i live in an area where there essentially was no lockdown outside of a 2 week window and bars being closed a bit longer. and despite fairly high death tolls compared to what i expected i'd say the lockdowns didnt affect those deathtolls at all compared to what we had. so i wouldn't try to prove something i disagree with.

but that's not my point or this context at all.

And it always has been. There are three scenarios though that we need to guard against. One, "elites" posing as elites, with teacher unions as the example. Second, undermining the process of academic inquiry via group-think, with you saw during the pandemic, where qualified epidemiologists from Harvard and Yale were shouted down by the group-think of a crowd. There are good and bad experts, and we need a process to hold the good and bad accountable. Third, the institutional capture of experts, either via bureaucracy or some other form. You see this in universities today, where the actual experts are increasingly subordinate to a vast bureaucracy of HR / D&I employees that are empowered to police thought on campus. You also have to worry about less qualified experts using this bureaucracy to corrupt the process of academic inquiry. Talent is not the only way to rise up a hierarchy. And you have to worry about segregation in the workplace. Government jobs, for instance, are relatively low paid with substantial benefits. That attracts a particular type of crowd, that tends to be left-wing. We need to take those internal biases into account.