Dishonest Opinions

I read an interesting bit of opinion today (yes, in the New York Times). Ostensibly, it's about health care, but I felt like it was more about intellectual integrity and arguments that are so disingenuous as to go beyond honest political discourse.

What do I mean? Well, I've spoken before about using critical thinking, using one's logic and native intelligence to sniff out the BS instead of buying just anything you hear.

But there's another side of the coin. I'm all for uppin' the general level of intelligence for the populace and reducing the overall gullibility. But what about holding those telling those tall tales responsible for the fertilizer they spread?

We make a big deal out of freedom of speech and we should. The ability to express ourselves without fear of reprisal for being unpopular is key to any society that claims to be free. But with any freedom, there is another side to it, responsibility, especially when one is speaking as the voice of authority.

And I don't think we hold people responsible for abusing that authority quite enough. We get so used to being lied to, no matter how extreme the story, no matter how foolish the argument, no matter how skewed the logic, that those of us who routinely think skeptically pay little to no attention. Nor do we tend to do more than shrug when the less critical of us swallow the most ridiculous nonsense, figuring, eh, live and let live.

But knowingly spreading misinformation isn't harmless, especially when its emotionally charged and designed to touch the public emotionally instead of rationally. Doctors who trumpet the risks of vaccines cost children's lives and stand to reverse much of the progress against childhood disease of the last century (and are likely in a position to profit from some vaccine alternative that has no scientific backing). Scientists and doctors on the payroll of tobacco companies that told us, straight-faced, there was no risk from secondary smoke and addiction have cost untold lives and health care dollars to treat preventable lung conditions in smokers and their children. "Scientists" spreading doubt (on Big Oil's payroll under cover of "think tanks") about climate change and CO2 in the atmosphere despite all the evidence to the contrary - the bill for that feet-dragging hasn't come up yet, but I wouldn't expect the price to be small.

And politicians. Yes, we expect them to lie to us, to support the interests of special interest, to say bad things about the people of the "other" party even if they're doing the right thing (like that happens often if ever). But why do we let them get away with it?

Politicians are almost always paid by us to represent our interests - why are we complacent about them throwing our interests over for health insurance companies or bankers (the latter, of course, who aren't reticent about requesting money from us but not so happy about sharing it back)? Why do we shrug and move on when they provide mindless arguments about why Americans should continue to be screwed over for our own good? Why do we accept the lies as part of doing business?

It's not about ideology. It's about telling the falsehoods because one has an agenda, a self-serving motive. Bad enough being told that by advertisers who are being paid by those they work for but particularly unpleasant being lied to by those who work for us.

It's not harmless. Hitler told a self-serving set of lies, emotionally laden, that caused good people to do some truly heinous things. We're lying to ourselves if we think it can't happen here, though hopefully never to that degree. Never again.

But I'm not sure prosecution is effective. Perhaps that just legitimizes the bullshit. Maybe we need to respond the the crapola with laughter, long and hard, and not relent. Maybe, if we start treating being patronized with emotionally charged manipulative garbage with amused contempt, we can entice a new breed of authority who won't speak unless they have something to say they can justify with facts or data, with logic or history.

God, I am such a dreamer.