> By your theory, the political conversation should be worst in the countries ranked most democratic, which I don't feel fits the facts as well as the opposite.

> By your theory, the political conversation should be worst in the countries ranked most democratic, which I don't feel fits the facts as well as the opposite. I didn't say the political discourse was "worse", I said it appeals to the lowest common denominator. The crowds are finicky and have a short attention span, but sometimes they may happen to be correct. And sometimes they're not.