No, it’s true

We really are that dumb on the whole. I think it’s one of democracy’s built-in defense mechanisms. Problematic in a crisis, but constant pulling in many directions keeps from going too far in any one direction. We dither around for a while and then we have the rise of the Great Man, who because he happens to get it right at the right time and leads with a clear voice in the midst of a crisis, looks good. And then we toss them. It’s worked for a few hundred years. But, like the Greeks and Romans, sooner or later, we’ll tear ourselves apart.