Pollsters make gravy ginning up opinion surveys. More than a few cynics would say that the surveys are more artifice than art. In fact, these doubters would argue that pollsters are as much opinion makers as they are opinion takers. Surely it’s some of both, depending on their levels of ethical conduct (if you believe such a thing still exists). Pollsters churn out statistics every day but are best known for political forecasting — carving up the electorate to measure attitudes and outcomes. At any given time, on any given issue, they decide what 160 million voters believe, think and want by taking “samples.” But you’re not smart enough to decipher pollster spreadsheets much less analyze voter behavior. And because you lack the proper insight, you turn to CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc., forever grateful that these media watchdogs are on the case. Good luck with that, Matilda. Seeing the media in action is like watching a haughty Hillary Clinton lie under oath. But you can’t blame Hillary if you know she’s a liar and if she knows that you know she’s a liar. Instead, blame her believers. Insanely, they number in the tens of millions, still choosing Barabbas over Jesus, figuratively speaking. Well, nobody cares about polls and lies anyway. That’s why this editorial stalled right here. It languished on your desktop for weeks. Stuck, seemingly nowhere to go, you made a decision. Drag it to the trash and be done with it. But something happened later that night. You sat in a balcony to hear rock star clinical psychologist JP ask provocatively, “What’s the point?” Peterson wasn’t clairvoyant. He had no psychic connection to you or to mundane politics — far from it. Deep into scrupulous psychoanalytic thinking, he was wandering on stage, arms raised, fingers wiggling, consumed as always with his search for existential truth. Days later, you couldn’t shake his message and his question. It nagged. What – is – the – point? The point is — be willing to look reality in the face, for God’s sake. Yes, the point is — polling companies, ad agencies and political surveyors have no interest in you, your life, or your circumstance. You’re not even a person. You’re an entity, a demographic statistic. You have no individual identity. You are the obscure member of some group. You represent a race, a gender, an age, a neighborhood, an economic bracket. You’re nothing more than a GPS coordinate on the global grid. Polling companies aim at you on that square millimeter of earthly space. Advertising agencies create ads that aim only at your group identity. Under the circumstances, most Americans are easy pickings for the polling industry — Black Americans especially — who reside thoughtlessly in the back pocket of the Democrat Party. Short of a cult following, the Black Community happens to be the most conspicuous example of group identity and group-think — by no means the only example. But you pick on Black Americans because their identity is defined by the pigment of their skin. If you’re black, you’re a victim — underprivileged, disadvantaged, disrespected, oppressed, exploited — willfully resentful. If you’re black, your identity is embedded — confined — to your skin color — not to your mind, or your heart, or your spirit, or your sense of self. So BLM steps in and speaks for you. Famous athletes speak for you. Privileged college athletes wear BLM shirts. You have Black history month. Advertisers and corporations pander to you. So, what’s the point? The point is, almost all Americans, regardless of race — rich and poor alike — have voluntarily relinquished their individuality to group-think. Covid provides the latest proof of that assertion. Of course, not one American will admit to being a “groupie.” In fact, group identity is on the rise in America, a country conceived entirely on the presumption of individual freedom. Thankfully, there is push-back. A growing army of outspoken Black individuals have decided to get off the African treadmill and board the American Flyer. Thousands, millions, of ordinary citizens are rediscovering the American spirit that told King George where to stick his royal scepter. In that spirit — will grassroots America — one individual at a time — tell tyranny to buzz off? If not, what then is the point?

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