The Will of the People

The people have no will. A referendum is a game of dice that has hardly any more moral power than any other arbitrary political event. But people like being flattered and they want their opinion to be taken seriously even when they have no opinion at all.

The Brexit vote was a close call decided by a multitude of intricate factors influencing the uncertain voter up to the last moment. The Trump vote was a circus luring the unsuspecting electorate by flashes of deceiving colors leading to an unpredicted outcome.

Actually all elections are essentially like that, but the two examples from this year stand out as particularly scary balancing acts on the edge with a subsequent frightening fall. Few of those who tipped the scale knew what they were doing, but the result was as bombastic as if it had been expressed with the utmost conviction. It is treated as the will of the people, grandiose and sovereign, but the people didn’t will anything.

The will of the people, if there is such a thing, cannot be the sum of all individual wills for they are not equally strong. Some are sure what they want, but many are led to their decision by random circumstances being uncertain about what to choose until they do it.

The indecisiveness of the people is well known, but the fictitious will is still taken dreadfully seriously. The people are so respected that they are granted what they don’t want.