> Nobody really believed in Communism anymore and everyone could tell everything is getting worse. The party leaders, factory managers, and government bureaucra

> Nobody really believed in Communism anymore and everyone could tell everything is getting worse. The party leaders, factory managers, and government bureaucrats were all thieves who were telling ever more preposterous lies to the people about the state of the economy and the society. Nobody believed the lies, but they also couldn't perceive any alternative arrangement of affairs so they didn't know how to do anything except proceed as if they did believe the lies. Wow, that pretty much describes exactly what happened in this[1] article in which coastal "third way" centrist consultants to the Democratic party interview midwesterners to figure out why they voted for Trump instead of Clinton and completely omit almost everything they are told in their final report which they carefully craft to reaffirm their preconceived worldview. [1]: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/on-safari-in-trumps-america/543288/ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/on-safa...