For a long time, from the early 19th to the late 20th century, it was possible, common in fact, for the proudly ignorant American public to prosper economically. This was largely due to an industrial base whose success was made possible by the exploitation of resources in non-industrial countries whose people were also largely ignorant, but not proudly so. Those industries provided jobs for which ignorance was no impediment, much less pride.
Then that period ended. In order to prosper in the new economy, workers could not be ignorant. For the proudly ignorant, that was a devastating blow: to their prosperity, and to their pride. But because of their ignorance, they do not understand the source of their calamity. Because of their pride, they are receptive to promises to restore their prosperity without requiring them to address their ignorance. So now they have elected a president who says he will deliver employment for the proudly ignorant. He won’t. Because they are proudly ignorant they are unaware that it is no longer possible to exploit the resources of non-industrial countries. There are a lot of reasons for this of which they are ignorant. But the most important reason, the one that is thermodynamically irreversible, is that those resources no longer exist. That they are ignorant of this is a source of pride for them, but it doesn’t change the fact.
It is now necessary to be knowledgeable to prosper in the knowledge economy. The proudly ignorant are ignorant of this. In their ignorance, they cling to the hope that their prosperity can be restored without any inconvenience. The fact is, this shouldn’t be a surprise to us. This has been the American public since the Industrial Revolution. The proudly ignorant have been Us forever. That we can be surprised by their ignorance means, perhaps that we have also been ignorant, even if less proudly so.
