I think crowds can be "smart" when it comes to guessing the number of jellybeans in a jar or things of that nature but not when it comes to politics or even their own health, finances etc.
The problem is mainly the media reach and marketing.
Look at the diets of most people. MCD just posted 17% growth yesterday in existing store traffic. Most gullible 18-35 year olds live on fast food, fried food, ready to eat microwavable dinners etc despite it being well known that it is bad for you. The constant bombardment of commercials keep them buying though. By the time they get our age, they finally become aware and somewhat immune to the ads and start to eat healthier.
Finances, look how many start their day with a $5-6 coffee that isn't even good coffee instead of making it at home. Going upside down on car loans instead of just getting something cheap and saving for a better one later. Credit card debt, payday loans, title loans etc etc.
As for policy, the media is 99% left leaning and has changed views on issues in one generation. Name 2 TV shows that doesn't have a flaming over the top gay character. 80% of commercials have mixed race couples. TV society is very different than the real general population of the US. PBS doesn't have a nature show on that doesn't squeeze in a climate change message even if it has nothing to do with the topic being discussed.
During the burning of Portland, Seattle, the St Louis riots, etc, not once has the press questioned why they resisted arrest or fought the police. Instead they removed shows like LivePD and Cops so we could no longer see for ourselves the OBVIOUS disparity in how one group generally cooperates when arrested while the other group consistently resists arrest.
Today's media just hides any facts that don't fit their agenda.
With limited information that is biased to one side, group think can't make good decisions.
There is also the bias of emotion. Look at 9/11. We traded our rights to privacy away without a whimper. We created a multi trillion dollar additional bureaucracy to fight terrorism that doesn't do anything except complicate the sharing of information from the other bureaus that didn't share information which enabled the attacks. We're strip searching grandma while letting who knows who stream across our boarders unchecked.
Green loving, tree hugging environmentalists protest plastic straws then order ready to eat meals delivered to their doors in throw away containers.
Anti oil, pro EV morons don't think about where the lithium, cobalt, copper comes from for their batteries. Where the plastic panels on the cars come from. How much larger the power grid needs to be or how much wire it will take to run from remote location solar/wind farms just to hook in to the existing grid.
As investors, we have a better understanding of much of this. I would bet if you stopped 1000-2000 people on the street, they wouldn't have a clue. I'd wager most in Congress don't either. |
