JUST HOW STUPID ARE WE?

In contrast to The Dumbest Generation, Rick Shenkman's book focuses on the political aspects of Americans' substandard performance. But there is considerable overlap between both books, for both describe the same problem: A profound ignorance about the nation and the world, and a profound lack of interest in correcting that ignorance.

The primary difference between them is one of tone, or outlook. Shenkman is more pessimistic, and less passionate. But yet he is not hopeless, as his last chapter shows. He is encouraged by the advent of the Internet, and blogging.

The text leading up to that final chapter contains a few exaggerations and some vague terminology. For example, Shenkman uses "The People" to mean "common folks", ordinary American citizens — except when he doesn't. (The phrase appears at least 21 times.) As he explains on page 63: "Who are The People with whom the politicians are so eager to identify? I use the term in this book loosely to refer to everybody minus politicians, except when I am alluding specifically to that mythologized idea of The People. But it is the myth that most people have in mind when they use the term." He seems to use the two forms (italicized and not) interchangeably, even though his explanation suggests they are different. Also, he holds that myths are important in politics, except for the myth of "The People." At the end of the chapter he quotes several speeches where the phrase is used. Then he declares, " 'The People of America'! Well, it sounds good, even if the phrase is meaningless."

And there are a few outright misstatements. Here is perhaps the most obvious example, from pages 61-62, where he is comparing FDR's "back story" — his triumph over polio — with those of other politicians: "Most other American pols have not had nearly as good a story to tell. FDR's cousin Teddy had to make do with the tale of his triumph over childhood asthma and his ride up San Juan Hill (actually Kettle Hill). John Kennedy had to inflate the story of the sinking of his PT 109 boat (sic) in World War II. George Herbert Walker Bush was reduced to bragging that he ate pork rinds." Inflated or not, all the stories, to my mind, compare well with FDR's. And that last sentence is rather strange, for it is well known that Bush flew 58 bomber missions in the Pacific Theater during World War II and was even shot down once — a mission for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

The book is well written and competently researched overall. It has abundant endnotes and a good index. I judge it worth reading, but not "top flight" — and not a keeper.

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