People at a republican gathering justify their thinking and opinions.

[mfcorey1]

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/e9z0ej/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-jordan-klepper-fingers-the-pulse---conspiracy-theories-thrive-at-a-donald-trump-rally

[eissa]

1. In the end

this country will not be brought down by terrorists, gays, immigrants, etc. It will die at the hands of the willfully ignorant, so proudly on display here.

[stopbush]

2. Proud of their ignorance, disdainful of anything intellectual.

[Wounded Bear]

3. Yep, pretty much...

By far, most of the real damage from 9/11 was self-inflicted.

[Egnever]

4. Yup

This country lost it's mind over 9-11 and did way more damage than the terrorists could have ever dreamed of.

[faye]

5. Willfully Ignorant ?

Willful, done with deliberate intention . I am not certain all of the ignorance is willful on the part of our fellow citizens described as willfully ignorant. The deliberate and calculated intent is that of the people in our country whose only desire is power and control. They know it is much easier to control the ignorant. So they under fund and berate education . They are still giving us bread and circuses.

[whatthehey]

6. Nah I think it's both

Many people from infancy are scornful of anything to do with education and intellectual pursuits, especially males. What's the best way to become a bullying target at a mainstream elementary school, long before any underfunded education systems have had time to have any effect? Care about reading more than sports. Excel academically. Speak correctly. The kids, not the finished products of a poor education, will be the ones who abuse and attack you. It is a cultural norm reinforced and rewarded by group norms and acceptance. Being faster, stronger, more agile than your peers is lauded and results in greater peer-group acclaim. Being more intelligent, more rational and more studious is vilified and results in group demotion and ostracism. This very much is willful, and intentional. The social norms of children do not go against the intended social norms of their culture.

Parents influence this of course, most of them products of underfunded education. However it's noteworthy that the intentional belittling of intellectual pursuits does not, for the great majority, end during the rebellious adolescent phase. Children will routinely go to huge lengths to abandon the priorities and preferences and mores of their parents, but they rarely avoid the anti-intellectualism of the majority of the older generation. The majority clearly then intentionally choose to maintain anti-intellectualism of their own volition.