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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOne Reason behind Trump's Election (David Brooks column)
Simple answer: people are just dumber than they used to be.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/opinion/education-smart-thinking-reading-tariffs.html

Johonny
(23,355 posts)We are 4 decades into RW world and the people that started it are now alarmed by it as that world has gained a life of its own they no longer control.
LOL David, you "educated" people bigly to be primed for a dolt like Trump.
Paladin
(30,148 posts)As if we need any further proof that people are dumber than they used to be, after this last election. An election in which Brooks, the NY Times, and the rest of this country's mainstream media did their utmost to facilitate trump's return to the White House.
Unforgivable.
sop
(13,735 posts)"Ive covered a lot of policies over the decades, some of which I supported and some of which I opposed. But I have never seen a policy as stupid as this one. It is based on false assumptions. It rests on no coherent argument in its favor. It relies on no empirical evidence. It has almost no experts on its side from left, right or center. It is jumble-headedness exemplified. Trump himself personifies stupiditys essential feature self-satisfaction, an inability to recognize the flaws in your thinking."
Solomon
(12,536 posts)looks for reasons other than the real one, racism. Americans have always had a dumb, anti-intellectual streak. They're not dumber. They're more afraid of becoming a minority.
synni
(292 posts)This isn't about racism, it's about fascism.
Solomon
(12,536 posts)republican doesn't absolve a person of racism. Try and learn what racism is and how it works.
Everyday there's a new thread about how it's everything but racism. Ask yourself why fascism is so acceptable now.
misanthrope
(8,669 posts)Racism can be subtle and complex.
Blues Heron
(6,757 posts)Brooks has gotten a lot stupider over the years though.
PJMcK
(23,478 posts)When some says that Trump tells it like it is, I immediately know who that person is and that they lack critical thinking skills.
leftstreet
(36,716 posts)These fucking moron columnists know better than this
6+ million reliably Democratic voters who showed up for Biden, DIDN'T show up for Harris
Why isn't he ranting about how dumb THEY are?