Democracy and the Intelligence of Masses

As democracy is perfected, the office [of the President] represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” (H.L. Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920)

We definitely managed to achieve this amazing result, predicted by Mencken almost a hundred years ago, by electing George W. Bush - and not once, but TWICE!

The following is also often sited as said by Mencken:

Nobody’s ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

He never wrote this anywhere, his closest comment on record was:

No one in this world… has ever lost money¬†underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. (Chicago Tribune, 1926)

So, Americans shouldn’t get pissed off at him, his observation was global.

Something somehow related: In Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., created a new religion, Bokononism. Here is the Fourteenth Book of Bokonon:

Title: What Can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years?

Only verse: Nothing. 

Positive thinking, anybody?