Making America Smart Again Won’t Be an Easy Task

Given that 73 million voters cannot recognize a cheap conman when they see one, what’s the prognosis for making America smart and compassionate again?

Before you answer that in your head, consider that the situation is actually far worse than simply restoring a few American values that have somehow gone missing. That’s because most Trump supporters live in an alternate universe, and believe an entire network of conspiracy theories, at a minimum:

a) The election was rigged (requiring the coordination of tens of thousands of felons in several states),

b) The pandemic is either a hoax, or an effort on the part of governments around the globe to control the world population (requiring the involvement of countless millions of doctors and nurses), and

c) With the exception of the extreme right-wing news sources like Fox, and of course, Donald Trump himself, everything we see and hear on the U.S. political scene is fake.

These three beliefs are core necessities, though there are others that are “nice to have,” e.g.,

d) Trump was sent by God to Save the United States from ruin, Satan in particular,

e) Some of the world’s wealthiest people like George Soros and Bill Gates are executing a plan to take away our rights and liberties, and

f) Climate change is a hoax, and people with college educations are conspiring to reduce us to socialism.

Anyway you slice it, this is going to be a monumental undertaking.