I have been confused about the state of affairs in the west. One central confusion is why smart people believe and do obviously stupid things.
I am not talking about Trump. He is not a smart person. He is the polar opposite of the self-claimed “stable genius”. But many bureaucrats in Washington and other western capitals did come out of top universities, have stellar resumes, and seem to have above-average IQs.
Why do these people subscribe to patently stupid narratives and ideologies? Why do these seemingly intelligent people believe in fantasies like: “unprovoked Russian invasion”, the Israeli jews are the good guys and their genocide is justified, the US can win a war against China in Taiwan, the west can dominate the world like the 19th century, there is no global warming, and there is no consequence to nuclear brinksmanship.
It is one thing to manufacture consent to fool the population into supporting insane policies. The “demo” is normally low information and clueless anyway despite being bombarded by 24 hour news channels. It is another thing for the elite to drink their own kool-Aid.
Is it because these elites are so ideologically committed and rigid that they simply cannot see the delusion and derangement of these ideologies and narratives? I highly doubt that. If anything, these elites get where they are by being immoral, unethical and unprincipled. It’s hard to imagine such corrupt individuals hold anything holy and sacrosanct. They won’t flinch a bit to sell their mothers to make a buck or get ahead. If you think they have normal human qualities, you are simply projecting.
Is this because they reject rational thinking by default and appeal to the population’s worst instincts through faux popularism? There may be some of it but most narratives come from these elites and are spoon-fed to the population. Aren’t they afraid to look foolish by promoting such idiotic ideas such as there is no global warming or “if there is, it is just god is hugging the Americans closer”?
Are they so deranged to think everyone will believe some 5-foot-5 130-pound Arab bro who couldn’t fly a Cessna could somehow overpower ex-military pilots and manoeuvre a Boeing 767 jumbo jet like a top-gun ace to crash into a building at ground level without touching the lawn? It so happened that some auditors were looking for $2.3 trillion in “misplaced” Pentagon funds (disclosed the day before) at the very part of the building.
My hypothesis is the west is now in a death spiral of demeritocracy. Demeritocracy is what happens to an organization or system when normally intelligent people think, say and do patently irrational things to fit in and get ahead.
For example, in order to get into the national security arena in the west today, you have to believe and claim that Russia and China pose a threat to Europe and America regardless of facts. You have to promote the idea Russia and China are the aggressive parties when it is the US and the west that encircle them with military bases, navy armada, surveillance jets, and missile launcher. It doesn’t matter if you are looking for a job or career advancement in government departments, in think tanks, in academia or in media that is in any way related to national security. You have to embrace the narrative.
Same thing in economic arena, you have to promote the idea that China’s economic growth is over, Russia is about to collapse from the sanctions, and the inflation rate in the US is 3%. These are truisms to be trusted in the face of contradictory data and evidence. Otherwise, say goodbye to the TV panel slot, the USAID grant, a job at the IMF, etc. etc. In fact, you will be socially ostracized or even debanked for spreading disinformation and being an agent of Putin and Xi.
In order to get in the club of the elite, you have to embrace the craziest beliefs of that club. In fact, you have to be crazier than the next guy to get ahead. It’s more than go along to get along. It is a race to the bottom.
When irrationality prevails and you can only advance by being more and more delusional and stupid, you are in the blissful state of demeritocracy. And you get to be a proud member of the club that is a self-licking ice cream.