The abominable preoccupation with placing the dumbest amongst us on a pedestal in order to titillate the masses and each other has got to stop. We elevate mediocrity to the front of our American culture in order for the average person to feel empowered that at least they are not as stupid as that person. The problem is that we’ve normalized the absurd, and now they are the measure of normal; they are the heroes, leaders, and mentors.

Instead of elevating those who are worthy through accomplishments and intellect, we besmirch the learned and curious by insinuating that maybe they’ve done something unfair (cheating) and used advantages (bought) to gain their positions. If these “easy” gains were available to the average person, then things would be fair or at least that’s what some want to believe.

We thrust a bizarre kind of celebrity into the limelight as it’s easier to celebrate the strange anomaly than spending effort to recognize the greatness of the average person, which is far too common. During this time of global self-isolation, we are seeing heroes in the people who have to report for work in hospitals, grocery stores, law enforcement, farms, and those people who work in factories making our food, along with the truckers who deliver it. From the gig economy, we can be thankful for those who are now delivering to-go food and groceries; imagine having to ask a politician to bring you your food.

What the impetus will be to force a wake-up to the damage we have done is an unknown, as maybe there’s no shock too big to knock us out of our obsession with stupidity. After the pandemic passes, maybe all people will want is a return to the banality they were comfortable with. But to me, it is this relegating of any intellectual rigor that has exacerbated our becoming the most infected, least prepared bunch of troglodytes to suffer from COVID-19.