File 033227
Email from Robert Trivers on American Anti-intellectualism and Trump (File 033227)
Email correspondence from Robert Trivers to Jeffrey Epstein discussing American anti-intellectualism, political ignorance, and criticism of Trump administration EPA appointees from Oklahoma.
Summary
Robert Trivers sends an email to Jeffrey Epstein responding to a comment about predicting Trump's behavior. Trivers references H.L. Mencken's quote about underestimating American intelligence and Richard Hofstadter's 1964 analysis of anti-intellectualism in American political culture. He expresses concern about Trump's EPA appointees, particularly those from Oklahoma like Inhofe, characterizing them as climate change deniers and warning that ignoring climate change will only accelerate its impacts.
From: Robert TriversSent: 3/13/2017 1:36:48 PMTo: Jeffrey Epstein [jeevacation@gmail.com]Subject: US idiocyImportance: Highre your comment on predicting Trump, there is HL Mencken's famous phrase:"It is IMPOSSIBLE to underestimate the intelligence of the American people."and then from Richard Hofstadter's 1964 book on Ant-intellectualism in American Life:"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism hasbeen a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion thatdemocracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."Only thing stupefying me about Trump so far is that all his EPA appointees come from the great wasteland calledOklahoma—Inhofe et al, climate change deniers to the last, but climate change is inescapable and by going back toour old way of doing things, it will merely come all the quickerall bestHOUSE OVERSIGHT 033227