The Imprudence of Democracy
In April, Fox News reported that President Biden’s approval rating hit its lowest level since he took office, while a YouGov poll revealed overwhelming support for his policies toward Ukraine. Yet another survey by Quinnipiac University recorded middling disapproval of Biden’s Ukraine approach, but said that the president’s overall approval rating “has been steadily inching higher” since its January low.
So much for public opinion. We witnessed the folly of heeding it during the so-called pandemic. Gallup polls recorded overwhelming support for lockdowns in 2020; two years later Johns Hopkins University researchers divulged that lockdowns inflicted “devastating” harm on the economy, society, and public health.
History teems with similar lessons. Public-approval ratings for Jesus of Nazareth were the highest they had ever been when crowds in Jerusalem hailed Him as their king, but within a week Pharisaical fact-checkers had convinced the same crowds to demand his death from a governor who had already declared Him innocent. This was group-think (i.e., democracy) at its finest.
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