If one accepts this Mencken philosophy, one must also accept that Mencken believes the majority are "downright fools and narcissistic morons." He also assumes that "plain folk" reflect such attributes.

I don't accept either of Mencken's assumptions. If i did i would/could no longer support the idea of democratically elected governments.

I believe more in the adage that "we are all ignorant, but we also all ignore different things" when we make decisions. That makes our challenge "universal education." Unfortunately educating the masses is not in the best interests of the oligarchs, and is therefore inadequately carried out in many jurisdictions.