Book Review: Just How Stupid Are We?
July 28th, 2008 | by Ken |I recently finished a book titled Just How Stupid Are We? by Rick Shenkman. The book is a very brief discussion (nine chapters in 183 pages) of what Shenkman perceives to be a principle and neglected problem of modern politics: voter idiocy. While this book could quickly get boring, Shenkman skillfully engages the reader and challenges him to re-think his own convictions about the myth of “The People.” The author doesn’t want people to just accept his work as true, he wants to use it as a springboard for a broader public debate. Although Shenkman does not hide his academic credentials he keeps the footnotes to a minimum and intentionally presents a broad argument that should be digestible by any American adult, regardless of political orientation or their ability to name the three branches of our federal government. The only point at which he departs from snappy historical anecdote and sociological survey is in the final chapter (tellingly entitled “Coda: Hope”). Anyone eager to critique Shenkman’s work or throw scorn on his methodology would probably want to start at this point. However, as much as I would disagree with Shenkman’s suggestions for solving the problem of an ill-informed electorate, it did not sour the rest of the book for me. I would even recommend this book over others that present a similar argument.
ps - for a book review that offers a very different reaction to Shenkman’s inquiries check out this one published at Salon.com
