Anti-intellectualism Encouraged by Information Technology

Actress Meryl Streep made an unusual speech for acceptance of Golden Globe Award, which accused United States President-elect Donald Trump of his mocking at disabled New York Times reporter, saying “Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence.” As United States or the world does, Japan still shivers with Trump Shock. Toyota and other carmakers take close look at his policy on manufacturers’ outsourcing, and the government keeps on persuading him or his staffs to maintain moderate relationship with Japan. One Japanese writer living in New Jersey contemplates that Trump Shock is based on anti-intellectualism encouraged by evolution of information technology.

In an essay for Mainichi Shimbun, Akihiko Reizei finds actual elements of Trump phenomena as negative film of highly informed society. He recognizes that the business of information technology in U.S. made independent progress through collapse of IT bubble or Lehman Shock after 1990s. “Having changed industrial structure or employment, innovation of software made American society only respecting intellectual labor,” he says. Automated production decreased employments in manufacturers or retail business. While salary in Silicon Valley rises, others in service industry suffer from low income, making social gap wider.

Reizei appeals that evolution in information changed the way of shaping public opinion. The people are more focused on internal communication with close friends through social networking services than on traditional mass media. As its result, they tend to accept biased information and false information became prevalent in their communication. “It can be said that synergistic effect existed in between negative tradition of U.S. anti-intellectualism, such as oppression on indigenous people, support for slavery, Red Scare or denial of evolutionary theory, and closed communication in SNS,” argues Reizei.

Reizei tries to explain every Trump phenomenon with those side effects of advanced information technology. “Although the concern on employment or social gap is stemming from innovation on technology,” says Reizei, “Trump attributed it to outsourcing of manufacturing, globalism or immigrants, spreading illusion that the answer is exclusion or isolation.”

Expecting Trump’s moderate action to technological innovation, Reizei recommends Japanese government to maintain progress of innovation. It would be wrong for Japanese government to make criticism on outsourcing a problem between states. He also warns Japanese nationalists not to expect American conservatism supporting regional disputes against China or South Korea.