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Ibsen and reality | 248 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
Ibsen and reality
Authored by: stegu on Wednesday, August 22 2012 @ 08:53 AM EDT
In fact, with a sensible definition of "smart"
and "dumb", most people are neither, but of
about average intelligence.

Of course, if you think like Ibsen's Dr. Stockmann
and count anyone below his relatively high level
of intelligence as "dumb", then the statement is
correct, but I would disagree with that definition.
Ibsen's play points to some very real and important
issues that democracy has to tackle, but it is a
comedy, a satire exaggerating things for the purpose
of argument, and it leads down a very dangerous path
if you start to actually think of the majority of the
population as "dumb". Oppressive rule springs from
that kind of mindset. In real life, we have yet to
spot a benevolent dictator ruling in the best interest
of the people without the people having any electoral
rights. Some may have come close, but such regimes
turn corrupt and evil quite rapidly over time.

Dumb people *are* a problem, but I would not go
as far as calling them a majority, like Stockmann
does. In my opinion, smart but evil people can be
a lot more troublesome and cause more harm.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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