Is America's Love Affair with Stupidity Finally Over?

"There was a time in this country when smart people were considered cool -- well not cool, but they did things like build ships and pyramids and they even went in the moon ... I believe that time can come again."

That's an abridged quote from Idiocracy, the 2006 scarily spot-on parody film about what life will be like on Earth in 500 years if we don't throw a Stop Stick under the tires of the dumbing-down process. Written and directed by Mike Judge ("Beavis and Butthead," "King of the Hill") in Judge's world of tomorrow, the top TV show is "Ow! My Balls!" on the Violence Channel, and the U.S. president is an ex-porn star and pro-wrestler.

Idiocracy is supposed to be a comedy, but it's hard not to get a little chill after you see it and realize that this world is closer to us than Russia is to Sarah Palin's breakfast nook. Every time an ad screams "EXTREME!", every time we glimpse the failures of abstinence-only education (like the teen pregnancy rate going up in 2006 for the first time in 15 years), every time an SUV that amounts to a panic-room-on-wheels slops its grotesque bulk into more than one parking space, every time a cadre of degreed journalists report on what Suri, Shiloh and Apple are wearing to each other's birthday parties, every time Paris Hilton is in our line of vision, we inch closer to Judge's future.

So, can we turn this short bus around? Could there be a world ahead of us where the Detroit elementary school that had to ask parents for light bulbs and toilet paper is financially sound while Ann Coulter has to sell books out of a milk crate at the local gun show? The trickle down should come soon, but for now the big signal that the era of style over substance (and not that much style) is on it's way out (probably through the "in" door) is the election of Barack Obama.

Actually, we didn't just elect Obama -- we grabbed on to him like kids who found their dad after being lost in Wal-Mart for a whole day. After eight years of snickering, stumbling Bushisms, just hearing a calm, erudite speaking voice coming from the future commander in chief is a welcomed experience, potentially leading to an improved cultural environment.

"I'm optimistic for a few reasons," says New York journalist Joe Bargmann. "We finally elected someone who can pronounce 'nuclear' correctly, stopped swallowing Wall Street's bullshit like Gummi Bears and woke up to the fact that alternative-energy sources are not only viable but essential to our future."

Indeed, never before have we been able to use the phrase "eco-friendly inaugural ball." And this year there will be two, one hosted by Al Gore. The best news is that Obama's environmental commitment seems to be more than just a show. The Washington Times offers this quote from the president-elect, which decorates those ball invitations: "There is no better potential driver that pervades all aspects of our economy than a new-energy economy ...That's going to be my No. 1 priority when I get into office," a sentiment that will probably effect the whole country's view of green industry.

And green jobs could put people to work quickly. "You can't outsource installation of a solar roof on your house to another country," Sen. Barbara Boxer said in a Reuters news story. If our leadership is as willing to plunge us into positive innovation as fast as the last one was willing to plunge us into war, our future will probably feel more vital and brighter -- and so will the citizens creating it.

A historical footnote that also offers some encouragement for optimism is a gem from Spy magazine, circa 1989. Writing about the post-Reagan era vogue for celebrities taking up social and political causes, Terry Minsky said -- in a piece called "If I Only Had a Brain":