Recent Reading: Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

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Yesterday I wrapped up one of my few anticipated non-fiction reads of the year: Anti-Intellectualism in American Life by Richard Hofstadter. 

 

This book reaches back to America's foundation to trace its often hostile relationship with its own intelligentsia and the impact that's had on American society and development. This book was published the year my mom was born—1963—and was reflecting on the political attitudes of its day, yet much of it, particularly in the introductory chapters, feels like it could have been written yesterday. Plainly, America is still struggling with a recurrent animosity towards the very concept of an educated class.

 

Because it was written in 1963, parts of it are dated, in terms of attitudes and terminology. But on the whole, Hofstadter provides a thoughtful and comprehensive look at the influence of various individuals and groups, both the good and the bad (for instance, while he notes the well-documented shortcomings of Puritan society, he also notes they placed much more value on an educated populace than the Evangelical traditions which eventually overpowered them.)

 

The book is obviously well-researched, and Hofstadter does a thorough job of documenting his sources and influences, as well as recommending additional reading on a broad range of topics touched on in his own book. So much of what he establishes here makes perfect sense when looking at modern American society. He so neatly threads the needle between where we started and where we are now that at some moments, it felt like the fog was lifting on something I should have seen ages ago. 

 

While I would love to read a more modern, updated version of Hofstadter's exploration, even this dated one provides ample useful information for the current political state of the country. In short, there has always been a significant interest in this county not only in not glorifying education, but in resisting education (and Hofstadter elucidates the tension between these attitudes and the country's commitment to free childhood education when such a thing was not common).

 

It does make for heavy reading; Hofstadter's prose does not breeze by, but the points he's making feel important enough that it was more than worth it to take my time. Would not recommend reading right before bed though.

 

Highly recommend for fellow Americans and anyone seeking to understand the current climate of idiocy and rule by clowns to which we are subject. I'm not sure how we can definitively put down these attitudes of anti-intellectualism, but understanding their sources and history must be a start.