This is one way to dumb down the population and fill them with fear. Given the current events in the UK, neither of these goals are surprising. Anti-intellectualism seems to be rising in many parts of the world and is clearly correlated with the rise of right wing authoritarianism. It makes sense as authoritarians want to keep people stupid and ignorant of what is going on by controlling them through fear. This is what happens when the culture adopts authoritarian views. The US isn't much better in this regard. One can really see the similarities between the societies when looking at their worst aspects, authoritarianism, anti-intellectualism, and fear mongering.