Has "Idiot America" Become More Idiotic?
Sunday, 23 December 2012 10:02By Mark Karlin, Truthout | Interview
(Image: Anchor)In a 2009 interview with Charles P. Pierce about his book Idiot America, BuzzFlash wrote: "Pierce has written an irreverent, droll, insightful account of how the land of the enlightenment - which threw off the monarchical shackles of Europe - has come to value 'truthiness' and belief not grounded in reason or science. In short, a good deal of this great nation has become grounded in a parallel universe that has little to do with fact or enlightened innovation."
At that time, we discussed with Pierce his three basic premises for how Idiot America came to be: "Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units; anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough, and fact is that which enough people believe. The truth is determined by how fervently they believe it."
You can read BuzzFlash's 2009 interview with Pierce by clicking here.
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Mark Karlin: It's been a good seven years since you first began to formulate your classic book, Idiot America. The first question has to be: Taking a look at the Republican primary candidates in 2012, including Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann, have we become any less idiotic?
Charles P. Pierce. (Photo:charlespierce.net)Charles P. Pierce: Judging by that remarkable field, at the very least, I wasted time writing that book. The seeds of that crop, by the way, had been ripening for 30 years. Remember that night that I mention in the book during the 2008 campaign when a third of that year’s primary field declined to admit a belief in evolution.
MK: Clearly, as you have pointed out by citing the likes of Richard Hofstadter, there has always been an anti-intellectual strain in America. In our last interview, you noted how that has been combined with "the zealot [who] is very often the hardest person to argue with, because he doesn't know what he doesn't know, but he knows what he believes." Since you wrote your book, we've seen the religious right who doesn't believe in evolution increase their influence over education in many areas of the nation. Do you think that this fanatical commitment to a denial of facts has crested or is it still in ascendance?
CP: It’s increasing in some places, decreasing in others. What’s happening in the Louisiana charter schools is a damned shame.
MK: You have discussed the significant role that television has played in creating an uninformed public. It appears televisions are everywhere now, even flat screen TVs in upscale restaurants. Is the visual image overpowering the written word to the extent that many US citizens exist in a virtual post-literate society?
CP: That’s a tough one. I think, over the last couple of years, the written word has made a comeback on the Internet. For example, I’m seeing more long-form narrative experiments there. The overall noise level, however, continues to increase. Do we really need TV screens to watch when we pump gas? Really?
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