Various people have commented over the years about what they view as anti-intellectualism in America. They believe that a large number of people despise intellect and brilliant minds. Certainly, anti-intellectualism can be dangerous for any society, since progress comes from ideas put into action. There really isn’t any significant portion of American society, however, that is truly anti-intellectual, in the sense of being against people who think.

Cigarettes, Alcohol, Twinkies and Prohibition

My wife and I spent last weekend with the extended family of some dear friends, which included people from 1 to 94 years of age. It was a fun time for everyone. In the end, we noticed something significant about the gathering. Throughout the entire weekend, there wasn’t one cigarette or one alcoholic drink and everyone still had fun, lots of fun.

Horatio Alger (1832-1899) was a prolific storyteller who’s books were typically about Americans overcoming obstacles and rising from adversity. The stories were optimistic depictions of America as the land of opportunity for those who work hard and do things right. The idea of picking oneself up by the bootstraps has often been disparaged as the Horatio Alger myth, suggesting that it is impossible with the caste system and class conflict built into American society.

July Fourth is Independence Day, a celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence two and a third centuries ago. Americans are moved by stirring renditions of “Stars and Stripes Forever,” and get emotionally caught up in the excitement of the moment. But it is more important to have a thoughtful understanding of the ideas behind the songs and celebrations to carry with us the rest of the year.

Globalization is a contentious subject, with passionate partisans on both sides of the issue. Proponents talk about the benefits of a global economy while the detractors emphasize the evils of concentrated economic power in the hands of a small number of large international organizations. Both sides are correct, but they are talking about different things.

The market is a generic term used to understand how an economy works. Though the word is sometimes used to describe a particular place where people do business, in more general terms, it is just the composite of the transactions of many interacting people, often over a wide geographic area. Everything that happens in markets is the result of individual people making decisions based on their own knowledge, assumptions, and desires.

Enemies of freedom and the truth use a powerful tool try to marginalize and discredit those who oppose them. That tool is name-calling. There are things that people, in general, abhor, such as violence, hatred, murder and theft. If those negative connotations can be attached to names, and those names attached to individuals, then those individuals will be viewed in a negative way, as having those bad attributes. Words such as fundamentalist, extremist, homegrown terrorist and hate criminal come to mind.