People
Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.
— George Burns
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The remark can sound like praise for ordinary workers, but it also teases confidence about politics. People outside government are imagined to have all the answers. The joke leaves us questioning whether that claimed expertise would survive actually having to run the country.
Context reviewed