A Little Ignorance

Ignorance is bliss.

What you don't know can't hurt you.

Out of sight, out of mind.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. (George Orwell)

These seem to be the basic tenants of the progressives.  A desire to remain ignorant pervades our lives.  Ask someone if they know how a car engine works and (assuming you have a clue) you'll might be surprised at how many people have no clue.  And it's not just cars, it's everything that people depend on for their daily lives.

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence that does knowledge.  (Charles Darwin)

This seems to be the norm in politics - although Darwin was talking about science, and I guess it still applies there too.

The main stream media seem to be complicit with this trend.  For example when news of the Benghazi attack broke, the administration came out with the most inane story about it being a reprisal to a YouTube video that had maybe a few thousand hits.  The press didn't even question this they just ran with it.  They do that a lot.  It's getting to the point where what you read is either a press release that might or might not be reworded to sound like a news story.  The other major category of news reporting seems to be omitting, modifying or creating "facts" in order to tell the story that fits with the journalists political/social beliefs - for example the initial reports on the Travon Martin shooting in Florida.  Or, sadly, it's something based on no facts what so ever. 

If you look at the things the press doesn't tell us, it's rather more significant that what they do report on.   Do you ever hear the press talking about how the Senate justifies their own entitlement programs, for example life time health care granted after only 5 years, pension and Social Security, sounds like a union job rather than public service.  - Contrary to what many believe, congress retirees don't get 100% of their salary after just 5 or 6 years, it maxes at 80% after 20 years.  On the other had they do get a much better deal than most tax payers and at the tax payers expense.  How about the real Unemployment and Under Employment numbers rather than the crap turned out by the government.  Or the current vulnerabilities in the power grid.  Fast and Furious? Obama Phones for votes? The other side of the climate debate - what debate you say? 

Have you read an 
Nope, it's all designed to keep the public fat, dumb and scared.

I think at this point the majority of people, in this country at least, actively avoid knowing how things work.  I hear all sorts of excuses, usually amounting to - it's  to complex for anyone but a specialist.  While the design of complex systems might be suited to only the experts in the field, a basic understanding how it works, and what the effects of failure mean are not.

Ignorance , the root and stem of all evil. - Plato