There is a large population in Ohio and Kentucky that do not at all understand that Medicare is Government health insurance. Why yes, most are fucking Boomers, how'd you guess?
I'm listening to the audio book of Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton (a book that I cannot recommend enough, btw). I'm as far as the Revolutionary War, but even then, Hamilton had an interesting perspective: he was in favor of democracy to a point, and certainly believed in citizens having more say in their government, but was also really wary of the mob. We've of course seen how elitism can be used to disenfranchise groups we don't like (especially racial minorities), but it's interesting to wonder if we're not seeing the side-effects of a greater degree of popular involvement. Trump is exactly the kind of politician that the Founders were worried about.