Will Wilkinson via Dynamist.com, talks about rational ignorance, and points out why it occurs. I find it alarming, however, that people choose ignorance, not because it isn't rational but because it's a violation of a sacred duty of citizenship. It's even more alarming that people want to do away with the rituals of democracy that build the sense of patriotism and duty that is so essential to a functioning democracy, such as the Pledge of Allegiance, memorizing the Gettysburg Address and the national anthem.

However hokey it is, we need those rituals and flags, so that we don't lose our government of the people, by the people and for the people" not to foreign conquerers, but to our own laziness.