I do believe that many Americans are ignorant, but is it willed? I don't think so, I think America's notoriously bad educational system, and "exceptionalism" makes most Americans complacent to real issues that affect them. I think many Americans would consider themselves educated, of course we all know that in the stark reality Americans lag behind us Canadians, or Europeans in many matters. I think Americans have a great sense of character that many others may lack. But that is not the way to elected presidents or to charge a nation.
Americans love capitalism, yet hate the fact that her jobs are going overseas? Americans love freedom and democracy, yet imposing it on those who didn't ask for it?
Americans are patriotic by stifling expression?
That is not the America I want to know, America has way too much potential to be stuck in her introverted, "exceptionalism". The Media is a major mitigating factor to American intelligence. "The medium is the message", that is true in more ways then one. Surely Hype today we have almost endless amounts of information, every 18 months humanity knows 2 as much as she did a mere 18 months ago, compare that to hundreds of years before. But society is so complex and so interconnected that people who know no better get scared.
There are three major elements in fantasy:
i) ignorance
ii) fear
iii) superstition
All these are present in present day America; Americans are scared of Muslims because they simply don't understand them. Do I blame Americans for that? No, I blame the media, and the government for prolonging ignorance. And by the looks of it, the administration is working in the fantastic mode. Good vs. Evil, adventures, and beasts. Am I living in a dream? No, but I am not living in America either.
Americans love capitalism, yet hate the fact that her jobs are going overseas? Americans love freedom and democracy, yet imposing it on those who didn't ask for it?
Americans are patriotic by stifling expression?
That is not the America I want to know, America has way too much potential to be stuck in her introverted, "exceptionalism". The Media is a major mitigating factor to American intelligence. "The medium is the message", that is true in more ways then one. Surely Hype today we have almost endless amounts of information, every 18 months humanity knows 2 as much as she did a mere 18 months ago, compare that to hundreds of years before. But society is so complex and so interconnected that people who know no better get scared.
There are three major elements in fantasy:
i) ignorance
ii) fear
iii) superstition
All these are present in present day America; Americans are scared of Muslims because they simply don't understand them. Do I blame Americans for that? No, I blame the media, and the government for prolonging ignorance. And by the looks of it, the administration is working in the fantastic mode. Good vs. Evil, adventures, and beasts. Am I living in a dream? No, but I am not living in America either.