We who forget history...

Democracies seem to consistently choose bad policies. Ever wondered why? Britain is a welfare state. The U.S. is well on the way. Don't even ask me about continental Europe. General economic theory dictates that the non-systematic error should all cancel, so why do we experience such acute issues? In other words, inept voters should all cancel each other out. But they don't. Hmmmm....

The problem, of course, is one of human nature. That, and the fact that humans tend to naturally faction. Someone once said, "Democracy endures until the majority discovers it controls the treasury of the entirety." Issues arise when people stop thinking like individuals and start thinking of themselves as "white people" or "poor people" or "feminists" and then start towing the party line. Why do the groups not cancel? People, in large groups, are dumber than sheep. An idea (government control of the economy) that wouldn't survive ten minutes in a discussion group can endure and become policy because of people's inability to think clearly and rationally in groups. In short, groups are easy to mislead.

This phenomenon was obvious in a relatively recent social event. A man managed to get elected by a large plurality, largely due to his promises of economic revival. The validity of his programs was irrelevant, what mattered was that he offered reform and many groups--if not necessarily many individuals--loved his ideas. The issues were gradually transcended by "image," largely a result of careful cultivation by those very supporting groups. So, he was elected and promptly murdered six million Jews and millions more of other minority groups. Very nice, Hitler. He was a good orator too...

Kind of makes you wonder, eh? How a population could just drop moral issues and focus exclusively on personality and a distorted view of economics? Makes you worried, no? The solution here is, as I have previously claimed, to get people to start thinking rationally and doing our own analysis instead of counting on Oprah.

By the way, if anyone did not get the culture reference, just contact me and I will hook you up with Rush Limbaugh.