YES!

Susan Jacoby has written a book on anti-intellectualism in America (a subject that we have touched on before). Her assessment: (1) we are woefully, blithely ignorant of the most basic facts of history, geography, science, whatnot. (2) Not only do we find our ignorance funny (good stuff for late-night television), we are smug about it, and dismissive of the importance of general knowledge.

Here’s a snippet from a recent op-ed piece written by Jacoby:

“People accustomed to hearing their president explain complicated policy choices by snapping “I’m the decider” may find it almost impossible to imagine the pains that Franklin D. Roosevelt took, in the grim months after Pearl Harbor, to explain why U.S. armed forces were suffering one defeat after another in the Pacific. In February 1942, Roosevelt urged Americans to spread out a map during his radio “fireside chat” so that they might better understand the geography of battle. In stores throughout the country, maps sold out; about 80 percent of American adults tuned in to hear the president.”

Tags: Bush, education, FDR, intellectualism, Rachel Powers, susan jacoby