Political Stupidity
For lack of effective, credible criticism in the slap-happy world of the media, power does indeed tend to corrupt (as Lord John Acton noted1) because stupidity is a corruption of learning. For some reason, the power to command frequently causes a failure to learn–with power being a substitute for wisdom. Worse yet, the errors of leaders are less likely to be corrected then those made followers lower on the power-ladder, so, as often noted, failure comes from the top down. Ideally, the responsibility of those in power is to govern as reasonably as possible to the mutual advantage of all. To accomplish this end, a leader has best be well informed, heed available information, be open-minded without being empty-headed2 and judge all effects of policies objectively. However, it is unusual for someone transfixed by his own power to be open-minded enough to perceive that a pet policy is having unintended, negative effects, responsible enough to admit it and wise enough to replace it with a better one.3 The principle of cognitive dissonance applied to politics would show that there is a constant push from way below and outside the powergrid to reform the system and force those in power above to live up to the ideals they routinely espouse but rarely honor and apply. Usually, such pushes are blunted by mid-level, career-minded, promotion-seeking mismanagers.
