No wonder they appear so stupid

Because that's what they are.  From Ace: "The Unburstable Bubble of Willful Ignorance of the International Self-Purported Elites"

Quote:

After all, it's the natural duty of the simple shopkeeper to know the names of the Great Lords, but it is not the duty of the Great Lords to know the names of the shopkeepers.

But you'd better know who can chop your head off, like what happen in France circa 1789.  That attitude was not always the case in America.  ( I'm thinking of a particular example of a man who knew the names of thousands of people.)