Are we in the grip of a stupidity pandemic?

 

Decrying the rising Nazism and fascism in Europe, the philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote in a 1933 essay that force tended increasingly to “fall into the hands of those who are enemies of civilisation”.

Saying this danger was profound and terrible, he added: “The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.

“Even those of the intelligent who believe that they have a nostrum are too individualistic to combine with other intelligent men from whom they differ on minor points.

“This was not always the case. A hundred years ago the philosophical radicals formed a school of intelligent men who were just as sure of themselves as the Hitlerites are; the result was that they dominated politics and that the world advanced rapidly both in intelligence and in material well-being.”

What Russell said then is applicable today.

I look around and wonder if there are fewer people with common sense or intelligence than before. It seems to me too that this is so.

I look at the quality of our politicians and ask myself what will happen if those of lesser intelligence and abilities manage the country.

There are plenty of examples of man’s folly or obtuseness.

Here’s a simple example: We know that alcohol and cigarettes are harmful; yet, there is no shortage of smokers and alcohol drinkers.

Look at the Middle East, look at Afghanistan, look at some of the African nations. There is no end to the fighting. Year after year they kill each other in civil wars and in acts of violence against civilian populations.

And who is the winner? The death merchants – those who make and sell weapons.

Some men even rape and kill in the name of religion; and shockingly, there are those who show support for such murderers.

Look at the United States. Despite frequent incidents of gun violence, there is easy access to guns; despite opposition to, and blunders in, its forays into other nations’ internal fights, it still wants to play supercop.

Look at Malaysia. Recent issues such as that over the image and name on a whisky bottle are worrying. Timah, the Malay name for the commodity tin, after which a certain brand of local whisky was named, suddenly became Timah the woman, as in Fatimah.

The image of Captain Tristram Speedy, it was argued, could cause confusion to Muslims as he was wearing a headgear that resembles a kopiah that some Muslims wear.

What fertile imaginations!

We have a good number of politicians who have not learned or heard of the various versions of this saying: “It’s better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it.” At every sitting of Parliament, someone or other confirms our suspicions.

It’s amazing, really, that we have elected so many “outstanding” minds as our representatives. What does that say about us?

We have in our midst large groups of people who do not realise they are being used by some politicians and leaders of their own communities to stoke the fires of disunity so that they can continue to enjoy power and pelf.

When people are busy being suspicious of each other or fighting each other, such individuals or groups can drain the state’s coffers by awarding contracts and projects to their family members and friends, and escape detection.

Even if they are caught, they may save themselves or evoke sympathy by arguing, “But we are all members of the same race” or, “We are all members of the same religion”. That may result in some people overlooking the abuses or convincing themselves that it is not so bad.

We have some individuals deemed intellectuals – including a few professors – who amaze us with their jejune remarks or tortuous logic.

Government ministers and officials sometimes stun us into silence by implementing certain measures or take certain stands that reverse the advances we have made in our development as a nation and in our solidarity as Malaysians.

Which brings me to the question: Are we collectively becoming less intelligent (I’m trying to be polite here)? Has the number of the dull-witted, the naïve, the foolish, the nescient and the asinine increased – and increased exponentially – in the last few decades?
We can, of course, laugh it off or make fun of such individuals and their statements. We can even be exasperated by them.

And then we can move on to the next scintillating bit of news or remark or gossip so that we can comment and make fun of it.

But we fail to grasp the dangerous repercussions of even silly remarks and acts. They can whittle away at our rights, eat into egalitarianism, nibble at our unity and even adversely affect our way of life.

Small, inconspicuous and seemingly inconsequential actions can, over time, insidiously subvert democracy.

Consider the Timah label issue. After all the hoo-ha, the Cabinet has agreed to bar the production of goods with brand names that can “affect the sensitivities of any race or religion”.

What is the ramification of this? Someone or other is going to play judge and jury about what is right and what is wrong when it comes to naming your brand. If we have wise people doing this fine. But you and I know how many wise people we really have.

And it won’t be long before someone uses his imagination to extend this function to other areas of our life. This, in fact, is already happening.

Intelligent Malaysians should pay heed to Russell’s warning.

I’ll end with this little poem, which amused me when I first came across it decades ago:

“See the happy moron,

He doesn’t give a damn,

I wish I were a moron,

My God! perhaps I am!”

-FMT 

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.