Stupidity, a Basis for Political Power, Bonhoeffer

    Excerpts from essay below. by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

    "Upon closer observation, it becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of power in the public sphere, be it of a political or of a religious nature, infects a large part of humankind with stupidity. It would even seem that this is virtually a sociological-psychological law. The power of the one needs the stupidity of the other. "

    "The fact that the stupid person is often stubborn must not blind us to the fact that he is not independent. In conversation with him, one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with a person, but with slogans, catchwords and the like that have taken possession of him. He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being. Having thus become a mindless tool, the stupid person will also be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil. This is where the danger of diabolical misuse lurks, for it is this that can once and for all destroy human beings."

    Taken from a circular letter, addressing many topics, written to three friends and co-workers in the conspiracy against Hitler, in 1943, the tenth anniversary of Hitler’s accession to the chancellorship of Germany…

    The complete essay on stupidity and it's use and exploitation in quest for power:

    ‘Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed- in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.

    ‘If we want to know how to get the better of stupidity, we must seek to understand its nature. This much is certain, that it is in essence not an intellectual defect but a human one. There are human beings who are of remarkably agile intellect yet stupid, and others who are intellectually quite dull yet anything but stupid. We discover this to our surprise in particular situations. The impression one gains is not so much that stupidity is a congenital defect, but that, under certain circumstances, people are made stupid or that they allow this to happen to them. We note further that people who have isolated themselves from others or who live in solitude manifest this defect less frequently than individuals or groups of people inclined or condemned to sociability. And so it would seem that stupidity is perhaps less a psychological than a sociological problem. It is a particular form of the impact of historical circumstances on human beings, a psychological concomitant of certain external conditions. Upon closer observation, it becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of power in the public sphere, be it of a political or of a religious nature, infects a large part of humankind with stupidity. It would even seem that this is virtually a sociological-psychological law. The power of the one needs the stupidity of the other. The process at work here is not that particular human capacities, for instance, the intellect, suddenly atrophy or fail. Instead, it seems that under the overwhelming impact of rising power, humans are deprived of their inner independence, and, more or less consciously, give up establishing an autonomous position toward the emerging circumstances. The fact that the stupid person is often stubborn must not blind us to the fact that he is not independent. In conversation with him, one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with a person, but with slogans, catchwords and the like that have taken possession of him. He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being. Having thus become a mindless tool, the stupid person will also be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil. This is where the danger of diabolical misuse lurks, for it is this that can once and for all destroy human beings.

    ‘Yet at this very point it becomes quite clear that only an act of liberation, not instruction, can overcome stupidity. Here we must come to terms with the fact that in most cases a genuine internal liberation becomes possible only when external liberation has preceded it. Until then we must abandon all attempts to convince the stupid person. This state of affairs explains why in such circumstances our attempts to know what ‘the people’ really think are in vain and why, under these circumstances, this question is so irrelevant for the person who is thinking and acting responsibly. The word of the Bible that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom declares that the internal liberation of human beings to live the responsible life before God is the only genuine way to overcome stupidity.

    ‘But these thoughts about stupidity also offer consolation in that they utterly forbid us to consider the majority of people to be stupid in every circumstance. It really will depend on whether those in power expect more from people’s stupidity than from their inner independence and wisdom.’

    -Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from ‘After Ten Years’ in Letters and Papers from Prison.

    Pastor Bonhoeffer was executed in April, 1945 in Nazi Germany. He is memorialized as one of four "Martyrs of the 20th Century" in Westminster Abbey, London. 

    Gallery of 20th Century Martyrs at Westminster Abbey. From left, Mother Elizabeth of Russia, Martin Luther King Jr., Óscar Romero and Dietrich Bonhoeffer

    Comments

    “Are we all that stupid that we thought we were going to go do this and save the country and it was all going to be fine after?” a tearful Daniel Rodriguez asked the two FBI agents interrogating him toward the end of a multi-hour interview. 

    “We really thought that. That’s so stupid, huh?” 

    (Video Shows Alleged Insurrectionist Wondering If Capitol Rioters Were Actually Just Stupidlink)


    So if your purpose in posting this is to compare the U.S., what is your suggestion we do about the "stupid" people? I can only think of these as your possible solutions:

    1) Allow only educated elites to vote. Only a little different from the solution than what the founders thought up (they had the exact same fears): allow only property owners to vote. After all, the Greeks and Romans did it too.

    2) Get that Electoral College back working like it used to! And have them elect a lot more positions. They can correct things if too many "stupid" people vote for the wrong person.

    3) Have poll testing like they did in the Jim Crow south. Immigrants that have become recent citizens-by-choice will no doubt score very well, because they just got done passing a citizenship test which many educated elites might fail without adequate prepping.

    </sarcasm>

    I would humbly suggest: think again if you are comparing. Because it is very anti-democratic, small d.

    Unless you throw in that you are talking about reforming our public education system so that children are actually not let out until they know how to read, write and do math.


    If it's not clear to you what Bonhoeffer was saying, "this is virtually a sociological-psychological law. The power of the one needs the stupidity of the other..." and how this "law" relates to Trump's grip on the GOP Base, and the Party itself,  just move on. Keep reposting tweets of right wing talking points,  and about the woke, BLM etc 

    "We" cannot do anything about the exploitation of stupid people by Trump and the apparatchiks of the GOP Party apparatus, except oppose what the Republican Party has become.


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