That would seem like an obvious and uncontroversial statement, but all too often, when I say something like that, people act like I am a naïve child. I am told it is the agenda of the rich, the white people, the jews, the blacks, the military-industrial complex, the tech billionaires or some other behind-the-scenes “they” who control the government.

Apparently, it is never the wishes of the people that are carried out. I humbly submit that most people, when they make such an analysis, are confusing “what I want” with “what the people want”.  It’s not uncommon to hear supporting evidence like, a) “I didn’t vote for this” b) “I don’t know anybody who supports this” or c) “polls show that a majority of Americans oppose this”.

Let’s set aside c) for a minute.  It should be pretty obvious that a) does not mean that the thing is not supported by the people.  As for b), it could just mean one lives in a bubble or echo chamber.

c) is a bit more complex.  That happens too.

It so happens that the problems facing a government are in very many different dimensions.  Let’s say 15.  But if there are only 2 or 3 major parties, unless individual voters have views that coincide exactly with their party slates, invariably, the 2 parties cannot align with their own voters on all 15 topics. How do the parties choose their positions, then?  They might appeal to what the majority of Americans think.  That let’s them appeal to people currently outside their party.  Or the party might choose to push a position on an issue that aligns with the majority of voters of their own party. Or…they might even choose a position unpopular with even a majority of their own supporters, if that guarantees them the support of a small set of voters for whom the issue is very important if they can be sure that the rest can live with that.  That is, it’s not as important an issue for the others.  These are the cases where they might be accused on “pandering to the base” or “selling out” depending on whether they sided with the radicals or the moderates.

The key thing I want to note, though, is that in none of a), b) or c) do we see any of the powers mentioned in the first paragraph of this essay. Those allegations are simply an easy, intellectually lazy thing to reach for.