Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free
NATIONAL BESTSELLERThe three Great Premises of Idiot America:· Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units· Anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough· Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is determined by how fervently they believe...
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NATIONAL BESTSELLERThe three Great Premises of Idiot America:· Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units· Anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough· Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is determined by how fervently they believe it With his trademark wit and insight, veteran journalist Charles Pierce delivers a gut-wrenching, side-splitting lament about the glorification of ignorance in the United States. Pierce asks how a country founded on intellectual curiosity has somehow deteriorated into a nation of simpletons more apt to vote for an American Idol contestant than a presidential candidate. But his thunderous denunciation is also a secret call to action, as he hopes that somehow, being intelligent will stop being a stigma, and that pinheads will once again be pitied, not celebrated. Erudite and razor-sharp, Idiot America is at once an invigorating history lesson, a cutting cultural critique, and a bullish appeal to our smarter selves.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780767926157 (0767926153)
Publish date: May 4th 2010
Publisher: Anchor
Pages no: 320
Edition language: English
This was a quick and interesting read. It was well written and well argued. It would have been better if it were more thoroughly evidenced, and hopefully the next edition will include the anti-GMO and the anti-vaccine movement on the left to demonstrate that the issues he brings up are not strictly ...
Got the message. No need to repeat it. Agreed on all points. Simply not entertained enough to continue. Dnf at 19% (kindle edition).
I've had this on my shelves for a while, but hadn't picked it up as I suspected it was more a rant than anything else. That turns out NOT to be the case. The central thesis is that how the marketplace of ideas in the US operates has fundamentally changed - and largely to the detriment of both mainst...
About halfway through this book, I thought "This is the kind of book that will never be read by the people most in need of its content."Why? Because journalist Charles Pierce is skewering America's anti-intellectuals with flawless research, brilliant examples -- and their won words. For example, w...
This book wasn't quite what I had expected. I thought I was getting a collection of biting and humorous essays on the nuttier aspects of the political and cultural right, like an Al Franken. Instead Idiot America is more of a history lesson, with forays into the fringe elements connected with 8 year...
10 years ago
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