Human stupidity

We have just returned from a three-week trip to Britain, and I spent an hour today catching up on the accumulated copies of The Economist that were in the mail. Unfortunately the thing that stood out most clearly in all that reading is the endemic stupidity of the human race. From the dysfunctional political systems around the world (including our own here in America to those in the European Union to those in hapless South America and African nations to Indian's, Pakistan's, China's and Russia's) to the self-defeating policies of left-wing and right-wing groups to the religious wars, humans all over the globe seem as hell-bent now on doing stupid things as they have been throughout recorded history.

There are certainty many issues on which there are legitimate differences of opinion as to causes or best solutions - I don't count those arguments as stupid.

What is truly stupid is waging wars over religious differences (eg: Shia vs Sunni, Catholic vs Protestant). What is truly stupid is waging expensive wars when it is not necessary and there is no pressing national interest at stake (eg: Afghanistan, Iraq).  What is truly stupid is launching expensive social programs, or promising expensive pensions when there is no possible way to pay for them over the long term (eg: EU welfare states, US Obamacare). What is truly stupid and self-defeating is preventing the immigration of the best and brightest from other nations (eg: US immigration policies, the immigration policies of many European nations).  What is truly stupid is ignoring or denying compelling scientific data (eg: climate change, nutrition studies).  What is truly stupid and self-defeating is allowing the systems that educate our young - the workers and leaders of tomorrow - to remain in the hands of incompetent bureaucracies (eg: most nations in the world, including especially the US).

The past three weeks of The Economist report instances of all of these stupidities, and many more, throughout the world, just in the past three weeks.  It is enough to make even an optimist despair.