Principles and Heresies

Which Way for JFK?

One of the more galling by-products of an age of mass television democracy and the loose rhetoric spawned by its educational system is the increasing difficulty we have in judging a public man by his public words. The problem is somewhat analogous to that of a speculator operating in a market with broad public participation. He may know the economic factors involved in a given decision and be solidly prepared to make a judgment and risk his money on that judgment; but the economic factors will affect the market in the short run only as they affect popular psychology; and the judgment of the speculator therefore must be based not upon fundamental factors but upon the effect of fundamental factors on indifferently informed minds.

FS

About the Author

Frank S. Meyer

Frank S. Meyer was a senior editor of National Review.

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Which Way for JFK?

One of the more galling by-products of an age of mass television democracy and the loose rhetoric spawned by its educational system is the increasing difficulty we have in judging a public man by his public words. The problem is somewhat analogous to that of a speculator operating in a market with broad public participation. He may know the economic factors involved in a given decision and be solidly prepared to make a judgment and risk his money on that judgment; but the economic factors will affect the market in the short run only as they affect popular psychology; and the judgment of the speculator therefore must be based not upon fundamental factors but upon the effect of fundamental factors on indifferently informed minds.