We're Losing The War Against Dumbf***ery
Indeed, America may have already suffered its worst and most ignominious defeat
As you are probably aware, our planet is on a deadline and humans are screwed—and George Clooney does not have time for the “epidemic of dumbf**k idiots” denying the fact. Spurred on by the United Nations’s dire warning about the bleak fate of biodiversity and the Earth’s accelerating extinction rate, the actor has stepped up for a PSA against “dumbf***ery.”
In a video released on Jimmy Kimmel Live!…“actor, director, and two-time sexiest man alive” Clooney noted that science has given “unprecedented knowledge of the natural world from subatomic particles to the majesty of space.” Tragically, though, that knowledge is threatened by “an epidemic of dumbf**ing idiots” saying “dumbf**king things.”
Unfortunately, according to Clooney, “dumbf***ery is highly contagious, affecting the minds of even the most stable geniuses,” leading people to deny climate change, not vaccinate their kids, and not believe in dinosaurs. Now, that “rampant dumbf***ery” threatens “our health, our security and now our planet.” Luckily, there’s a way to “win the war against dumbf***iness” and hopefully it’s not too late.
You might’ve been forgiven for thinking that, with the exit of the Trump Clown Show from Washington, intelligence and rational thinking might once again be back in fashion. And you’d be wrong- optimistically so, but wrong nonetheless.
George Clooney’s video is about two-and-a-half years old now, but it’s every bit as relevant today as it was in mid-2019. And the fact that it was intended for laughs on Jimmy Kimmel Live! makes it that much more depressing. Yes, Clooney gives a deadpan performance that humorously spotlights a solemn topic. But, unfortunately, “Rampant dumbf***ery” is not just a laugh line. It’s real, and it has been since Donald Trump descended the escalator at Trump Tower in 2015 to announce that he was running for President.
Until Trump threw his hat in the ring, I’d never known what “gaslighting” meant. I’d never needed to, and yet there it was, all around us every day. Trump told us that what we were feeling wasn’t real and that he was here to tell us what was real and what we should be feeling.
“Rampant dumbf***ery” makes a mockery of everything that’s made America great throughout our almost 250-year history. We’re a country long admired by the rest of the world for our freedom, opportunity, and sense of fair play. Despite our myriad flaws, we’ve served as a beacon to the world. If there was something that needed to happen, America was invariably the one with the resources and the brainpower needed to make it happen.
These days, as America is increasingly coming to resemble the set from “Idiocracy,” where stupid quickly becomes the new smart. “My ignorance” is being redefined as every bit as valid as “your knowledge.” It’s how we end up with people refusing to get a safe and effective vaccine to protect themselves against COVID-19, but they’re more than willing to self-medicate. And so Americans ingest ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and other quack treatments that haven’t been tested and may even prove dangerous.
“Rampant dumbf***ery” is how we get millions convinced that Joe Biden stole the 2020 Presidential election from Donald Trump- despite there being no evidence to support these claims. Unfortunately, the Big Lie has is now an article of faith among Trump followers.
“Rampant dumbf***ery” is how we get a movement like QAnon, which depends on ever-more outlandish beliefs and conspiracy theories to thrive. The latest is that JFK, Jr. (dead for some 22 years now) will somehow reanimate himself to run as Trump’s running mate in 2024.
Never mind that the Kennedy clan are Democrats.
We may have at one point still been able to “win the war against dumbf***iness,” but I believe that window has closed. It’s one thing when thousands are in the iron grip of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, but when MILLIONS of Americans engage in willfully stupidity and “dumbf***iness,” what hope is there?
Republicans have decided that the road to victory in next year’s midterms runs through appealing to the ignorance and prejudice of Americans. If they’re dumb enough to look at Donald Trump and see a leader, so the thinking goes, the rubes will vote for anyone if they’re Trumpy enough. The sad thing is that they may be correct in that assessment.
In an America that elected mental and moral dwarfs like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan, Lauren Boebert, and Madison Cawthorn, can we honestly hope to appeal to better (and more intelligent) angels of voters? Or do we assume that those on the right side of the political spectrum will continue to spread the Big Lie and the conspiracy theories of the moment?
As if that question is anything but rhetorical….
It’s possible-perhaps even likely- that our current era of “rampant dumbf***ery” is what will ultimately mark the end of Pax Americana. History has shown that empires eventually crumble- from corruption, sloth, ineptitude, or combinations of some or all. “Rampant dumbf***ery” will undoubtedly hasten the demise of America’s empire status.
We shouldn’t be surprised. When we begin to value stupidity over intelligence and faith/belief over provable fact, we can’t credibly expect to remain the greatest country in the world for long. Likewise, when science becomes “just another theory” in the minds of millions, there’s little hope of maintaining long-term greatness.
Perhaps, if we’re fortunate, future generations will see America descend to a status like that of a much larger Great Britain- a nation with pretensions of greatness but with none of the trappings of majesty.
If only JFK, Jr. would come back from the dead and save America….