These guys aren’t smoking because their confidence is justified.

They are smoking for the same reason people always have, especially those with stressful jobs.

They just have a new lame excuse to cover for it.

This is less “omg these guys who work crazy hours are making something incredible”

and more “these guys who work crazy hours have made up a new justification for their age-old legal stimulant addiction”

This seems extreme. I agree with more transparency of politicians, but I don’t see our current problems as stemming directly from the fact that our military has top secret information and an intelligence service.

The conditions under which democracy works are well understood.

You need a populace educated on how the society and government works at least in its broad strokes. That education should also instill a preference for democracy and describe the pitfalls of other systems.

An independent media system to keep the voter base reasonably informed.

Systems in place to prevent corruption.

Every single one of these have been eroded over 1-2 generations by crony capitalism to enable wealth accumulation.

I would not say that democracy in the US is a reasonable example of what democracy can look like. It is what happens when democracy is being deliberately sabotaged.

And to use a ladle