Ignorance Leads to Authoritarianism

An Outline of the Problem

1. The more educated a person is, the more likely they are to be a Democrat.

According to the Pew Research Center in 1994 of those Americans who identified with the Republican party or leaned Republican, 54% had a four year college education compared to 39% of those who identified with the Democratic party or leaned Democratic. In 2018 those numbers were exactly reversed with 54% of Democratic leaners had a college education compared to 39% of Republican leaners. In 1994 those voters with post-graduate experience was split evenly between Republicans and Democrats. In 2018 63% of Democrats have postgraduate experience compared to 31% of Republicans. This does not mean that Democrats became more educated. This means that those people who became educated became Democrats. 

As people become more educated they become more Democratic because the facts support the liberal view. World history, economics, political science, law, government, medicine, all things learned in college and graduate school point in the same direction and reach the same conclusions. We must take care of our neighbors because not everybody can take good care of themselves, frequently due to poor family background, genetic factors, mental illness, poor school performance, etc. These folks need help in the form of a safety net. We must communicate in a civil fashion with the rest of the world if we are to remain at peace. We must be strong in order to defend ourselves. Everyone deserves healthcare because it is not a marketable quantity like shoes or railroad ties. Everyone, regardless of gender, color, or sexual preference deserves to be treated with respect. We need the rule of law. We need to have separation of church and state: non-secular governments do not work. History and graveyards have shown us that.

2. Rational arguments rely on facts.

3. Educated people have more facts and information.

It is not often you find people without a college education performing heart surgery or running large multinational businesses. Information allows us to solve problems. Information is powerful and those with more of it, are more powerful.

4. Therefore, educated people win arguments and debates more often.

5. When a person can't win an argument using facts, they appeal to authority figures such as God, Ann Rand, and Hayek to support their point of views: " ...but God says...." because you can't argue with God, or a dead person.

This is what someone does when they can't win an argument with clear thinking and information. God is not a fact, nor is the bible. If God was real and all knowing, Moses would have had a cell phone to help organize his people. A person might quote Hayek's opinion during a debate because sometimes his ideas were based on facts but then the facts must be presented as support for one's position, not just Hayek's interpretation.

7. Relying on authorities rather than reason is the beginning of authoritarianism.

8. Republican must invoke authoritarianism to keep them in power since the facts don't support their ideologically based opinions.

This means subverting the rule of law. The Republicans are heading rapidly in that direction. They got rid of the Senate filibuster rule in order to appoint biased judges. They are using the House Intelligence Committee to protect the presidency of Donald Trump rather than find the truth. They have used the illegal technique of gerrymandering to alter elections in their favor. This is a stab in the heart of American voting: one man - one vote. All these are examples of the Republican attempt to replace the rule of law with authoritarianism. Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's current attorney, has taken the next step when he said "Truth isn't truth." (Please read the blog Take Care entry Why Rudy Giuliani's Bar Registration Should be Revoked).

10. We must not let this happen