Ultimately, that\u2019s the lesson of the 21st Century. Stupid is easy. Stupid doesn\u2019t require you to think, or question yourself, or examine your beliefs. Stupid means that you can howl and cry crocodile tears about how \u201cwe\u201d were attacked on September 11 while turning on Washington DC as a uniform cesspool of corruption and New York City as the repository of perversion and unnatural other-ness. Stupid is what propels a reality-TV star with zero political experience and precious little to give confidence in his business acumen to the top of a major party\u2019s field of Presidental candidates. Stupid is what lets you write off decades of mounting scientific evidence for climate change as somehow irrelevant because \u201cliberal\u201d or something. Stupid is how Uber can claim it\u2019s not a car service and AirBnB can claim it\u2019s not a rental service and Y Combinator can claim that Silicon Valley isn\u2019t about credentials.<\/p>\n
Stupid breaks democracy, largely because it incentivizes one side to say (in PJ O\u2019Rourke\u2019s legendary formulation) that government doesn\u2019t work, get elected and prove it, and then get elected again because government doesn\u2019t work. \u00a0Stupid breaks democracy because stupid people think they\u2019re entitled to their own reality, and being shown something different only causes them to shove even more chips to the middle of the table. Stupid breaks democracy because people who are entitled to their own opinion decide they\u2019re entitled to their own facts. Stupid breeds racism and sexism and bigotry because stereotypes are easier than thinking.<\/p>\n
Stupid breaks society, because there\u2019s nothing stupider and easier than \u201cI got mine, fuck you.\u201d Stupid has no problem blowing through stop signs. Stupid thinks it can beat the train across the tracks. Stupid rides its bike through a crowded pedestrian tunnel under a DISMOUNT ZONE – WALK BIKE sign and then has the temerity to take offense when yelled at. Stupid doesn\u2019t read the instructions and complains to no end when doing what the instructions say not to do goes badly. Stupid glances through Facebook and YouTube for viral content and uses that to fill the news instead of bothering with boring stuff like reporting. \u00a0Stupid hears people comment on the need for focus at work, then puts seventy-five people in a giant open space without cube walls and runs a call center, then wonders why people keep ducking out somewhere else to try to get work done.<\/p>\n
Stupid always privileges itself. Stupid undermines thought. Stupid goes with its gut. Stupid thinks nothing matters more than its own feelings. Stupid isn\u2019t worried about tomorrow. Stupid knows those other<\/em> people deserved it and nothing bad or undeserved would ever<\/em> happen to me<\/em>. Stupid believes whatever makes it feel better.<\/p>\n Stupid is an infinitely renewable resource. Right up until everyone dies. And if we want to live, then stupid should hurt. Lots. Stupid should bleed. Stupid needs consequences. Sometimes, those consequences need be fatal. Because they will<\/em> be, for everyone, sooner or later, and better they should be for the stupid than for everyone else.<\/p>\n Stupid is as stupid does.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ultimately, that\u2019s the lesson of the 21st Century. Stupid is easy. Stupid doesn\u2019t require you to think, or question yourself, or examine your beliefs. Stupid means that you can howl and cry crocodile tears about how \u201cwe\u201d were attacked on September 11 while turning on Washington DC as a uniform cesspool of corruption and New … <\/p>\n