Percival Everett

Because the American experiment is on the defensive

I am plenty impressed by Kamala Harris and her ideas. It is a shame that she is running against someone who makes a positive vote for her more of a negative vote against something else. The American experiment is on the defensive. Yes, we hear so many people saying that the election of Trump would be a danger to democracy. They are, of course, correct. My fear is deeper. Even if our processes and governmental structure survive, we will have been made worse by the normalizing of ignorance and selfishness. It has been frustrating to watch a media that does not call stupidity what it is or point out the self-serving actions of a past president seeking office again. We would be naive not to recognize that some people in the world are either unwilling to do the hard work of thinking through problems with an eye toward the greater good, or incapable of doing so. What is at stake in this election is our national IQ.

Percival Everett is an American writer and distinguished professor of English at USC.