, like irony, actually has a different meaning to it most common form of use) is the suggestion that a person somehow sees themselves as better than everyone else and talks down to people.

Luckily there's no elitist tone anywhere in this thread.

This elitist stuff may make sense if it weren't for the class warfare talk that the Democrats use every election cycle. The Khmer Rouge did a fine job of eliminating class disparity by eliminating the upper classes, full employment, and empowering the youth to change Cambodia. If Pol Pot was still alive, Obama could have used him as VP.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Seriously that's what bugs me about all this - pretty much all of these people are "elites" in some form or other, the difference as far as "elitism" goes (which, like irony, actually has a different meaning to it most common form of use) is the suggestion that a person somehow sees themselves as better than everyone else and talks down to people.

Luckily there's no elitist tone anywhere in this thread.

This elitist stuff may make sense if it weren't for the class warfare talk that the Democrats use every election cycle. The Khmer Rouge did a fine job of eliminating class disparity by eliminating the upper classes, full employment, and empowering the youth to change Cambodia. If Pol Pot was still alive, Obama could have used him as VP.

Yeah and <insert name of Republican President / Presidential candidate>> could have used Joseph Goebbels (were he alive today) as Press Secretary / Propaganda minister.

We can all make ludicrous comparisons for effect. Not that it does much to provide the "insight" that you apparently crave.

Edited October 13, 2008 by Paul Daniels

[HAL 9000 96]

Seriously that's what bugs me about all this - pretty much all of these people are "elites" in some form or other, the difference as far as "elitism" goes (which, like irony, actually has a different meaning to it most common form of use) is the suggestion that a person somehow sees themselves as better than everyone else and talks down to people.

Luckily there's no elitist tone anywhere in this thread.

This elitist stuff may make sense if it weren't for the class warfare talk that the Democrats use every election cycle. The Khmer Rouge did a fine job of eliminating class disparity by eliminating the upper classes, full employment, and empowering the youth to change Cambodia. If Pol Pot was still alive, Obama could have used him as VP.

Yeah and <insert name of Republican President / Presidential candidate>> could have used Joseph Goebbels (were he alive today) as Press Secretary / Propaganda minister.

We can all make ludicrous comparisons for effect. Not that it does much to provide the "insight" that you apparently crave.

This is all pointless. McCain has Obama exactly where he wants to have him...

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

McCain speaking in Virginia right now. He just dissed Bush.

We cannot spend the next four years as we have spent much of the last eight: waiting for our luck to change.