I'm sorry that you're about "exhausted" with this topic. I assumed that since you raised it again you were still thinking it through, or at least trying to make your point more clearly.
And, if I "stretched" the Gore vote to make a point, it was only in response to your stretching that same point by using Gore and then his vote to assert that the south wasn't anti-intellectual.
I may be wrong but I think that we're missing each other because you somehow define the assertion that the south is anti-intellectual as impugning all southerners. Why else would you respond by pointing out examples of southerners who were clearly intellectual as opposed to discussing the relative views that find support there versus the prevailing views in other regions?
I, however, am now, and have consistently been, referring to the the south as being anti-intellectual relative to every other region of the country.
You seem to consider that view "prejudicial" but, of course, we all make negative judgements based on our understanding of things. Some prejudices are reasonable and rational, such as the prejudice that makes us resist convicted child molesters living near our homes or schools. Others are downright unreasonable and irrational, sometimes bordering on despicable, such as believing that a person's race or gender indicates who they are and how they'll act.
So, is there a rational basis for my view that the south is more anti-intellectual than other regions of the country?
I wonder whether a greater percentage of people living in the south:
Don't graduate high school,
Believe that Obama is a Muslim,
Believe that Iraq had WMD's and that we found them there,
Think that Harvard and Yale graduates, and others who graduate from elite schools with advanced degrees are eggeheaded elites who can't be trusted to come up with workable solutions,
Don't believe in evolution,
Think we could have won the war in Vietnam if it wasn't for the liberals,
Are racially biased,
Are gender biased,
Don't believe in global warming,
Almost across the board will not elect any candidate for public office who has not taken the anti-tax pledge,
????....the list goes on.
So yes, I think the south could be fairly categorized as anti-intellectual. Ed |
