Civic Ignorance And Republican Politics

Salon has back-to-back articles today on roughly the same topic:  civic ignorance.  We've seen how, as an example, supporters of neo- fascist fartbag Donald "Rump" Trump seem impervious to facts that challenge their views , even becoming more certain of their misinformation when challenged.  Certainly, this is not unique to Rump's supporters but is endemic across the right- wing Republican spectrum. This "misinformation" (or, less politely, lies) that has been allowed to enter political discourse in this country has only grown stronger in recent decades, as nearly half of the nation holds to "facts" and concepts that are made out of whole cloth by the usual spinners. 

Here's Daniel R. Demicola's conclusion:

We have now developed a culture in which ignorance is celebrated, perversely flaunted as a badge of pride. This is not good ole American anti-intellectualism. It’s deeper than that. It involves not only the distrust of expertise and mainstream sources of information, but also the rejection of rationally relevant factors for adopting beliefs. It seems to abandon hard-won standards of knowledge and institutions like science that have served us since the Enlightenment and brought us the standard of living we enjoy today. Evidence and conclusions are accepted selectively or resisted stubbornly. Some adopt ridiculous conspiracy theories, believing they have the “real truth”—but this is false knowledge, ignorance in elaborate disguise.

Phil Torres notes a primary reason for this culture of civic ignorance:

Not only is the U.S. unique for its love affair with anti-intellectualism, but this romantic relationship appears to have grown stronger over the past few decades. A primary reason for this is no doubt the huge influence that conservative media have had on American culture, such as Fox News, which is currently the most trusted news network in the country. The problem is that “Fox News” is a misnomer. The network is, to quote Jon Stewart, more of a “relentlessly activist” organization for conservative causes than an intellectually honest conveyor of information. Indeed, there are to date at least seven academic studies that have found that Fox News’ viewership constitutes the most misinformed audience out there. 

And yet, a willful purveyor of civic ignorance like Fox "News" is deemed a "sister organization" by "mainstream media" enablers!

Republican appeals to intolerance, anger and resentment have fertile soil to grow in this field of ignorance, an ignorance that extends far into the American public, of whom only 36 percent can name the three branches of government(!).  With a media obsessed with pre- determined, simplistic "narratives" and shiny objects, don't expect an enlightened voting population to suddenly emerge in 2016.  That's perhaps the most frightening unknown we can imagine.