Someone recently said to me, “People in ivory towers must never have heard of hard-toed shoes.” This was clearly a dig from a “working man” (really, a lifelong office jockey) who clearly has some disdain for Academia.
This is not the first time I’ve experienced this. I started college two years after my high school graduation, and was proud to wear the free “Freshman” T-shirt I was given at my first semester class registration. However, walking down the street and passing some young guys (not going to say “men”) who clearly were destined to be blue-collar—if they ever had any jobs at all—I heard them call out with great disdain: “Hey, College!”
And this anti-academic bias is everywhere these days. (I did a podcast episode on the topic, in fact: Audio Chimera Episode #26, “Stop Attacking the Ivory Tower!”) Everyday citizens are extolled for their “common sense” which supposedly gives them an edge over experts. Memes poke fun at those who do their “research” on Google and therefore know more than those with advanced degrees and years of experience. Somehow, somebody who read some random post on the internet (often a dubious place for facts) has more knowledge than a person who works in a certain field.
Beyond being merely insulting, this is harmful. People have suggested that we are moving toward the society in the movie Idiocracy, where everyone is pretty stupid. And I can’t deny that possibility.
I have seen that the current administration wants the US to continue to produce talented and smart people who will guide us into the future. But when you hobble education even down to the level of pre-school, we have already abrogated our leadership position in the world.
MUSOFYR 