CANDLELIT CHRONICLES: HISTORIC HAUNTS

Not Suffering Fools Gladly

November 29 2018 Blog City Prompt:


Prompt: "You have delighted us long enough." Mrs. Bennet said this to her daughter Mary after she sang off key while playing the piano in Pride and Prejudice By Jane Austen. When have you been delighted by people long enough?





Usually, pretty much before they start. I have never suffered fools gladly, and unfortunately in my lifetime most people I encounter (in "real" life) fall into this category. Of course, as the global population explodes, dumbing down seems inevitable. No one desires to be intellectual any more. As Richard Hofstadter wrote in his champion book, ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM IN AMERICAN LIFE (published 1963, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1964), this change in thinking is a part of American's historical fabric and is also propelled by the democratization of knowledge. He wrote this book 58 years ago. Look around you now.


"Reality" tv, rape culture, killing animals and beating humans on video and sharing it on social media. War. Faux news. Lies. Dumbness.  If you don't believe a historian (Hofstadter), try believing Ray Bradbury. FAHRENHEIT 451, 1953.