Politicians don’t persist because they’re stupid or confused. They persist because the system rewards the one thing a normal adult hates doing: admitting they screwed up. At first, sure, they get to play dumb. They get their little starter pack of excuses. “Unintended consequences.” “We didn’t anticipate.” “The data was unclear.” That’s the early stage,…
Tag: Politicians
Pretending Not To Notice
A society does not fall apart because one day everyone forgets how to behave. It falls apart because the people in charge stop caring whether things work, and start caring whether things look correct. They begin treating public life like a stage. They manage impressions, not results. They punish the people who point out the…
Grifting Elites
If you’ve ever turned on the ol’ television set, browsed through the interwebs, or chanced upon a newspaper (remember those?), you’d know that Western politics is, and I say this with the utmost respect, a bit of a circus. Now, I don’t mean the kind with fluffy cotton candy and delightful elephant tricks. No, this…