Odd Times Call for Unconventional Wisdom

In his 1958 book, “The Affluent Society,” economist John Kenneth Galbraith assailed what he called “conventional wisdom,” his caustic term for “beliefs that are at any time assiduously, solemnly and mindlessly traded between the conventionally wise.” Today, we’re constantly bombarded by news of the latest high jinks of candidates and officeholders, and for each new political drama there’s new conventional wisdom on what it means. But what if much of it is wrong?