Misreading the Public, overall, found that there are severe communication lapses between the government and the public. For example, government correctly thought that the public did not want to increase foreign aid spending, however the public truly was ignorant as to how much money was actually spent on foreign aid. Another area of misreading is casualty avoidance - government thinks that Americans have very low tolerance for loss of life in combat. This may or may not be related to the French-Algerian war, when Paris lost the will to fight but the generals on the ground did not and protested mightily when forced to withdraw.
Quote of the day: "Governments tend to bumper sticker complex ideas"
Questions:
1.) In an age of instant gratification and rapid communications, do we really want a government that is perfectly responsive to the demands and whims of the people?
2.) In regards to foreign aid, is that really a decision best made by the public?
Okay, so maybe both my questions get at a metaquestion - is "government" a dog on a leash, taken for walks by the people? Perhaps the wording is unfair, but I think my point is this: when the Ambassador (whose name I did not capture in my notes) bemoaned the invention of the telegram, which would make diplomacy all the more difficult for the speed, I do not think he was being completely irrational. Some things take time. Perhaps the delay in both time and perception between people and the government is not actually bad. Perhaps we ought to elect officials to make decisions, not obey the ones we make.
But this is neither here nor there. Speculation. I don't know.
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