Our Aversion To Factual Reality
Facts do not mean much in our country today.
In fact, they can seem a hindrance to some people. When you only believe what you want and ignore all else that does not correspond to your belief system, then right and wrong and truth and falsehood hold very little meaning to you. Minds will not be changed. So why argue.
We have come to a very dangerous place when politicians overstep and make the disregard of scientific and all facts a litmus test for loyalty. It seems the wilder the accusation, the less connection to reality is needed. We are so ready to believe the worst of our political opponents. Because you do not agree with a politician does not make him a pedophile or pervert. This is what we do instead of arguing the merits of our case. It sure is easier to throw out wild accusations than a logical defense of one’s position.
The very meaning of scripture can be changed to fit the latest political perception. Jesus embraced rich and poor, leper and prostitute, black and white. Today, some would have us believe Jesus was not open to all but rather closed to most except a chosen few.
Politics was once the art of addition of people to your banner. Like a charity, the local club house was the place to go to secure a job or a favor. Once either was granted, the pol earned that person as his voter forever. Politics was a much more practical equation than today. The local state rep fixed problems like securing a pension or a permit. Today they are caught up in looking for imaginary stolen votes.
Politics then revolved around people. Now it revolves around money. If you get your money from a billionaire or a PAC, there still is an expected quid pro quo. If it is a million small contributors at $25 a head on a website, you need to make sure you can rile them up by creating a pending Armageddon. Better yet if you can put a face to the scourge. The face can be Pelosi or McConnell. How can we viscerally hate someone we do not even know?
Perhaps at some point this fever will be broken. People may even again use the internet for what it was intended… a giant encyclopedia, dictionary, and reference book. At one time, we would go to the library to look things up. I used to love to do research, get lost with the card catalogue and just explore. I still do that using the internet…things like what is the population of Florida. Hard concrete facts as a point where we can start our discussion.
If more people had real facts instead of delving in make believe, we would have a better society. We probably wouldn’t hate the other guy as much. We could stop being so angry and look to facts to guide our decisions. What a novel idea!
