Damn the People: They don't know what's good for them.

Frank Furedi, a sociology professor at the University of Kent, has a longish column in Spiked on liberal disaffection for the masses:

...political elites...say that they are worried about the problem of political disengagement, but the last thing they want is a public that is genuinely happy to engage. That is why they will think twice about organising more referendums.

Jane Smiley's classic denunciation of American red state voters, un-remarked by Furedi, is a remarkable example of exactly what he is talking about. It richly deserves to be read now and then.

Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily for the lead.