This is a retread of a blog I posted some time ago – in fact, back in 2018. It’s a bit more serious than my usual stuff. The topic remains timely, and it’s been updated. It follows on the heels of discussions at all levels about where people get their information, and what they’re willing to believe.
Comedian and late-night host Stephen Colbert coined the term “truthiness”. He defined it as information that gives the outward appearance of accuracy and reason, without actually being solidly so or necessarily verified. A spin put on some bit of news – either a deliberate slant, or leaving out significant information that makes the item distorted. News networks have been accused of biases on both the left and right, and while this isn’t new, I know that I’d like to think what I’m seeing, hearing and reading is at least not a figment of someone’s fertile imagination. Even an attention-grabbing headline can give a false impression if the reader doesn’t take the time to read the column below it. For example, this drawn from the weekend paper. “Delaying second vaccines . . . might end the pandemic sooner.” Does that mean the second vaccine is unnecessary? Would we be better off eliminating dose 2 and spreading around what we’ve got? No, the article, an opinion piece, is talking about some of the wrong people getting priority vaccinations. Don’t get your hopes up. Her Ladyship and I are scheduled to get our second shots later this week, and I make no apologies.
It’s curious that Fox News has pulled several talk show personalities and news anchors when faced with lawsuits from voting machine manufacturers. After the election “steal” litigation went blissfully nowhere, with court after court turning down lawsuits from the former president’s campaign teams, the thing that caught the conspirators by surprise were the defamation suits from the folks making the machinery that was alleged to be either malfunctioning or manipulated. Once again, money talks, and multimillion dollar lawsuits virtually bellow, but that’s what it took. The right must be feeling persecuted too, because any number of state legislatures controlled by Republicans are looking at new ways to “secure” elections, almost all of them meaning ways to restrict access to voting. They’re trying to find new methods to “legally” keep people that don’t look and think like us real Americans, from participating in the voting process. Perhaps it’s as Mr. Trump himself said in a remarkably candid moment, that Republicans will find it more and more difficult to win if they don’t gain control of elections.
Back in the golden age of journalistic integrity, we trusted Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, and many others. We trusted that they’d done their research and they’d reported without prejudice what the evidence proved. Multiple sources, corroborating testimony, documentation. In the era of “conservative” and “liberal” news outlets, “fake news”, and “media is the enemy of the people”, all of that trust we had for factual reporting is diminished. People pick and choose the news that fits their biases and perspectives. As I’ve written many times, my grandfather had a joking expression for this. “My mind is made up – don’t confuse me with facts.” Of course, conspiracies are as old as time, and as long as some people can manipulate events, information, and people to their advantage, it will go on. For some, it’s developing a cult-like adoration that motivates. For others, it’s building and maintaining control or power. We’ve heard from one invader of the Capitol after another saying essentially the same thing – “My president told me to do this.” OK, but where was the discernment, the logical thinking, that little voice of in the brain that separates us from wolves, saying, “Wait – something about this is wrong.”?
How do young people feel about news? Studies show that they are much more engaged in social issues, and have strongly held views on equality, employment opportunities, the environment, and much more. Do they feel that news isn’t to be trusted, and therefore it’s better just to avoid any sort of controversy? Are we becoming a nation paralyzed by skepticism, suspicious of everyone and everything? How ironic that, as younger people are engaging in social issues, older Americans pass through stages of becoming more fearful, and more withdrawn from current events. Has in fact “truthiness” become a way of life for us? From all reports – from voting trends, from newspaper opinion letters, the evidence suggests that many voters may be edging toward conservatism out of fear. Wisdom doesn’t always seem to accompany aging. It was interesting to see the ages of those converging on Washington in early January. Yes, some younger people did participate, but there was a distinct older demographic – mostly above 40 and great numbers in their 50’s and 60’s, as has been the case with many of the former president’s campaign rallies. It definitely hasn’t been a “youth movement”.
