The Mighty 4th of July: Free To Be...Stupid

America - Ya Gotta Love It!

Or Else!

One of my favorite quotes:

For a long time, when someone was called a "Philistine," it was an insult - a derogatory term for a boorish, classless, ill-educated person with no appreciation of life's finer things. The French have a different word for such a person - "American." - Kenneth C. Davis, Don't Know Much About the Bible.


We all joke about stupidity (yes, I usually equate it with George W. Bush, but who hasn't?). Stupidity is the main form of our entertainment. And it's the only way we can laugh at ourselves without being too self-conscious about it.

Stupidity is not, nor will it ever be ignorance. Ignorance is simply not knowing about something: its makeup or its circumstances are not known to us. Ignorance implies lack of education. Stupidity, on the other hand, implies either willful ignorance or doing something in spite of knowledge.

On this Fourth of July, we celebrate our freedoms - all of them. And that includes the freedom to be stupid. And boorish. And classless. And just plain dumb.

So in this post, let's celebrate our freedom to be stupid Philistines.