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I have been mulling this "Stupid-Americans" post over for a few days now.

reddit.com/r/thebulwark/commen…

And, look, I get it, "stupid" is reductive, offensive, rude, potentially de-humanizing. But, also, we need to face reality. Some people, like Trump, are deeply.... stupid?!

Modern Nazi types do exist. Wishing some of our opponents are not evil is actually a really bad strategy for any democracy. (consider the Nazi bar analogy.) Is pretending the there aren't "stupid" people also?

headline screenshot from Megan McArdle opinion article "The Missing context from the Elon Must salute: We can't have a functioning democracy if we think our opponents are evil" from Jan 21 2025
in reply to Aaron In Minnesota

Aaron In Minnesota
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Aaron In Minnesota
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And while I am open to a better label, I have struggled to find one. Both "stupid" and "nazi" have baggage, but also a broad social recognition that connects enough to the underlying ... whatever, that, imperfect as they may be, still work
in reply to Aaron In Minnesota

Aaron In Minnesota
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Aaron In Minnesota
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One extra connection I would like to offer here. plenty of people have lamented the 'stupid' figures of Homer Simpson, Al Bundy, or name your stereotypical sitcom husband, but I think one of the powerful things the show "Kevin can F**k Himself" highlighted was the other-world-ness that stupid people can seem to exist in. That show also powerfully depicts the depression and gas-lighting those who have to inhabit reality with such people have to deal with.
in reply to Aaron In Minnesota

Aaron In Minnesota
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Aaron In Minnesota
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during the 2024 campaign I think Tim Walz started to put his finger on things with the "weird" label, yeah, I know, 'stupid' or 'deplorables' probably don't poll well, there was even plenty of push-back on the term weird!

But weird is pretty benign, connotations of inexplicable - less of a category than a label of an inability to categorize. I think the reason it had power at all was because it was sort of a politically coded word to mean 'stupid'

in reply to Aaron In Minnesota

Aaron In Minnesota
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Aaron In Minnesota
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The last bastions of civility crowd may clutch pearls, but a commenter on the thread makes a solid point, "Civil discourse is predicated on the assumption your opponent doesn't *value* stupidity." Well, some people sure seem to, right?! out of willful ignorance, gleeful belligerence, or merely clinging for dear life to a pet conspiracy theory because of some special trauma, who can say.

A belief that getting the right information to them would matter may just be casting pearls to swine.

in reply to Aaron In Minnesota

Aaron In Minnesota
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Aaron In Minnesota
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Worth highlighting that certain podcast bros like Rogan will self label *themselves* as "Idiot". You could pick this apart and psychoanalyze it. Such labeling is not as simple as it might appear, but clearly they "value their 'stupidity'" at least insomuch as it connects them with a very specific audience
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