Society | Ignorance | Trump
Our American Cult of ‘Defiant Ignorance’
Arrogance, ignorance, and (White) entitlement have come to define our American experience
This morning I had a dental appointment, and while there I decided to conduct a little social ‘experiment.’
Once my deep cleaning was complete, I told my hygienist — we’ll call her Mary — that I was doing an informal survey of people I knew or ran into around town. Then I asked Mary how she felt about the possible outcomes of our upcoming presidential election, on a scale of 1–10, with 1 being ‘not concerned at all,’ and 10 being ‘extremely worried.’
As I recall, I never did get an actual number from her — but she did share her thoughts and feelings. Mary was emphatic that “if one result happens, everything will be fine, but if the other result happens, there will be a massive uprising.”
I wasn’t about to make assumptions, or let that vagueness pass, so I pressed her a bit. I asked, “Do you mean that if Trump wins, things will remain relatively peaceful, but if Biden wins, many Trump supporters won’t accept this result — and will rise up and get violent?”
She nodded yes, paused, and then asked a simple question that jolted me — and shook me to the core…
