Why is it so hard to see the obvious?

It is hard to make a man understand something, if his salary depends on his not understanding it.  [==Upton Sinclair]

To see what is under one’s nose needs a constant struggle.  [==George Orwell]

Have the courage to believe what you know.  [==French movie director Yann Arthus-Bertrand]

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Ian Welsh, one of my favorite bloggers, wrote a long list of obvious things that people in authority didn’t and do not seem to see. 

Obviously Iraq did not have WMD.  Obviously neither the Iraq nor Afghan occupations would succeed. 

Obviously letting Covid rip will cause a mass disabling event which will severely damage our societies.

Obviously China does not regard the US in specific as a friend, since for 12 years the US has publicly stated, over and over again, that China is enemy #1. 

Obviously Russia would not let Sevastapol be taken away from them. 

Obviously Russia would not let Ukraine join NATO.

Obviously offshoring our industrial base to China would make them stronger and us weaker. 

Obviously immiserating our working class would make them hate the liberal order and vote against it when possible (Brexit/Trump, etc…)

Obviously China has food and energy problems and obviously having Russia as a friend helps fix those problems. 

Obviously China cannot trust the West to supply it, since the West has sanctioned China.

Obviously the West hates China’s government and wants it replaced and obviously the Chinese government doesn’t like this and prefers Russia, which does not want to overthrow their government. 

Obviously Putin must win his war, or he will lose power and be killed.

Obviously bailing out the rich in 2008 led to a sclerotic economy which cannot fix problems because central banks made a rule that incompetent rich people will be allowed to stay incompetent.

And so on, and so forth, with 39 more items.  Read the whole thing and tell me whether there is any item you would dispute.

Why is it so hard to see the obvious?