Isaac Asimov Laments the “Cult of Ignorance” in the United States (2016)
It isn&#x27;t a cult, but I agree that it looks like one.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.ca&#x2F;Unconscious-Civilization-John-Ralston-Saul&#x2F;dp&#x2F;0887847315" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.ca&#x2F;Unconscious-Civilization-John-Ralston-...</a><p>&quot;Saul engagingly explains the current woes of democracy, especially in Canada, the U.S., and Britain. He argues from history and philosophy that the democratic meaning of individualism has been obscured and the importance of economics overemphasized throughout the twentieth century. With Socrates, he maintains that in a democracy, citizenship is the incumbent duty and government the great responsibility of the individual. Minding one&#x27;s own business and getting the government off one&#x27;s back are derelictions of democracy that reflect infatuation with corporatism, the brand of utopianism exemplified by Mussolini&#x27;s fascism, with its melding of huge business interests and government to achieve the managed society. Privatization as a remedy for government inefficiency and the conception of individualism as the capacity to purchase consumer goods bespeak corporatism&#x27;s present power, for both reduce citizenship and place control with managers accountable primarily for the bottom line, not the public good. There are many more compelling--and disquieting--ideas in this exciting, though discursive, little book.&quot; Ray Olson