Individual fools are no threat in a democracy; it's masses of
fools we have to worry about. And
man, do we ever have one in the vote for Donald Trump.
Wasn't education supposed to take care of that? Wouldn't schooling, open to all, save
us from the folly monarchists were sure democracies fell into? Didn't Thomas Jefferson assure Lafayette
that, after thirty-four years of it in independent America, "The
yeomanry of the United States are not the canaille
of Paris," the mob demagogues deceive?
Well, apparently not so, or not so now. And I just got a clue to a possible
reason, in the Huffington Post, reporting the results of a study by the Center
for Information and Research on Civil Learning & Engagement at Tufts University. In our high schools the number of
required civics courses is down and the number of quickly graded, objective
tests is up. "States are, to
a greater extent, using multiple-choice only tests that focus primarily on
memorizing information, rather than demonstrating civic skills” (HuffPost
Education, 10-12-12).
The
HuffPost analyst believes that "the shift away from civic education over
the past decade can be partially attributed to federal policies like No Child Left
Behind and Race to the Top" and fixes a lot of the blame on those policies.
I can see why, but I would be more
convinced if there weren't so many now playing the blame-your-favorite-bogey
game. And
since so many things contribute to an education in critical thinking, the great
demagogue-protection skill, I'm not sure of the weight here.
One
thing I'm sure of is that an inability to think clearly and critically will
show up in argumentative essays required in English Composition. Indeed, in argumentative essays, maybe
in exposition essays, maybe just in essays, in any course. With every subject of any complexity
the sub-subject is "How to Think," isn't it? No wonder now that above every college
teacher watching the Trump crowd pops the cartoon bubble: "Where the hell
were these guys when the marked-up essays were handed back?"
Yes,
I know, a lot of them were not in college but off working at the jobs left over
after the steel mills closed. But,
by the vote totals from the affluent suburbs, a lot of them were in college. Taking English Comp. And all those other courses you flunk
if you don't learn to think. What
do we conclude?
First,
the conclusion we'd all like to avoid: that Jefferson was wrong to trust the
yeomanry. The common man's gut,
despite temporary control by his educated brain, will rule in the end. So hear Trump, cheer Trump. On the farms, in the suburbs, it's canaille (from Italian canaglia, pack of dogs) all the way
up.
With
Jefferson down, down goes Rousseau, and all the endowments of the natural man
trusted in the French Revolution. And
indeed, in every revolution we call Enlightened. But we have to stop here. America at this stage of her development can't draw such
conclusions.
There
are sweeter ones. The capable,
conscientious but dyslexic fellow, quick with his hands but slow with the his
words, who sits in the back longing to make wooden cabinets, drops out, does
carpentry, has children, makes enough money to move to the suburbs — he's much
too busy to detect the red-mark faults, the looseness, the wag, the fork in the
tongue. He's not canaille. The tide of Trump testosterone just catches him — with how
many others? — and he goes along.
A
not-so-sweet conclusion about the suburban vote, one professors are prone too,
is that there are a lot of capable-but-not-conscientious types out there,
student playboys and playgirls who, in their phrase, "could care
less" about poetry and prose.
How many contacts would that
get for you on the golf course?
How many votes for fraternity queen?
Another
conclusion is that the power of education has just been overwhelmed by the
power of silent, bottled up resentment.
Republicans bottled up resentment over the share-of-wealth figures, the
one percent slice, by holding over it the capitalist club: outcries ignited class
warfare, and made you Marxist.
Bernie Sanders sees what's bottled and pulls the cork. Donald Trump did the same with political
correctness, the silly one percent, resentment kept silent under the liberal
club: outcries made you a beast or bigot.
The cork he pulled flooded even the suburbs.
I
have to believe that such defeats are temporary. In the long run education will win. For one thing time in language-sharp
courses makes you better at ridicule, that great anglophonic alternative to political
violence. Makes you appreciate it,
at least, and enjoy programs like The Daily Show. As long as Jon Stewart and his like have large audiences I
don't think we'll have to worry, not for long, about Donald Trump and his
like. The English majors in the
suburbs, in America, will eventually take him down.
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