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Personally, I donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t believe that Americans in general or West Virginians in particular are lacking intelligence so much as they are consistently uninformed or ill-informed.

Case in point: I went on the Twitterverse recently to post an inane comment by Gov. Jim Justice, who claimed, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIf we get rid of our personal income tax in West Virginia, weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™d be Tennessee. WeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™d be Tennessee on steroids.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

That prompted a post by West Virginia Center on Budget and PolicyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Sean OÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™Leary pointing out that Tennessee has one of the most regressive tax systems in the U.S., since it makes up for lost income tax revenue by imposing high rates on other taxes, including extremely high sales taxes.

I did some research and found that Tennessee has a 7% state sales tax, and localities may impose an additional 2.75% tax. All but three counties impose the maximum amount for a total of 9.75%. West VirginiaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s sales tax is 6%, with an additional up to 1% for localities.

So if you spend $100 in Tennessee, and youÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll end up paying $2.75 to $3.75 more in sales taxes than you would in West Virginia.

However, a Twitterer (or Xer) responded, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThe sales tax is the most fair tax. The more you spend, the more you pay.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Which is diametrically opposite of reality, since low- and middle-income households spend more of their income on taxable goods and services, and pay a disproportionate share of the income in sales taxes.

Quick illustration: LetÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s say that in a hypothetical state that, for simplicity of the math, has a 10% sales tax, you have a household with annual income of $40,000, and second household with $400,000 income.

The $40,000 household spends $25,000 a year for taxable goods and services, and thus pays $2,500 a year in sales taxes.

Meanwhile, the $400,000 household spends $100,000 a year on taxable goods and services, buying more and costlier goods than their $40,000 income neighbors.

That means they spend $10,000 a year on sales taxes, or four times as much as the lower-income household. However, that $10,000 represents only 2.5% of their total income, where the $2,500 represents 6.25% of the lower-income householdÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s total income.

Also, the lack of an income tax in our hypothetical state saves the $400,000 household far more than it pays in sales taxes, while amounting to only nominal savings for the $40,000 household.

Now, the person who posted the claim that sales taxes are the fairest form of taxation is probably not as intimately familiar with state taxes as yours truly, who has spent 30-plus years reporting on the state budget process.

He was probably just relying on assertions by politicians like Justice, who in pushing for repeal of income taxes, make such claims.

By definition, a regressive tax is any tax applied uniformly without regard to income. Also, by definition, the fairest taxes are progressive income taxes ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” the taxes that Justice and legislative leaders want to eliminate.

If JusticeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s theory that low taxes cause in-migration were true, then the largest city in America should be Vancouver, Washington. Washington state has no income tax, and Vancouver residents can make the quick drive over the Columbia River into Oregon, which has no sales tax.

If taxes were the primary factor in determining where people locate, then people should be flocking to Vancouver, which ought to have more people than Seattle.

In reality, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s only the fourth largest city in Washington.

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Of course, the prevalence of uninformed or ill-informed Americans (and West Virginians) isnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t limited to matters of finance and taxation.

We saw it play out in the Olympics, with outrage over a scene in the opening ceremonies featuring performers in drag that conservatives thought was mocking Christianity through its supposed depiction of The Last Supper.

Never mind that the scene actually depicted the Feast of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, festivity and pleasure. Given that the Olympics originated in Greece, that the opening ceremony would include a depiction of a Greek bacchanal makes much more sense than reaching the uninformed or ill-informed conclusion that it must be some sort of Biblical reference.

Likewise, the right-wingers obsessed over an obscure boxing match between women from Algeria and Italy on the assumption ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” proven wrong ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” that one of the boxers had transitioned, while ignoring gold medal achievements the very same day by Team USA members Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles. (We later learned that the whole controversy was manufactured via a disinformation campaign orchestrated by the Kremlin, so those who were outraged were suckered in by Russian propaganda.)

ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s all very weird.

It also doesnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t help that the sources of information (or disinformation) for far too many people are news and Internet silos that function to merely reinforce their partisan preconceptions, and they are rarely, if ever, exposed to objective news or differing points of view.

Perhaps thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s why West Virginians continually vote against their own best interests, enduring, for example, some of highest rate increases for electricity in the nation, the result in large part of electing legislators and a governor who enact mandates forcing utilities to use disproportionately large amounts of coal instead of cheaper natural gas or alternative energy sources.

And, while vitally needed state programs and services continue to endure spending cuts or freezes, candidates in the May GOP gubernatorial primary managed to shift the votersÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ focus to societal wedge issues such as a purported transgender threat.

As long as voters remain uninformed or ill-informed, they will continue to make bad choices at the ballot box.

One of my favorite comedy films is ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIdiocracy,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� in which the protagonist volunteers for a cryogenic hibernation experiment that goes horribly awry, resulting in his awaking after 500 years to a society that has become so dumbed-down over the generations as to be a crude, vulgar, spectacle-obsessed, barely functional dystopia. (It turns out that his 100 IQ makes him the smartest man in America, although for much of the film, his comparative intelligence serves only to make him the subject of ridicule.)

The president of United States 500 years in the future is a Hulk Hogan-esque former pro wrestler, portrayed by Terry Crews, the satire being that society has devolved to the point where even a pro wrestler could be elected president.

The irony of the real Hulk HoganÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s over-the-top T-shirt ripping, wrestling-themed appearance at the Republican National Convention was not lost on Crews, who in an interview last week commented on comparisons of MAGA politics to ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIdiocracyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�: ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI was like, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜TheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll never get that far.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ We officially have gone that far.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m sure that when Mike Judge co-wrote and directed ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIdiocracyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� in 2006, he thought it was satire, not prophesy.

To paraphrase Amy Mann: ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s not going to stop ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜til we wise up.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

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Upon hearing word that the state is spending $5.3 million on a permanent outdoor exhibit at the Capitol complex as part of the America 250 celebration (I guess theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re calling it that because nobody knows what a semiquincentennial is), a reader who, like myself, remembers the excitement surrounding the bicentennial, expressed disappointment that all or part of a $3 million legislative appropriation for America 250 celebrations around the state could end going for the exhibit.

In 2021, the Legislature passed legislation creating the state Semiquincentennial Commission, with one of its functions being the awarding of grants for local celebrations.

Although the sources of funding for the Capitol complex exhibit have not been revealed, we presume that it didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t take the full $3 million, since the commission is accepting applications for grants, albeit at a rather paltry maximum award of $5,000.

Whether a tribute to state natural resources and industry is the most appropriate theme for a commemoration of West VirginiaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s contributions to the nationÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s first 250 years is open to debate. Perhaps a celebration of state culture or prominent West Virginians throughout history would have been more appropriate.

(As with the rotunda murals, thereÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s no evidence that public input and feedback was sought from the Justice administration on the project, although it does appear to have been approved by the Capitol Building Commission, unlike the murals.)

The contract requires completion of the project by December, which according to bid documents, raised concerns from one potential bidder, who noted that would require planting project greenery in the late fall or early winter, putting the greenery at risk of not surviving the winter.

Which made me wonder, why the rush? After all, the semiquincentennial isnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t until July 4, 2026, some 18 months after the mandated project completion date.

Those of us who lived through the bicentennial recall that the events and celebrations began in earnest in the spring of 1975, and continued throughout 1976.

Then it occurred to me: As usual, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s all about Justice. The timeline assures that Justice will be able to preside over opening ceremonies for the taxpayer-funded tribute to state resources and industries (including at least two that accounted for the family fortune that Justice has managed to squander).

Then again, perhaps itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s appropriate that the Justice administration is spending $5.3 million to pay homage to those industries that have exploited the state and its people for generations.