Don't Be A Fucking Idiot!

Get Smart

September 2, 2005

Written By: Eliminator

Politics and awareness to anything considered political have become very popular these days. Interest in politics has hit an all-time high again in modern times thanks to various celebrities turning their attention towards political awareness and their disdain with what has been going on lately.

With that said many people are trying to gain more knowledge of the political system and how things work. With such a high demand for political knowledge a seemingly endless supply of "go-to guys" have emerged that give quick answers to complex questions. Questions such as "Why is the social security system so screwed up?" or "Why wasn't the government quicker to get relief to New Orleans?" are answered with brief responses. Very little is put into the actual thinking or implications behind any government programs or initiatives. Not many people want to think about an issue in-depth. They just want a quick answer; a “quick fix” if you will.

People looking for this quick response have found plenty of people willing to serve it up to them and that has caused a lot of faux-awareness towards politics.

"Getting" Smart

In the interest of become more aware of their politic surroundings most people look to someone they feel they can trust to give them quality information about what is going on in the world. Unfortunately the people that are considered trustworthy usually base their personal agendas on extreme stretches of the truth and just plain bad logic.

In my LiveJournal entry Please Shove Your Facts Up My Ass (Catchy title, ain’t it?) I list the main players in the political pundit arena. These are the people who are the most revered and are the most popular. What it comes down to is many people that you know—be they co-workers, friends, or relatives—are taking their political cues from a list of maybe a half-dozen to a dozen people. The top and most recognizable names include: Bill O’Reilly, Al Franken, Michael Moore, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Arianna Huffington, and Ann Coulter.

These are some of the most powerful people on earth right now. Why? Because they are trusted over respected journalists, writers, sociologists, and intellectuals. Why are they more respected? Because those fucking intellectuals are so long winded and boring. And nobody likes boring.

This is the time of MTV and short attention spans. Nobody has time to even skim the various studies, newspaper articles, and government documents that need research to fully understand something like, say, the inner workings of the Social Security program or Bankruptcy laws or a number of other “hot topics” right now. These pundits bring issues to the table in a way that is captivating, entertaining, and, most importantly, very brief.

The main problem with the “respected” pundits is that they all carry some extremely heavy bias in what they write. They aren’t out on a quest for the truth. They aren’t out there trying to help people form opinions. They are out to prove themselves right. They aren’t discovering new ideas or ways to approach problems. They are out scouring for facts that can help prove that their preconceived ideas will work.

Forming An Opinion

Someone who was truly interested in “learning” something would be willing to face the fact that they might have been wrong about what they initially thought of a certain issue. Most people won’t ignorantly believe that they are indeed right without having some factual basis present.

Most of the above pundit celebrities aren’t presenting their extremely biased opinions as working theories, but as the what is "right"; as sort of a final answer. Somewhere along the line marginally funny comedians and film students have become overnight experts in the inner workings of politics and socioeconomics and have convinced others that their way of thinking is the only correct way.

Well, they really haven’t become experts; they’ve just become experts at reading articles written by sociologists and economists and picking out small passages that they think help prove their point. Sometimes they are right on; sometimes it is a huge stretch to say that a certain passage backs up the agenda of one of these clowns.

“How Do I Find Information, Mr. Eliminator?”

First and foremost, find some good media sources, and I’m not talking about conspiracy websites. FOR GOODNESS SAKE STAY AWAY FROM CONSPIRACY WEBSITES!! There are plenty of legitimate media sources out there, and most of them are not on the internet or your television. Find some top newspapers or magazines to comb for information on politics. As I suggested in the Shove Your Facts LiveJournal entry, go to the book store and flip to the back of these books written by pundits and see where they get their facts from. Then start reading those sources of information.

There is a chance that a lot of biased sources are used by the biased pundits. That makes sense, after all, they are looking to prove themselves right. But outlets like the New York Times and Newsweek are pretty renowned media outlets and are cited pretty regularly by tons of pundit types.

If you are looking for in-depth studies to social problems or politics there are plenty of doctors and professors who have written books on specific subjects that they happen to know a lot about. Some may have a political agenda, some may not. It is up to you to be the judge of whether you think they are presenting a legitimate case based on facts or if they are spewing a bunch of biased nonsense.

What It Boils Down To

Basically the bottom line is: Use your better judgment. Don’t believe something because you saw it in a Michael Moore movie. Don’t believe something because Bill O’Reilly told you it make sense. Sit back and think about it. Do some actual thinking. I sound like a broken record because I repeat this so often, but it is important. Just think for yourself.

A lot of people are out there claiming they are thinking for themselves when they are just repeating what they heard from their favorite talking head. That doesn’t make you intelligent, that makes you a good follower. And everybody knows being a follower just isn’t hip these days. At least not as hip as being “politically aware.”

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