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No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American People.
invite response
2018 Mar 12, 2:02pm 1,525 views 3 comments
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1
mell
2018 Mar 12, 2:43pm
Funny - Mencken would have no common ground with the left of today who would decry him as yet another rayscyst mysoginist blah blah. He would do just fine w/ the Trump side though, even if he doesn't embody most of their ideas. Also one cannot disregard the fact that for many this election and even some of the continued support for Trump was about the better of the only two options (or the lesser evil). There are still many in the middle, but of those many have at least temporarily taken sides for team Trump.
2
WildMind
2018 Mar 12, 3:00pm
Love this one by Mencken too:
The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.
The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.“
This obviously was quoted before the internet and broadcast television. But prescient once again.
The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.
The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.“
This obviously was quoted before the internet and broadcast television. But prescient once again.
3
MisdemeanorRebel
2018 Mar 12, 3:05pm
MisdemeanorRebel
2018 Mar 12, 3:05pm
It's good to have some curmudgeons around but the defining line of PermaBears with useful Curmudgeonly Warnings is often blurred.
One thing we know doesn't work is most of our previous Economic, Trade, and Foreign Policy still recommended by a consensus of the Boob-oisie (to use a Menckenism). It produces disasters, crises, and lower standards of living, even Lesser Lifespans, and fails to produce dividends like our previous policies. Throw it down the well.
One thing we know doesn't work is most of our previous Economic, Trade, and Foreign Policy still recommended by a consensus of the Boob-oisie (to use a Menckenism). It produces disasters, crises, and lower standards of living, even Lesser Lifespans, and fails to produce dividends like our previous policies. Throw it down the well.
“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
Over time, this longer quote came to be paraphrased and misquoted, most commonly in the form “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
In the column, Mencken continued his thoughts about the public’s choices in reading matter and politicians by adding:
“The mistake that is made always runs the other way. Because the plain people are able to speak and understand, and even, in many cases, to read and write, it is assumed that they have ideas in their heads, and an appetite for more. This assumption is a folly”
Sums up many Trump supporters... and for that matter many far left supporters. The less vocal and thoughtful observers in the middle are getting smaller by the day.