When Miriam Defensor Santiago titled her 2014 book Stupid Is Forever, she was not simply trying to make people laugh. The book collected her jokes, one-liners, comebacks, and other bits of trademark Miriam humor, but the title had a sharper point.
In a 2014 statement, Miriam made a distinction that sounded very much like her: ignorance can be cured, but stupidity is forever.
Ignorance can be fixed by learning. Stupidity is different. It can have access to information and still refuse to learn. It can watch the same mistake happen ten times and confidently prepare for number eleven.
Miriam also believed humor could make serious political discussions easier to understand.
And today, the title feels strangely alive.
Look at political discussions now. People sometimes defend politicians as if they personally helped raise them. Criticism of their favorite politician becomes a personal attack. A fact that hurts their side is suddenly “fake,” while an unverified post supporting it gets treated like newly discovered scripture.
And this happens across political camps. The problem is not which color someone wears. It is what happens when loyalty becomes more important than the truth.
Political fanaticism does not require ignorance. A person can be highly educated and well-informed, yet become so attached to a political tribe that admitting, “Maybe our side is wrong,” feels like betrayal.
That may be the deeper joke behind Miriam’s title: human stupidity keeps finding new costumes.
In 2015, she released Stupid Is Forevermore, another collection of jokes, quotes, and anecdotes.
If she were still alive, there would probably be another sequel.
Stupid Is Forever More and More.
Then another:
Stupid Is Forever, Now With Wi-Fi.
At this rate, the series could become longer than the political arguments themselves.
The technology changes. The politicians change. The arguments change.
But stupid is forever.
⌨ ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