I is for...

Most won't know who EITHER of these people are... 

... ignorance.

If there is one thing I cannot forgive in a person, it is wilful ignorance.  I see it more and more often, in so many places.

I'm not talking about a simple lack of knowledge - hey, I don't know a lot about a lot of things, and I don't expect anyone else to know more than I do.

I'm talking about how prevalent it has become to brag about how little you know, as if that's a talent worth cultivating.

 Think I'm exaggerating?  Toronto, Canada's largest city, recently elected a new mayor.  His brother was also elected to the city council.  The council has the unwelcome task of reducing the budget, and is cutting services.  Of course, this has a lot of people up in arms, but since I don't live in Toronto, I'm not going to weigh in on who's right and who's wrong (and really, when it comes to cutting services, no one wins).

One service that is on the cutting block is the public library*

A renowned Canadian author weighed in on the proposed cuts, and this was the rebuttal from the councillor:

"Well, good luck to Margaret Atwood, I don't even know her. If she could walk by me I wouldn't even have a clue who she is," Ford told reporters on Tuesday. "But she's not down here, she's not dealing with the problems, and if she did, tell her to go run in the next election and get democratically elected and we'd be more than happy to sit down and listen to Margaret Atwood."**

Not even touching the fact he thinks no one except elected officials have a voice in Canada (!!!!!), his arrogant summation of his own damn ignorance is mind-boggling!  It's his pride in his lack of knowledge that astounds me - my jaw literally dropped when I heard that comment from him.

This is an elected official in the most populated area of the country, and his is trumpeting his ignorance for all to see - like this is a good thing.

And this isn't an isolated occurrence. 


So tell me, when did knowledge become a four letter word?



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* Not that it matters in this issue, but I am a *huge* fan of public libraries, and am amazed at the number of people who never go into one, and are completely unaware of the services they offer. 

**Councillor Redneck Ford needs to do a quick google search, and maybe he'll realize the world knows who Margaret Atwood is: "Doug Ford" gets just over 500,000 hits, while "Margaret Atwood" gets over 3.5 MILLION.


Oh, and Doug?  Picking up a book every-so often would be a good thing (and reading it too!).  Try your local library - it's amazing how helpful those librarians can be.