Victor Davis Hanson shows in a recent column the contempt he and other conservatives hold for average Americans.
Like many other snobs, Hanson confuses education and intelligence, denigrating actors who may not have finished college or high school because they started careers early to make money, and lauding George Bush, whose wealthy family could afford to put him through Yale and Harvard without having to work. If Hanson was intellectually honest, he might have remembered that Bill Gates — by most accounts a pretty smart guy — also dropped out of college. Benjamin Franklin’s schooling ended at 12. The woman or man who invented the wheel did so before colleges were invented. There are millions of highly intelligent people around the world who, for lack of access, lack of money, conflict, religious discrimination, etc., don’t finish college, high school, or even grade school. Hanson would like to pretend that the more degrees you have, the smarter you are. Talk about elite viewpoints.
According to the Census Bureau, in 2004 there were about 187 million Americans over the age of 25 in this country. 25 is old enough to have gone through both high school and a four-year college. 52 million of us had a bachelor’s degree (or higher). If Hanson’s standard for being able to offer anything other than a “silly rant” is a bachelor’s degree, only 28% of Americans over 25 qualify. I’m fine, I’ve got a BA, but the other 135 million or so of you will just have to keep your opinions to yourself for the duration.