Another State Problem

One of the problems with state-organized society is that accurate information can often be harder to find as you ascend to the top. This is because the underlings want to stay in the good graces of the “upperlings” by pandering to their preconceptions and prejudices.

To illustrate, here’s a quote from Murray Rothbard:

“Hence, for example, the phenomenon of President Nixon, thinking he knew more than anyone else about the Vietnam War and yet actually knowing less than the astute reader of the New York Times. For the CIA and other intelligence warnings of what was going on, developed by many of the lower officers, were screened out by the higher-ups, for being contrary to the President’s preferred line, i.e., that all was going well.”