I suspect that there has always been a large plurality of ignorant sore-heads for whom education was an imposition to get out of the way as quickly as possible so they can get on with their lives.
In the past, society let them do that. They might have gone to school for a few years, then went to work in factories, as servants, or farmhands. These folks were utterly marginalized and didn’t play much of a part in political* or cultural life, other than to show up as the butt of jokes or in crowd scenes.
Education has gotten mandatory, and arguably better, lifting these folks up. And technology has gotten better, making their voices heard. So instead of privately fuming about things that puzzle, challenge, or offend them, or maybe blathering about it in a dive bar, they can go on line and share it all with us.
*Other than to sell their votes for whoever bought them a beer or got their family a turkey, assuming they weren’t part of a minority that was not allowed to vote.
