Daring Fireball linked to a quaintly prehistoric photocopy of an Isaac Asimov piece written for Newsweek circa January 1980. As a frame of reference, this was a little under 11 months before Reagan was elected president.
It is biting, acerbic and works precisely as well in 2020 as it did 40 years ago. One might make a persuasive case for it being even more effective now. A quote:
We have a new buzzword, too, for anyone who admires competence, knowledge, learning and skill, and who wishes to spread it around. People like that are called “elitists.”
The sarcasm, it burns.
And the closer:
I believe that every human being with a physically normal brain can learn a great deal and be surprisingly intellectual. I believe that what we badly need is social approval of learning and social rewards for learning.
We can *all* be members of the intellectual elite and then, and only then, will a phrase like “America’s right to know” and, indeed, any true concept of democracy, have any meaning.
In 2020, nearly 74 million Americans voted for four more years of President Donald Trump.