It Isn't About Stupid, It's Worse
Many Americans and I venture everyone outside of America, shakes their head in wonder that there could be pandemic deniers. In the face of overwhelming evidence millions of (usually Republican) Americans continue to believe what's easiest, what suits them best. From the outside it looks a lot like stupidity, but I assure you it isn't, it is much worse. American's ability to process information, think and act for themselves was educated out of them.
With the head start established by a hollow education system, the American culture, complete with national adrenaline addiction to fear and disaster is omnipresent. It's in their TV shows, advertisements, politicians, military-based economy... - they never get a break it and they have been acclimatized to disaster. Knowing FOX News is crap primarily focused on ratings, independent of accuracy or integrity doesn't make Americans turn it off. ("Fox News has added to their terms of use that they are an entertainment company" mediabiasfactcheck.com/fox-news/ ) It makes them turn it on. Knowing their president is a liar doesn't make a difference.
A global pandemic on the 6:00 News is no more real than a disaster film on at 8:00 as entertainment. Children gunned down in their classrooms by educated, privileged, white boys is unthinkable anywhere else in the world, in America it's normal. This isn't stupidity, it's willful ignorance. Much worse.
So exploited by emotionalism, nationalism and catastrophizing, the average American has shut down intellectually. They can't process information. I blame education. One hundred years ago the American government paid fiction writers to invent American History to promote patriotism. (Washington Irving created the Christopher Columbus story to boost ratings). Congratulations. The system achieved blind, rabid patriotism with generations of citizens who have no idea what's happening, can't think for themselves and believe they are educated.
It showed up in spades with the denial of the Corona virus pandemic in Florida, "There’s a kind of natural cynicism, a distrust of authority, in American civic culture. For Trump supporters, with this virus, that means there is a deep reluctance to accept the situation." March 24, 2020 by Stephen Maher https://www.macleans.ca/society/life/escape-from-florida-my-2400-km-drive-back-to-the-sanity-of-canada/
But America's consciousness and eventually behavior is shifting. Perhaps it's the internet bringing other cultures and other (contradicting) viewpoints into our homes that people are beginning to see the world differently. In a global community and a global economy America can see how far behind she has fallen. Old people turn it off. Young Americans however, are beginning to consider they have been had. The silver lining is young people have much less of their lives invested in a fallacy, have much less commitment to defending their mistakes and they are the future. More power to them.
Yours in Education,
Judy Thompson