Blog 3847 – 06.04.2026

Fool Proof

I saw a piece yesterday that listed several reasons that some people seem to be immune to con men, propagandists, and would be messiahs and dictators. I would like to share the first two reasons.

Education was the first thing listed. People with more education seem more prone to question and not just accept things without evidence to support them. Critical thinking helps us to see-thru the lies and schemes of those who would deceive us.

Second on the list of things that help to make one “fool proof” is having friendships with people that do not think, act , and look like them. This inoculates us against the foolish notion that we are better than others or that differences make them our enemies. Setting up one group or even several groups of people to be “fall guys” is the autocrat’s trump card, pun intended.

Lincoln’s great line comes to mind, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” Education and maintaining diverse friendships both go a long way in making us “fool proof.”

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David James White