How Stuff Works, Gulling the Gullible Dept., Reprise 0
Brian Greenspun, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, comments on the gulling. A snippet (caps in the original):
Eisenhower then referred the veteran to Eric Hoffer’s book, “ The True Believer.”
In it, Ike said, the “author points out that dictatorial systems make one contribution to their people which leads them to tend to support such systems — FREEDOM FROM THE NECESSITY OF INFORMING THEMSELVES AND MAKING UP THEIR OWN MINDS CONCERNING THESE TREMENDOUS COMPLEX AND DIFFICULT QUESTIONS (caps added).”
(snip)
So, as we head into the Christmas season with high hopes for more joy, not less, more freedom, not less, and a better understanding of our responsibility to keep our democracy strong and vibrant and not one given to autocratic tendencies by some of our leaders, try to remember the concerns of President Eisenhower almost 60 years ago.
Not the concern about the power of the military-industrial complex — we know he was right about that. I am talking about Ike’s fear that our democracy would and could only work if the people — that’s you and me — took the time and made the effort to inform ourselves about the issues of the day.
