"No one knows how to make the government directly responsible to the taxpayers, while still using taxes for the common good even when the taxpayers may not be quite on board. The conundrum frustrates virtually all modern democratic governments. The dilemma is far worse in an era of mass communication, in which the complexity of many of the problems simply exceeds the taxpayers’ individual capabilities (to say nothing of the legislators’) to make informed judgments, and the media of communication reduce all subjects to caricatures and sound bites. Informed choice then becomes a pipe dream. (Perhaps it is heresy to say that, but honesty requires that it be said.)"