[kj] the unteachable ignorance of the red states

[fluwdot at earthlink.net]

The day after the election, Slate's political writers tackled the 
question of why the Democratic Party—which has now lost five of the 
past seven presidential elections and solidified its minority status 
in Congress—keeps losing elections. Chris Suellentrop says that John 
Kerry was too nuanced and technocratic, while George W. Bush offered 
a vision of expanding freedom around the world. William Saletan 
argues that Democratic candidates won't win until they again cast 
their policies the way Bill Clinton did, in terms of values and moral 
responsibility. Timothy Noah contends that none of the familiar 
advice to the party—move right, move left, or sit tight—seems likely 
to help. Slate asked a number of wise liberals to take up the 
question of why Americans won't vote for the Democrats. Click here to 
read previous entries.

 
I say forget introspection. It's time to be honest about our 
antagonists. My predecessors in this conversation are thoughtful men, 
and I honor their ideas, but let's try something else. I grew up in 
Missouri and most of my family voted for Bush, so I am going to be 
the one to say it: The election results reflect the decision of the 
right wing to cultivate and exploit ignorance in the citizenry. I 
suppose the good news is that 55 million Americans have evaded the 
ignorance-inducing machine. But 58 million have not. (Well, almost 58 
million—my relatives are not ignorant, they are just greedy and full 
of classic Republican feelings of superiority.)

Ignorance and bloodlust have a long tradition in the United States, 
especially in the red states. There used to be a kind of hand-to-hand 
fight on the frontier called a "knock-down-drag-out," where any kind 
of gouging, biting, or maiming was considered fair. The ancestors of 
today's red-state voters used to stand around cheering and betting on 
these fights. When the forces of red and blue encountered one another 
head-on for the first time in Kansas Territory in 1856, the red 
forces from Missouri, who had been coveting Indian land across the 
Missouri River since 1820, entered Kansas and stole the territorial 
election. The red news media of the day made a practice of 
inflammatory lying—declaring that the blue folks had shot and killed 
red folks whom everyone knew were walking around. The worst civilian 
massacre in American history took place in Lawrence, Kan., in 
1862—Quantrill's raid. The red forces, known then as the slave-power, 
pulled 265 unarmed men from their beds on a Sunday morning and 
slaughtered them in front of their wives and children. The error that 
progressives have consistently committed over the years is to 
underestimate the vitality of ignorance in America. Listen to what 
the red state citizens say about themselves, the songs they write, 
and the sermons they flock to. They know who they are—they are full 
of original sin and they have a taste for violence. The blue state 
citizens make the Rousseauvian mistake of thinking humans are 
essentially good, and so they never realize when they are about to be 
slugged from behind. 

Here is how ignorance works: First, they put the fear of God into 
you—if you don't believe in the literal word of the Bible, you will 
burn in hell. Of course, the literal word of the Bible is 
tremendously contradictory, and so you must abdicate all critical 
thinking, and accept a simple but logical system of belief that is 
dangerous to question. A corollary to this point is that they make 
sure you understand that Satan resides in the toils and snares of 
complex thought and so it is best not try it. 

Next, they tell you that you are the best of a bad lot (humans, that 
is) and that as bad as you are, if you stick with them, you are among 
the chosen. This is flattering and reassuring, and also encourages 
you to imagine the terrible fates of those you envy and resent. 
American politicians ALWAYS operate by a similar sort of flattery, 
and so Americans are never induced to question themselves. That's 
what happened to Jimmy Carter—he asked Americans to take 
responsibility for their profligate ways, and promptly lost to Ronald 
Reagan, who told them once again that they could do anything they 
wanted. The history of the last four years shows that red state 
types, above all, do not want to be told what to do—they prefer to be 
ignorant. As a result, they are virtually unteachable. 

Third, and most important, when life grows difficult or fearsome, 
they (politicians, preachers, pundits) encourage you to cling to your 
ignorance with even more fervor. But by this time you don't need much 
encouragement—you've put all your eggs into the ignorance basket, and 
really, some kind of miraculous fruition (preferably accompanied by 
the torment of your enemies, and the ignorant always have plenty of 
enemies) is your only hope. If you are sufficiently ignorant, you 
won't even know how dangerous your policies are until they have 
destroyed you, and then you can always blame others.

The reason the Democrats have lost five of the last seven 
presidential elections is simple: A generation ago, the big 
capitalists, who have no morals, as we know, decided to make use of 
the religious right in their class war against the middle class and 
against the regulations that were protecting those whom they 
considered to be their rightful prey—workers and consumers. The 
architects of this strategy knew perfectly well that they were 
exploiting, among other unsavory qualities, a long American habit of 
virulent racism, but they did it anyway, and we see the outcome 
now—Cheney is the capitalist arm and Bush is the religious arm. They 
know no boundaries or rules. They are predatory and resentful, 
amoral, avaricious, and arrogant. Lots of Americans like and admire 
them because lots of Americans, even those who don't share those same 
qualities, don't know which end is up. Can the Democrats appeal to 
such voters? Do they want to? The Republicans have sold their souls 
for power. Must everyone?

Progressives have only one course of action now: React quickly to 
every outrage—red state types love to cheat and intimidate, so we 
have to assume the worst and call them on it every time. We have to 
give them more to think about than they can handle—to always appeal 
to reason and common sense, and the law, even when they can't 
understand it and don't respond. They cannot be allowed to keep any 
secrets. Tens of millions of people didn't vote—they are watching, 
too, and have to be shown that we are ready and willing to fight, and 
that the battle is worth fighting. And in addition, we have to 
remember that threats to democracy from the right always collapse. 
Whatever their short-term appeal, they are borne of hubris and 
hatred, and will destroy their purveyors in the end.



Why Americans Hate Democrats—A Dialogue
The unteachable ignorance of the red states.
By Jane Smiley
Updated Thursday, Nov. 4, 2004, at 3:24 PM PT