My feeling is that, to some extent, social media has played an important role in our national distrust. Originally, the major platforms seemed to be a great way to reconnect with lost friends and family. We could see pictures of children and grandchildren, beloved pets. A branch fell and landed on the garage – oh I’m so sorry. Did insurance cover it? There has developed a certain ease in posting something as fact, reposting and retweeting hundreds and thousands of times, and if it’s repeated often enough and forcefully enough, it becomes a life force of its own, a reality. “Did you see this news item on . . . . ?” It’s out there, so it must be true.” We believed, in times past, that if something was in print, it must be authentic. Now, we make that same assumption about the internet, despite knowing that anyone can post anything at any time, and often from great and total ignorance. Political rants became the norm, because, well, nobody is really checking, and even then, nobody takes the time to rebut or correct it. We see truthiness at its finest every day of our lives: The Affordable Care Act is a communist plot. Tax reform will benefit everyone equally. Climate Change is a theory with no evidence to support it. Polar bears are swimming more because they enjoy the warm water. Immigrants are here to pillage and plunder a helpless senior population. Or they’re taking jobs away from hard-working Americans while disproportionately sucking up public assistance. A Nigerian prince is waiting to give you money. That heavily accented voice from a rerouted number in the Midwest is going to help me get more Medicare benefits. I have a very good shot at winning the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes this time around. They tell me I’m only one or two purchases away, and that I should start practicing my “look of surprise” when they’re at my door. Democrats are child molesters and / or giving away our future. Coal is clean, safe, and the wave of the future. In Wikipedia we trust, because we know that every word was thoroughly researched and written by professionals. If corporations do well, we all do well. Income inequality is socialist propaganda. Pharmaceutical companies are plowing all their profits right back into research to make our lives better, so the high costs of prescriptions are fully justified and nobody is making much money here. (Although, in fairness, kudos to them for developing effective vaccines in record time. That is huge.) Gasoline prices are what they are because oil companies are investing in exploration. And for heaven’s sake, don’t worry about those oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico – they are perfectly safe.
Much of our news comes in soundbites and snippets. A tweet here, a news alert there. Some detail, a sniglet of information. Is reading a full newspaper article too taxing? We must condense it to a short clip and imagine what the rest must be? Has that great Jack Nicholson line in A Few Good Men, “You can’t handle the truth!” become a reality? Can people live comfortably on a minimum wage of $7.25, or can’t they? Absolutely they can, say the folks that don’t have to.
I used to tell my students to listen carefully and write down what I was telling them – usually important concert or performance information because I was a music teacher. “I know that, in short order, someone will say to me, ‘you never told us that’, or that more likely, you’ll pick up bits and pieces of information like a radio broadcast with poor reception, then scramble the details around in your brains, so that what ends up coming out bears scant resemblance to the instructions I gave you.” There are adults like that too out in the real world. Direct, accurate communication is rapidly becoming a lost art, a victim of what sells, what might be believed, and what the listener wants to hear. People are becoming increasingly overwhelmed by issues and information. Some use avoidance as a means of defense. If they don’t acknowledge what’s happening around them, it simply doesn’t exist. Others pick and choose the issues and solutions that best fit their views and personal philosophies, mixing in generous spoonsful of anger and defiance. Some firmly believe bluster, bullying and shortchanging others is the way to assert ourselves and make us great again. Does anyone really, truly believe that the United States has been getting the short end of the stick all these years? Try out that belief system on an Ethiopian, a Haitian or a Guatemalan.
If we are to function and make progress for the better as a civilization – and not just as Americans, we must be able to read or hear accurate information, discern the inaccurate, and really understand the implications of what we are taking in. This shouldn’t be Victorian England, where the masses work in mostly intolerable conditions, take what they’re given and be happy with it. That whole “Cream always rises” thing was debunked years ago, along with “trickle-down economics”, where people are involved. If ours is a democratic society, in which everyone participates, then everyone needs to know how to do that. Having taught people to read and write centuries ago was just the start. Now, we need to make sure that there is truth and integrity in what we’re reading and writing, not just someone’s beliefs and prejudices masquerading as fact. An informed population is a must in 21st century America. Expressing differing points of view should lead to timely discussions, peaceful resolutions, and successful solutions. We owe it to ourselves to weigh the accuracy and integrity of every piece of information and every scrap of knowledge upon which we form opinions. Only then can we call ourselves truly informed. At some point, every American needs to be able to read some bit of gossip from the internet and say to themselves, “I’m thinking . . . . . . . NO.”
I'm Thinking...No! 