Recently, I watched an excellent PBS documentary about the Apollo space missions, broadcast to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing on the moon. Then, neither I nor any of my hippie peers cared much. We lived in an alternative counter-culture where wonks with crew cuts and pocket protectors were seen as laughable anachronisms. A popular poster of the time, available at any hippie head shop, showed a newspaper with a photo of Neil Armstrong standing on the lunar surface under a huge fake headline saying “SO WHAT?”
Needless to say, my views have matured over the years. Considering the primitive technology of the time — your cell phone is more sophisticated than all of NASA’s 1969 computers combined — landing men on the moon and getting them back safely was quite a feat. Those crew-cutted nerds that made such an achievement possible were, in fact, extremely bright, capable and gifted people. More importantly, they knew how to work together for a common goal.
I feel the need to honor them now. Despite the Vietnam War and the social unrest of the 1960s, during that era, science was respected. Intelligence was considered a goal worth striving for. Facts were comprehended as necessary in order to make sense of the world.
Those days are gone.
Thanks to Donald Trump and right-wing conspiracy theorists, ignorance is sexy again and those who form his cult-like base find such a trait admirable. They ignore inconvenient facts by dismissing them as “fake news” so they can remain in their secure bubble of denial. They accept Trump’s racism, pathological lying, blatant corruption and treasonous relation with Russia by double-thinking them into explanations that have no basis in reality. George Orwell would be proud.
A recent Associated Press poll found that a vast number of Americans no longer know what to believe, that they find it difficult to separate fact from fiction. The poll further noted that while Democrats are more prone to believe scientists and academics, Republicans are more likely to believe Donald Trump, who has lied and cheated his entire adult life.
This lack of faith in factual intelligence holds dire consequences for our nation. Distrust of once-respected information outlets allows for more primitive ways of thinking to become acceptable. Lack of knowledge of the United States Constitution causes the public to dismiss the actions of a president who blatantly violates it. Over a third of our population cannot name one right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. Denying climate change, despite consistent warnings from reputable scientists, is only matched by denying evolution.
Such a trend occasionally spills into our classrooms. For the past year, I have been a long-term substitute teacher in the local elementary schools here in Taos, New Mexico. Recently, I had a run-in with a fourth-grader when, in the course of a science lesson, I mentioned that the Earth was 4 billion years old. The boy interrupted me to say that according to the Bible, our planet was only 7,000 years old. Kindly, but firmly, I replied that such a belief was a creation myth. I emphasized that in my classroom, I teach scientific facts which he needed to know in order to navigate the real world as an adult. I also made it clear there would be no further debate on the matter.
In the world of astrology, there’s always talk about Mercury going retrograde, meaning moving backwards according to its appearance from Earth. Mercury in retrograde is now an accepted explanation whenever plans go awry, the computer is on the fritz or you’re just having a lousy day.
I wonder if the United States is in retrograde, moving backwards from the values that once made America great: intelligence, openness, innovation and ingenuity. We used to create things that were the envy of the world. Now we buy them from China, which has spent trillions on global infrastructure while our nation has wasted trillions on endless wars. There was a time when progressive values were admired, when American citizens shared common ideals for the good of the whole. Now, it seems that racism, an obsession with gun violence, fearful tribal clustering and the dismissing of once-accepted facts has become the norm.
The United States has had its share of upheavals in the past. I strongly believe, however, that if Donald Trump survives impeachment and is reelected, the United States as an enlightened western democracy will cease to exist and whose example will be replaced by more evolved nations.
Daniel A. Brown lived in Franklin County for 44 years and was a frequent contributor to the Recorder. He currently lives in Taos, New Mexico.