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Something that always bothered me: A few smart people and a massive amount of ignorant people has been the standard throughout most of history. It's only relatively recently that society has prioritized educating most/all of the population. So even if Idiocracy was right, wouldn't it just be a return to normal human conditions?

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The ancient societies you mentioned, were not anti-intellectual. If anything, they placed too much power in their intellectual elites e.g., monks becoming bureaucrats in Charlemagne's kingdom, scholars becoming mandarin officials in Chinese dynasties.

The US always had an anti-intellectual streak. A common quote was I'd rather be judged by a jury of averages joes than a panel of intellectuals. In 2026, the anti-intellectual and anti-science folks are in charge of US institutions.

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