Presumptive Idiots
'It is now aggressively assumed that everyone’s an idiot. To such an extent as would have been unimaginable to the generation of Americans who grew up before stupid-proofing became a kind of fetish, when it was assumed that people who did stupid things would learn not to do them – in the way that a small child learns not to touch the hot stove. It’s actually rather surprising that kitchen stoves don’t have some kind of protective rail around their upper perimeter, to prevent children from learning a valuable lesson.
Learning from such lessons is how you raise up not-stupid people.'
