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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/are-americans-really-that-dumb_n_6483401ce4b0756ff85d4dfc
Are Americans Really That Dumb?

“I don’t need to do research, only need to see the obvious.”

So wrote a friend, one of several in a group text where we banter about politics. My friend is staunchly conservative and often makes unsubstantiated assertions.
His message reminded me of a campaign button I had purchased years ago as a kid. It was the only one I ever bought. I wish I still had it, but I’ve never forgotten it. The button, brown with white letters, read, “Question Authority.”
You’ll find that phrase now on not only buttons, but T-shirts, hats and various tchotchkes. It has been attributed to everyone, from founding father Benjamin Franklin to ’60s counterculture figure Timothy Leary to Greek philosopher Socrates. You’ll even find a recent novel, “The Question Authority,” about the decadeslong impact on several female characters who were victimized by their male teacher, a sexual predator.

Regardless of the phrase’s purported origins — which remain unsubstantiated, by the way — my childhood self was a defiantly independent little SOB, and the saying resonated with me.

It has served as a kind of North Star, albeit with caveats, as I eventually amended the phrase to where it has now stood for most of my life: Trust no one. Question everyone. Including yourself. Especially yourself.