It becomes a necessity that we understand where we stand in this country. “Out in the cold” comes to mind when it comes to our ability to practice good governance.
From where I’m sitting it looks like there are more and more hyper-educated pundit wannabees in the media. For some reason or another we’re regularly told what we think. This is called POLLING. The numbers of positive responses to carefully selected questions are compared against the number of negative responses and after careful computation and interpretation they tell us what they want us to hear. This is called Statistical Analysis.
Because they follow the mathematical procedure known as extrapolation, they arrive at what they say are logical inferences and conclusions about something unknown. This allows them to estimate values based on the extension of trends noted in French curves, whorls, and trampoline propelled loop-de-loops. In other words they make stuff up and sell it to somebody needing a scientific sounding explanation as to why we should accept what they’re trying to peddle. They accept what they publish as truth rather than determining the truth and publishing it.
They call this Public Opinion.
In reality, many more people are paying attention to what is actually going on in the political realm; more than at any other time in American history. This is good for the American political scene but it isn’t necessarily producing the most informed public it could hope for.
Propaganda is better known as a party line derivative. Propaganda is a thread in the whole cloth and fabric of political intrigue. It covers the general platform composed of the individual planks of what’s going to be advertised and pushed on the voters. This is all done by strategists paid to tilt the information in the direction best showing the practicality of the party and/or candidate. We hear all of this in the blare of television, radio and the print media and it’s difficult to understand what is real, what’s true and finally, is any of it honest.
But really, is this public opinion: the statement of a populace to be understood as a consensus? Is what’s developed and interpreted the truth of a majority viewpoint or is it smoke and mirrors obscuring that same truth so people can be directed toward whatever agenda is being propelled at the moment?
It goes without saying the American public is the power meant to be harnessed for the betterment of the nation. It’s because of the multiplicity of viewpoints leading to this nation’s future development that this power is so compelling and so sought after. But the duplicity and misdirection of the element we call public opinion gathering is tragic.
It can become the tail wagging the dog. When pollsters seek out political organizations to use their influence to sway and direct the course of the poll, there’s a severe loss of integrity in the process. This is something we’ve witnessed and shouldn’t approve of in any shape form or fashion. It’s a perversion of the truth being sought after. It’s a directive lie expecting a pay-off to be delivered at the ballot box.
Now that the world has taken the turn it’s taken and information is passed along at the speed of thought we find political intelligence being shared without request. Wiki Leaks has developed a life of its own and has hit with an impact never before imagined. It rolls across the terrain and topography of human intelligence with the speed of light. It colors the thought processes of people, some to the point of misdirected placement of their affections and selections in the balloting process. It’s similar to the idea of computer reality: garbage in, garbage out. The choices being made based on potentially tainted information and statistics sit on the edge of criminal stupidity with intent to distribute.
We ask: will we direct our governmental processes from a thundering voice demanding recognition in righteous anger for past improprieties or; are we issuing a wee, small, timid plea for reassurance of the speaker’s existence and the chance to settle for only what we’re told?
Accept nothing at face value.
Thanks for listening
