Thomas Jefferson and some of the other founding fathers seemed to believe that an educated citizenry is a requisite for the effective execution of democratic processes.
Stupid people, especially when they believe conspiracy theories and engage in mob violence, are harmful to democratic government as the founding fathers well understood and attempted to create a republic rather than a direct democracy.
In the U.S. we have seen signs and symptoms of fascism arising, the most worrisome sign being that people no longer believe in voting as a primary component of the democratic process. The GOP has been trying to suppress the citizens' rights to vote and have adopted a belief that if their candidates don't win in an election the election process is corrupt. This places democracy in great peril of authoritarian rule.
Most people don't seem to understand the basics of the system, and truth and facts don't matter because without a basic understanding of the system, there isn't the ability to comprehend claims that the fascists are making. A good example of this just occurred in the winners across the country of GOP candidates who promote the big lie and undermine trust in the electoral process without any evidence.
Decades ago "civics" was eliminated from many states' grade school curricula and now we are seeing the consequences in a large percentage of the citizenry who are easily duped, conned, and scammed. People are not free when they are lied to and they are too ignorant to know it.
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