Kenneth Arrow, who won the Nobel in Economics in 1972, is best known for his work on social choice theory, specifically "Arrow's impossibility theorem".

In this theorem, Arrow proves that in a world with more than two alternatives, there is no outcome that can be deemed "fair". Let's say that we have three options. Alice likes apples best, followed by bananas, and cherries. Bob likes bananas, then cheries, then apples. Charles prefers cherries, apples, and bananas last. There is absolutely no way they can pick a fruit in a "fair" matter. Someone is guaranteed to be screwed, until...

Someone (let's say Bob) raises their hand and says to everyone, "Shut up! We're picking bananas!" Bob then becomes a dictator, and the other two end up eating bananas, which Alice is sort of OK with, but Charles would rather puke.

Some have called the theory "the inevitability of dictatorship". Of course, Arrow was not talking about fruits, but rather social choices, meaning that, in real life, even if we live under the illusion of democracy, we are doomed to end up in a dictatorship...

Ah, crap.