We're about to tackle a heavyweight: Richard Hofstadter

We're about to tackle a heavyweight: Richard Hofstadter and his "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life." Now, back in the day, this book was like a Molotov cocktail thrown into a cocktail party. Everybody was talking about it, even if they pretended they didn't understand a word.

So, what's Hofstadter's beef? Well, he basically said that America has a serious problem with brains. Not a lack of them, mind you, but a suspicion of them. Like we're all just waiting for some egghead to come along and tell us how to run our lives.

He defined anti-intellectualism as a "resentment and suspicion of intellectual life," which is a fancy way of saying, "Smart people are ruining everything!" He made sure to distinguish it from plain old dumbness, which, let's face it, is a whole other problem.

Hofstadter said this anti-brain thing wasn't ruling the roost, but it was always lurking in the shadows. Like a bad toupee at a political rally. And he pointed out that it comes and goes in waves. Think McCarthyism, when having an opinion could get you blacklisted faster than you can say "Communist sympathizer."

Now, why do we hate the smart folks so much? Hofstadter figured it's because they're always telling us what to do, or pushing some crazy new idea. Plus, he said, we have this whole "common man" myth going on. Like anybody who wears a tweed jacket and reads a book is automatically out of touch with the real world.

He found this anti-brain stuff everywhere. In religion ("Just have faith, don't ask questions!"), in politics ("Stick to what you know, son!"), in business ("Numbers don't lie, unless I tell them to!"), and even in education ("Why learn algebra when you can learn how to fix a car?").

He also talked about how we love "practicality" so much, which is basically code for "Don't waste your time on anything that doesn't make money."

Even poor John Dewey, the patron saint of progressive education, got a beating. Hofstadter said Dewey's idea of making schools more "relevant" ended up dumbing things down for everyone. And he pointed out that our obsession with "equality" can lead us to ignore the truly gifted students, because, you know, we wouldn't want to make anyone feel bad.

So, is all this relevant today? You bet it is! Just look around. The internet is full of people who are absolutely convinced they know more than experts on everything from climate change to vaccinations. And politicians are constantly telling us they're just "regular folks," even if they went to Harvard.

Hofstadter might have been a bit of a gloomy Gus, but he put his finger on something important. America's relationship with intellect is complicated. We admire it, but we also distrust it. And until we figure out how to reconcile those two things, we're going to keep electing leaders who brag about how little they know. Now, if that's not anti-intellectual, I don't know what is. Pass the popcorn, because this is going to be a long show.