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Notes -
Seems like part of a broader trend of contempt for the public from public officials. Maybe that's not so unusual in history throughout the ages, but I don't think it was this way 50 years ago. I know some people who work in Congressional offices, and they are full of contempt for the average American -- most of their day is spent dealing with constituents, and the constituents who write to Congress are crazier than average. Likewise, I think a lot of the growing push to censor "misinformation" on the internet is rooted in contempt for what regular people are sharing and thinking.
Yes, it seems unlikely that politicians are actually much worse than the average person. Most I’ve met are personally pretty nice people who genuinely wanted to improve their community in some way. But to be a politician is - as much as being a cop or a nurse is - to deal with the most annoying people that society has to offer, repeatedly. Sure, unlike cops it’s less commonly the actual violent criminal underclass (although it sometimes is). Instead, it’s every imaginable special interest group, especially the most annoying kind of old people, constantly complaining about everything. Even if they’re correct, they have no understanding of the institutional hurdles that prevent what they want from happening, so you have to say no constantly, and that is going to build resentment on both sides, even if the politician agrees that there’s too much bureaucracy.
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