Every day is International Ignorance Day. It marks ignorance among the population as well as ignorance among the political, bureaucratic and media classes.

There is good reason for having a handy phrase like ‘ignorance is bliss’. Because it is. One needs the security blanket of ignorance to think and do a lot of the things that make the news.

One needs to be ignorant, for example, to take to the streets shouting and displaying slogans, ‘from the river to the sea’.