People Are Stupid

Or at least that's the thesis of The Myth of the Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan. I'd previously seen it reviewed in the Economist, but now a review is available to the masses on Opinion Journal. Oh and in response to Mr Caplan, I say: No duh. Founders created a republic, we've thrown their masterpiece out the window and replaced it with a democracy, something akin to mob rule. We're supposed to elect politicians to make decisions for us - because we should be humble enough to recognize that as a bunch of average joes, we ain't bright enough or informed enough to make big decisions. Two problems with this: we elect idiots, and we're without humility. Instead, we get things like this Iraq "debate," with the people proclaiming they want an end to the war. I'm sorry, America, I forget - where did you get your PhD in International Relations from? Harvard? Princeton? SAIS?

Yes this may be something of a morning rant.