Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a powerful 18th-century polemicist and a radical democrat, thought that political dispute would have no place in the ideal society. Given the right information, he believed, citizens might consult only their hearts. Arguments would only get in the way.
Political noise
Today, as our politics feels ever more factional, our debates continuous and without end, it is tempting to think as Rousseau did: that what appear as deep-rooted conflicts of interest are simply failures to see clearly what is in the common interest; that things would be much better if we could stop all this noisy misinformation, disinformation and arguing.
From this perspective, good politics is all about subtraction. We have to take away whatever is preventing us from seeing how to live in harmony: lying politicians, corrupt media, pretentious academics, divisive extremists, unruly foreigners, uneducated citizens, the European Union… and so on.
