Last week a Facebook friend posted a link about the Justice Department issuing an injunction on Texas' new voter ID law, along with a comment questioning it. I piped in with a comment that I favored the injunction. Within minutes another friend of my friend's (someone I don't know) was all over the comment with his own opinions. This other guy used the link to call the President a liar and a destructive person etc. etc. My friend thoughtfully asked me to explain my earlier comment so I gave some reasons why I think this trend in Republican controlled states is wrong. You guessed it- person # 3 (who doesn't know me) lays into me about the absurdity of my comments (and all liberals) and goes into wild generalizations that included everything from abortion to the Black Panthers- with every Fox News talking point in between. I got out of that exchange because Facebook clearly is no place for intellectual debate- and I could see I was only spinning my wheels with a person who isn't open to other ideas. (his immediate move to name-calling tipped me off) This fellow was so entrenched in the dogma of his beliefs and his anger that he had given up all reason- so much so that he couldn't even stay on the topic.
The whole incident got me thinking about why it is almost impossible to have a conversation over an issue without it immediately turning ugly, personal, and worst of all- stupid! It seems the issues of the day cannot be discussed in a civil fashion anymore. I'm not the first to notice this trend by a long shot, but I just couldn't help commenting given my small experience on Facebook, and the very big experience we're going through now- selection of our leaders. This is the most important time to apply reason, science and the wealth of information available to us in this election process, and all processes in our daily lives. Sadly, I see the opposite happening.
The irony of having this incredible information machine literally at our finger tips and not using it to improve our minds and our personal store of information is a greatest mystery to me. In high school I was a pretty good debater. Debaters need two qualities; one, they must possess a good speaking style, and two, they must have evidence to present. We also had argue both sides of the question with equal enthusiasm. Back then we had to spend hours pouring through articles and papers in a library- copy down info- catalog it- and organize the data. Today's technology is light years ahead of where we were only one generation ago. Today, nearly the entire store of human knowledge and information is right there in our homes. Think of that- today nearly all of us have access to the entire scope of knowledge ever acquired by humanity. That makes the Internet the most awesome human creation to date. It is the Gutenberg press of our millennium- on steroids! So, why don't we use it? This isn't about being smart, or smarter- it's about being informed.
I believe the answer lies in the cultural and political changes that began about thirty years ago with the development of the modern conservative movement. This is the movement that somehow convinced us that we needed to move backward in our evolution as a people. This is where the seeds of regression began. We see it in those who are anti-science- those who want to roll back civil rights and worker rights- want to take back advances for women- those who value ignorance over education. The call to power and wealth utilized a prejudice against the social advances of the previous generation that helped create a strong middle class and brought about social changes that threatened old guard advantages, i.e. white men. So the move was on to reclaim lost territory- with very convincing spokesmen. I admit they were good at delivering the message. Let me give you just a few examples of this thinking in recent times.
In the last ten years there has been a wave of attempts to discredit Darwin's theory of Evolution by Natural Selection in schools. Each year the fossil and biological evidence in support of Evolution increases by leaps. Yet the forces of religiously based Creationism want it taught in schools- when there isn't one scientific principle to support it. On the environment and climate change, the data is overwhelming that man-made pollution is unnaturally effecting our climate. Yet the climate change deny-ers keep popping up as conservative political leaders and captains of industry. The agenda is crystal clear- those who deny climate change are folks who support industries that want to continue burning fossil fuels. If the data weren't enough- you know what happens when you sit in a closed garage with the car motor running, don't you? Then isn't it logical you would know when billions of motors and factories around the world are burning fossil fuels in the closed space of our atmosphere, it would have a negative effect? If you refuse to see the data, or think about the problem- you are a low information person. In the recent debate over contraception, the data is clear that lack of this medical service negatively impacts women's health and world population. Some politicians have another religiously based agenda on this topic. It's OK to have a religious agenda and seek office-BUT voters should avail themselves of information and not just blindly believe the political rhetoric. On the voter ID law in Texas that got me going- the facts are, 80 Counties in Texas don't even have the state office to issue the IDs the state itself requires. And those counties are disproportionally populated by Hispanics (U.S. citizens). That is information anyone can access. That is knowledge that informs me. There is not one documented case of an election being turned around by voter fraud in any election on any level. That is knowledge that informs me. I know voter fraud happens- but it is on such a small scale that it doesn't warrant the massive attempts to suppress voters with archaic ID laws. In Texas, 50 cases of individual voter fraud were found in a state that has a population of over 25 million. That is a fraction so small you'd need an electron microscope to see it. Yet some folks will believe in the pervasiveness of the issue, and that "we have to do something about this!"- even if it alienates big chunks of legitimate voters in the prcoess. Facts be damned!- and motives be hidden!
We have a Republican Presidential candidate who refers to college education and post high school education as snobbery. Rick Santorum has argued against ANY publicly financed schooling. Can you image- no public schools? Public schools are absolutely necessary to ensure democracy. Last week in Alabama and Mississippi, 52% of Republican voters believe President Obama is Muslim. These were the same folks who in 2008 criticized his 20 years in Rev. Wright's Christian church. Which is it? Muslim? This is just low information- and factually inaccurate.
We live an in age when beliefs have replaced knowledge. I don't think it's any accident. Disdain for information and critical thinking has coincided perfectly with the rise of conservative talk radio- the rise of Fox News and a host of people telling you to believe instead of think. It is a constant low-information drum beat of vitriol from the likes of Hannity, Limbaugh, Savage and the rest. I know there have been a few on the left who are guilty too. But when the right has ten times the radio programing as the left, the equivalency argument goes out the window. It is no wonder then, that discussions become heated and personal instead of thoughtful and informational. We are becoming indoctrinated into the language of hate. The acquisition of knowledge is an open-minded process- whereas the defense of a belief system is a close-minded process by its nature. This is inexcusable (and unexplainable) in the era of information. With the widespread availability of raw information- ignorance becomes a choice, not a condition. There are plenty of issues over which good people can disagree and debate. The challenge of our society to elevate the debate with knowledge and information- not scream at each other from entrenched positions that don't allow the light of knowledge and information to penetrate.
Thanks for looking in.
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