On Being Articulate

Recently, while walking around one of the Minneapolis lakes, I listened to a Brookings Institute podcast about the likely impact of the Brexit vote (Brexit = Britain's referendum to exit the European Union). The content was thoughtful, objective, and helpful. But what really struck me was how articulate the speaker Fiona Hill was. She didn't um and ah and speak in partial sentences. But more impressive to me was her vocabulary. She used words that I understood and have possibly used when writing, but words that would be unlikely to cross my lips when speaking. 

Fiona is a Brit. And I notice that the Brit's with posh accents (revealing their education at elite schools) tend to have a speaking vocabulary that matches my written vocabulary. The gap between how they speak and how they write seems smaller than it is for most Americans. I wonder what it is about their education that produces that result? And how much of the gap is caused by the strong anti-intellectual sentiment on our side of the pond. Have we been so discouraged beginning at a young age of appearing too intelligent that we are loathe to introduce "big words" into our spoken repertoire?

Of all the disciplines where anti-intellectualism rears its ugly head, politics has moved to the forefront. In my own lifetime, I remember my reaction to the release of the Nixon White House tapes in the early 1970's. The redacted transcripts were filled with strings of profanity. I found it more intellectually offensive than morally offensive. Couldn't these men in leadership positions in our country find more articulate ways to make their point? It showed such a lack of creativity...

And now we have a "homegrown demagogue" who has reduced his rhetoric to the least common denominator. His speeches are laced with profanity, and he often seems incapable of constructing coherent sentences. It would be funny if it weren't so disturbing. Have we stooped so low that we admire someone who would make even a 5th grade English teacher cringe? (Check out this incredible example.) I worry for my country if we've reached a point where we have so little respect for the thoughtful, articulate, and educated.