Happy B-Day! I hope 50 isn't getting you down too much. When I hit 50, and I'm healthy, I won't care, because it'll just be a different year with new experiences.
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' -Isaac Asimov-