Today, ladies and gents, we’re going to discuss stupidity, not as an insult one throws around but as a socio-political theoretical framework to explain how we got here, with Donald Trump voters ramming face-first into harsh reality checks.
In the harm others as well as themselves. That is the definition of stupidity, which is, according to Cipolla, a quality that “is not affected by time, space, race, class, or any other sociocultural or historical variable.”
At one point or another since Trump’s first election victory, “non-stupid” people have had to stumble across Cipolla’s Law #1 and #4 of stupidity, respectively: “Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation,” and “non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals.” I, for one, surely did during those ephemeral halcyon days when I believed Kamala Harris could take the presidency.
But, alas, thanks to people like Jennifer Piggott, a three-time Trump voter fired from her federal job this February, after the billionaire real-estate mogul once again ascended to the White House.
Only know you messed up when they let you go…
She voted for Trump because clearly his policies were supposed to affect other people she doesn’t know or them over there, not her. Play stupid games and win stupid prizes. SMH. pic.twitter.com/79Xoe8A95F
— Staff Sergeant Gonell, Aquilino (@SergeantAqGo) March 8, 2025
Jennifer Piggott, from West Virginia – a state where Donald Trump won with roughly 70% of the vote – is one of the over 125 employees who were let go from their positions at the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Service in Parkersburg.
According to Cipolla, she is one of those “stupid” people who cause others grievances while not benefiting themselves in the slightest. On the other hand, Trump would be considered a bandit with tremendously stupid overtones. “Bandits” also harm others, but unlike stupid people, they gain something in the process. The two fronts of the MAGA movement are stupidity and banditry, a lethal combination.
Jennifer, an objectively likeable woman even if one finds her political views distasteful, its that she and the people she converses with regularly – in other words, her political echo chamber – had no idea “this was coming.” “Nobody that I’ve talked to understood the devastation that having this istration in office would do to our lives,” she explains in the interview above.
Unfortunately, most people do not understand the grave consequences of their stupidity until Karma comes knocking on their door. That said, while one or two “I told you so’s” may be warranted, Jennifer is precisely the kind of misguided MAGA cult member who isn’t beyond saving. She is not like this TikToker, who persists in reveling in their stupidity while mocking non-stupid people:
It’s almost funny how April states that USAID money should be used on “homeless veterans” when veterans have also been fired from their federal jobs. Her snarky attitude is that of someone who hasn’t been personally affected – or has yet to realize it. But thank you, April, for at least providing us with a specimen that quintessentially exemplifies stupidity at its finest.
If I never in this life cross paths with April it’d still be too soon (I was already unfortunate enough to encounter her online), whereas, Jennifer is precisely the type of person whom we shouldn’t permanently turn our backs and shut the doors to while telling her to repent forever. She can repent, but by growing past her stupidity and working with the rest of us to mitigate the damage done as much as possible.
One thing that contributed to us getting here was polarization, enhanced by pernicious algorithms. That said, “the stupid of the society are allowed by the other to become more active and take more actions.” By allowing ourselves to be petty enough to never cross the bridge to meet people like Jennifer in the middle, we’ll never be able to turn back the clock on the errors irredeemably “stupid” people like April keep doubling down on.
Published: Mar 9, 2025 08:20 am