A recurring rejoinder to these alarmist observations is that precisely because confused political ideas are dangerous, voters have a strong incentive to wise up. This makes as much sense as the argument that people have a strong incentive to drive less because auto emissions are unpleasant to breathe. No one faces the choice, “Drive a lot less, or get lung cancer,” or “Rethink your economic views, or spiral down to poverty.” In both driving and democracy, negative externalities irrelevant to individual behavior add up to a large collective misfortune.
