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The Dumbing Down of America [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-16
Trump won the Republican caucus in Nevada on February 24, 2016. In his victory speech, he declared, “We won with the poorly educated. I love the poorly educated.” (Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpdt7omPoa0)
In the 2016 Presidential election, Trump received 72% of the white non-college male vote and 62% of the white non-college female vote. (Source:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-educational-rift-in-the-2016-election/?) In 2024, those numbers held strong—69% and 63% respectively. (Source:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/interactive/2024/exit-polls-2024-election/) In both elections, non-college white voters formed Trump’s most reliable and powerful base.
The issue here is not intelligence—it is susceptibility—specifically, susceptibility to the tropes of right-wing populism. Trump’s appeal to non-college-educated voters is rooted in his focus on immigration, national identity, and “traditional values” over complex economic policy. That changed in 2024, when inflation forced him to make economic promises, such as lowering prices on “day one.” But those promises have gone unfulfilled.
Trump also draws power by fostering distrust of universities, government institutions, media, and experts. Many non-college voters believe these institutions are controlled by liberal elites who look down on them. Trump’s persistent attacks on these groups are perceived as acts of defiance, and his followers cheer him on—for “sticking it to the man.”
His populist messaging also includes promises to bring back jobs, impose tariffs, and rework trade deals. These pledges resonate deeply with Americans who feel politically and economically abandoned. The tragedy is that the economy Trump is building will likely leave these very supporters further behind. They are the source of his power but not the focus of his policy. That focus belongs to the oligarchs.
Trump’s strategy to “Make America Great Again” appears to hinge on reducing the nation to its lowest common denominator. He loves the poorly educated not out of compassion but because they are more likely to support him uncritically, even as he fails them. When he blames elites for his failures, many of his followers nod in agreement. The irony of it all is that the term “poorly educated” is a slur.
His recent attacks on universities illustrate this point. While protests over Gaza are complicated, targeting Jewish students is clearly wrong. But Trump has weaponized these moments, using them as a pretext to wage a broader war on academia—revoking over 600 international student visas. (Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/10/how-many-student-visas-revoked) Revoking student visas and forcing them to leave America immediately is not an end; it is a means to an end—fear, and fear can impair our higher-order thinking, making us “dumb” in response.
Dumb is not a pejorative; it is a politicallyinduced state. For decades, right-wing media personalities, from Rush Limbaugh onward, have sounded a common theme: “Be afraid, be very afraid.” And many Americans listened. Fear acts like a filter, distorting how people see the world, blinding them to nuance, and pushing them toward simplistic, tribal conclusions—this is the MAGA cult. Now, Trump is using fear in his assault on the government, institutions, culture, and more.
We are becoming dumber. This is not a judgment about intelligence; it is a cautionary tale of poor thinking. Look at what fear is doing to us. The Republican Congress is motivated by fear, fear of a primary challenge, fear of MAGA voters, and fear of Trump and Musk. In response, they have surrendered all of their Article I powers to Trump. Dumb! Prestigious law firms provided him with pro bono legal work, terrified of losing clients. That fear made them capitulate—and corrupted them. What will he demand from them next? Fear made them dumb.
Many corporations have dismantled their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in response to Trump’s demonization. These programs, done right, enhance meritocracy by making it more inclusive. Yet fear led to their abandonment. Dumb. Trump’s repayment for their obedience included tariffs, a stock market collapse, bond market sell-off, inflation, and recession.
Universities are also caving. Columbia’s response to protests showed how quickly an institution can surrender when pressured. When universities fold, Trump gains power over them. He has already targeted over 15 schools with federal investigations and funding freezes. He wants to “DeSantis” higher education—turn it into a tool of the authoritarian culture war.
But there is resistance. Harvard University President Alan M. Garber said on April 14, 2025, “The University will not surrender its independence or its constitutional rights.” (Source:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/15/us/universities-responses-investigations-funding-freeze/index.html)
Princeton’s president, Christophe rEisgruber, wrote in The Atlantic that Trump’s actions pose “the greatest threat to American universities since the Red Scare of the 1950s.” (Source: Ibid) Back then, Senator Joseph McCarthy stoked widespread paranoia, accusing government officials of communist sympathies. That fear-driven political theater became known as McCarthyism. Trump’s version—McCarthyism 2.0—might be called the Orange Scare.
Trump’s dumbing down of America is extensive. It includes all of the research being stopped in universities and the possible loss of jobs for those scientists.
The consequences of this “dumbing down” go beyond culture wars. Critical research is being halted, and highly trained scientists are being fired from institutions like NOAA, the EPA, NIH, the FDA, and the CDC. At HHS alone, tens of thousands of employees have been dismissed, gutting America’s capacity to respond to public health crises. The same is happening across agencies vital to our national security, digital infrastructure, and scientific advancement. Unfortunately, Trump’s fear crusade is far from over since he intends to control all of us. If we let him, we are dumb indeed.
America is not becoming dumb because its people lack intelligence. It is becoming dumb because fear is clouding our collective judgment. Fear of losing status, fear of the “other,” fear of retribution. This fear is weaponized—by Trump, by his allies, and by right-wing media—to suppress dissent and critical thought.
But fear can be resisted. The antidote is courage. Courage to think critically. Courage to speak truth to power. Courage to stand up—in classrooms, boardrooms, courtrooms, and voting booths.
If we allow ourselves to be ruled by fear, then yes, we are dumb indeed. But suppose we choose courage over compliance, reason over rhetoric, and democracy over demagoguery. In that case, America still has a chance—not to be made “great again” by authoritarian fiat, but to be made wise and just through the will of its people.
Let’s not be dumb. Let’s be brave.
Day 87: days left to January 20, 2029: 1,374 days
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