Smug

I was drifting off into the land of sleepville, when a program on TV caught my ear. It was not enough to change the direction I was heading, but it was enough to get me thinking about it the next day.
They were talking about “smug politics.”  Basically it is assuming.  They were examining why there has been some unexpected results in recent times.  Brexit and the election of Donald Trump were cited as two examples.  The guy that wrote a book on it, called it something way more involved, but he said it boiled down to smugness.
He prefaced what he said, by making the comment that so often with terminology we hear something, and assume we are talking about the same thing, but often what we assume is worlds apart from what the other means by a word or phrase.  He gave the example of “working class man” (man is like mankind and includes both men and women.)  Once upon a time, working class man, referred to those that farmed the land.  Today it is those that work in call centres, and on the floor of Amazon or Kogan, and also labourers.
For those that represented them, the will of the people was paramount.  They found out what the people wanted, and represented them.  These days they tend not find out from people what their will is, and assume they know.
There has been a subtle shift from believing the masses were intelligent, to making out they are stupid.  This change has come about because people were not asked what matters, and those that represented them assumed they knew.  When the result was not as the representatives expected, they made out the people were stupid. 
No one likes to have it said or implied, they are stupid.  It seems to be human nature to do stupid things at times, but that does not mean the perpetrator is stupid.  Those of any political persuasion are capable of doing stupid things.
In the Mel Brooks movie send up of Robin Hood, someone said they had their best men on it. The camera then panned to the “best men” and they deliberately for the movie looked really really stupid.  They are probably out there, but I am yet to meet a stupid person.  Someone may lack common sense, and appear to be dense, but they generally have their own reasons for doing things.
Assuming, rather than asking, has led to unintended consequences that have potentially devastating consequences.  We are reaping what we have sown.  We sowed assumptions, and are reaping the results.  The world seems to be a more volatile place now.
Where does that leave me?  I will never like being taken for granted.  Someone who represents me, needs to know, and not assume they know.  They do not need to ask everyone, but they do need to ask enough to get a picture that is not an assumption.