THE KNOW-NOTHING BRIGADES

Richard Hofstadter wrote a decent book about the history of anti-intellectualism in America and from that I learned that this sort of populism has been around since the creation of the United States. What impressed me is the arrogance of the unlearned, even among devout Christians.

Mark Lilla writes in the NYRB that the Baggers have brought this movement back to life. He makes several interesting observations about their movement:

It appeals to petulant individuals convinced that they can do everything themselves if they are only left alone, and that others are conspiring to keep them from doing just that.

The new Jacobins have two classic American traits that have grown much more pronounced in recent decades: blanket distrust of institutions and an astonishing—and unwarranted—confidence in the self. They are apocalyptic pessimists about public life and childlike optimists swaddled in self-esteem when it comes to their own powers.

They want to say what they have to say without fear of contradiction, and then hear someone on television tell them they’re right.