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In 1829, German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of the most influential figures in Western literature, wrote in his novel Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years, “But, as a rule, a man's knowledge, of whatever kind it may be, determines what he shall do and what he shall leave undone, and so it is that there is no more terrible sight than ignorance in action.”
What a great quote! “There is no more terrible sight than ignorance in action.” Two centuries later, “ignorance in action” describes a troubling feature of the American political landscape and raises an uncomfortable question about our so-called democracy: What happens when voters, who have the power to shape the nation's future, lack a clear understanding of the policies they say they support?
I'm reluctant to call the 2026 midterm elections “close to an extinction-level event,” as Ron DeSantis did. Democrats lost 72 seats in the House and 7 in the Senate in the 1938 midterms. They lost 64 House seats and 6 Senate seats in 2010. Harry Truman’s Democrats lost 56 House seats and 12 Senate seats in the 1946 midterms. The Democrat Party is still alive and kicking. Republicans didn't do that bad, but it certainly wasn't a good showing in 2026. Democrats flipped Senate seats in Texas and Kansas; Illinois got even bluer, and the Mississippi Senate race seems likely to go to the Dems. The party in power usually faces an uphill battle in the midterms, but the Iran war appears to have exacerbated the trend.
Still, the results raise a question that goes beyond which party won or lost. Do voters actually understand what they're voting for?
Americans seem staunchly certain about what they want from their government. They say they want lower taxes, less debt, affordable healthcare, economic prosperity, and government programs that help the less fortunate. Fair enough. Who wouldn't? The trouble begins when voters demand these things without considering what they cost, how they work, or whether their expectations can realistically coexist. Wanting something is easy. Understanding what it takes to achieve it is another thing.
Last year, an AP-NORC poll highlighted the American electorate's contradictory demands and beliefs. Most voters believe the federal government spends too much money. Yet they think the federal government spends too little on the areas where it spends the most (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, and welfare programs). Conversely, voters believe the country spends too much on foreign aid (most notably Israel), even though foreign aid amounts to less than 1% of federal spending in fiscal year 2025.
Immigration offers another example. Right-wing voters overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump’s promises to secure the border, enforce basic immigration laws, and protect national sovereignty. America has every right to determine who enters our borders and who doesn’t. However, immediate mass deportations have immediate economic consequences. When Trump and ICE Director Tom Homan fulfilled their promise, right-wingers then complained about rising prices, which is a direct result of mass deportations. Deportations should be a long-term and gradual process. Republican voters did not understand that. That does not mean we should abandon immigration enforcement. It means MAGA should be honest and willing to accept trade-offs.
Democrat voters are especially guilty of political ignorance. For decades, liberal voters have complained about healthcare. Activists call for sweeping healthcare reform. Universal healthcare, Medicare-for-all, etc., etc. They say everybody has a right to healthcare. Fine, but what are the trade-offs? Many do not understand that broad healthcare reforms significantly raise taxes and wait times to see a doctor. Even fewer Democrat voters realize that their party has been in control of healthcare for the better part of a century. From FDR’s New Deal to Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society initiatives to ObamaCare, Democrats have dominated American healthcare.
So, why the political ignorance? Why do so many voters not understand the costs, compromises, and political maneuvering it takes to make their desired policies a reality?
Some political scientists will point to rational ignorance, when the cost of educating oneself on an issue outweighs the benefit. Others point to the political machine itself, which incentivizes and rewards ignorance. Some say the news media needs to be held accountable for its partisanship and the education system needs to get better.
This raises another question: Can we educate our way out of political ignorance, or does our political apparatus make ignorance inevitable?
We can only force education on the public so much. At a certain point, people have to seek knowledge on their own. After high school, people are free to be as dumb as they want to. To have freedom, we must tolerate freedumb.
Our system of government does incentivize ignorance. Here’s an example. In 2014, Jon Gruber, one of the architects behind Obamacare, spoke on a panel about how Obamacare passed. “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass.”
“If CBO [Congressional Budget Office] scored the [individual] mandate as taxes, the bill dies.”
He added, “If you had a law that made it explicit that healthy people are going to pay in and sick people are going to get subsidies, it would not have passed.”
“Stupidity of the American voter.” Imagine that—an honest politician. He wasn’t just talking about Democrat voters, either. Republicans in 2006 overwhelmingly supported RomneyCare, which was the blueprint for ObamaCare. Republican voters supported a socialist healthcare plan endorsed by a Republican, but not a Democrat.
Ignorance in action.
Now, ignorance doesn’t necessarily mean stupidity. Ignorance can be the gateway to stupidity. You can only blame ignorance for so long.
None of this means voters should be experts on every single issue before entering a voting booth. But we should have guiding principles that shape how we see the world and how we vote. We should have a sense of personal responsibility and intellectual humility. We should have, at best, an appreciation for or, at worst, an understanding of the consequences of our political actions. Before we throw our support behind any piece of legislation or policy promise, we need to ask ourselves a few questions: What will it cost? Who pays for it? What happens if it fails? Would I support it if the opposing party proposed it?
Goethe’s warning remains accurate two hundred years later. Ignorance itself is unavoidable. Nobody understands everything. The danger is when ignorance becomes certainty, and certainty becomes action. We’ve convinced ourselves that we know the answers and we barely understand the questions, or don’t even bother to ask the right ones.
Political ignorance could have the pendulum of power swing back and forth for decades to come.
Written by Vincent Williams
He is a former Music Director at Windy City Underground radio, an on-air talent at Logik Radio and a board operator, sound engineer and videographer. Writing has always been an integral part of Vincent's life. He is a born-again Christian, a lifelong Chicagoland resident, a zodiac Cancer and a lover of anything mint-flavored.
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The party in power usually faces an uphill battle in the midterms, but the Iran war appears to have exacerbated the trend.
Still, the results raise a question that goes beyond which party won or lost. Do voters actually understand what they're voting for?