COLUMN: Conservatives are waging war against intellectualism
It doesn’t matter if you look at congressional budget cuts for higher education funding, Rush Limbaugh ranting daily about the horrible liberal effects of universities or our own conservative students ridiculing the English department because literature is just too damn liberal, conservatives despise intellectualism.
In an interview at the Democratic convention, Bill Clinton said, “Democrats do better when people think.” This piece of knowledge has not escaped Republican strategists in their quest to gain control and power. Republicans have declared war against intellectualism and their weapons of choice are fear, God and slander.
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, allowed the Republicans to capitalize on Americans’ fears of terrorism. Because of fear, Americans blindly followed anti-intellectuals into an unjust, unfounded war, were stripped of our civil rights to privacy and none of these things have gotten us any closer to capturing public enemy No. 1, Osama bin Laden. The most fascinating example of the conservatives’ rule by fear is the Tom Ridge-inspired color chart that flashes constant warnings of yellow, orange and red (never blue or green) as a constant reminder that something terrible is just on the horizon. I wish I could say that this warning system was not a political tool, however I can’t help but notice that the terror treat advisory has not moved at all since the election. Republicans have used similar tactics in order to get Americans believing Social Security and tort reforms are crisis issues. Fear is a powerful tool that hinders people’s ability to think critically and make rational decisions for their best interest.
“Who would Jesus vote for?” This seems to be at the forefront of conservative talking points. While Republicans boast a religious base and claim their policies are steeped in moral values, the only two moral values conservatives seem to legislate are the systematic demonization of homosexuality and abortion. The constant use of homosexuality and abortion as key issues stirs up many emotions that are used as decoys that detract Americans from critically assessing otherwise unchristian policies. As long as abortion and gays are under control, poor people can starve and our government can kill innocents.
The results of the conservative anti-intellectual agenda will have detrimental effects on our society. For example, the invocation of God has allowed conservatives to rail against stem-cell research. As a result, this beneficial research will be outsourced to other developed countries and the findings will be sold back to Americans at extremely high costs.
In order to make the political discourse become void of intellectual premise, conservatives have decided to frame intellectuals and higher learning as the enemy of the “common man.” Meanwhile, Bush, with his inability to pronounce words correctly and his intellectual blunders that are commonplace in his public discourse, made him a “man of the people.” During the election, John Kerry was constantly viewed from those on the right as an elitist. Conservatives used John Kerry’s intellect in order to assassinate John Kerry’s character. Conservatives like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have discouraged their listeners to read newspapers or get their news from any other sources than Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. The right perpetuates a myth that education automatically makes a person disingenuous or detached, which in turn has a chilling effect for the American public to want to pursue knowledge. Even President George W. Bush has been acclimated to rejecting an intellectual curiosity, in a 2004 interview with Sean Hannity, the president said that he refuses to read newspapers and would rather have his staff sanitize the current events for him. “The best way to get the news,” he explained, “is from objective sources. And the most objective sources I have are people on my staff who tell me what’s happening in the world.” Perhaps the president should look up the word “objective.”
It is imperative that Americans are encouraged to think. Conservative pundits as well as students don’t want liberal ideals to be discussed on our college campuses. A well-rounded education should include both conservative and liberal thinking. An English or sociology professor should not be forced to teach strict conservative values, much like an economics professor should not be forced to teach the ideals of Karl Marx. If we as students, the thinkers of America, allow conservatives to win their war against intellectualism, America will become poorer, less innovative and less productive because of it.
Cy Martz is a senior majoring in public relations. Comments can be sent to cmartz@cc.usu.edu.