By John J. Duncan Jr.
Bob Harvis and I were in the same grades all the way through Chilhowee, Holston, and UT and we both grew up in Eastminster Presbyterian Church.
He has lived in the Atlanta area for most of his life and sends me text messages several times a day with quotes, columns and articles that are inspirational, political, or humorous.
One that caught my eye a few days ago was a quote from Albert Einstein. He said, “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction, the world will have a generation of idiots.”
Some people seem to think that because they are ‘computer literate’ they know everything they need to know. The fact is that some who are whizzes in operating computers are almost as dumb as dirt on everything else.
I thought of this in relation to the very hateful demonstrations and protests in many cities and the upcoming Presidential election.
Most of the young people who have taken part in the protests seem to be very angry that we have not simply turned over the country to them so that they can create some sort of socialist utopia.
They seem to think this country is a horribly racist nation run by white supremacists when actually nothing could be further from the truth.
No nation in the history of the world has done or is doing as much as this country in helping minorities. The only countries that are possibly less racist than the U.S. are countries with almost no minority population.
I realize it makes some people – especially those on the left – feel morally superior and very proud of themselves to believe that most other people are racist while they and their fellow liberals most certainly are not.
Actually, only a very tiny minority in this country support white supremacy. Look at the handful that turn out to demonstrate in favor of white nationalism while many thousands turn out for counter-protests against this almost non-existent threat.
It is hard to understand why so many people want left-wing leadership for this nation when almost every U.S. city and state, which has had liberal leadership over the last 40 or 50 years, is in such terrible financial and social trouble.
The only way I can figure it is that in Presidential years, there are usually around twice as many voters as in the off years or years with only mid-term elections.
There will be great many voting this election who are what Rush Limbaugh has referred to as low-information voters – people who know more about what is happening on American Idol or Dancing with The Stars than what is going on in regard to the major issues of the day.
We have addicted too many – especially those under 40 – to the screens. They spend their days staring at computers, I-Pads, TVs, and they almost never read a book or newspaper.
They have gone into many of our colleges and universities with very little knowledge and real-world experience and thus have been vulnerable to and at times brainwashed by left-wing professors.
Unfortunately, Einstein may have been right in predicting that our worship of technology has led to the raising of a generation of idiots.