The always sharp Arnold Kling writes here about the three major forces in American political culture: the Deceivers, the Skeptics, and the Enablers.
Among our Deceivers — Clinton, Obama, Trump. Among the Skeptics — Thomas Sowell, Robin Hanson, Bryan Caplan.
Kling devotes most of his analysis to the Enablers. He writes, “Enablers are those who help Deceivers gain power. Think of people of strong partisan faith. They think that the candidate they are voting for is not a Deceiver. They take the professed intentions of political activists at face value.”
Yes, and the media and our higher-education system are awash in Enablers. Kling continues, “The academy and the press used to be bastions of skepticism. Professors once defied the bully Joseph McCarthy. Now, left-wing McCarthyism rules the campus. The press used to question the official narrative coming from Lyndon Johnson or Richard Nixon. Today, those same newspapers denounce as ‘disinformation’ anyone who dares to question the official narrative of Deceivers like Dr. Fauci.”
There is a lot of money and prestige to be gained through Enabling, just as there used to be for royal courtiers.
Hat tip: Don Boudreaux.