There’s an old adage that says something like: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”. The more I observe the world and listen to people, the more I am inclined to agree. Our nation is populated with people who see themselves as informed, educated, enlightened and in a position to direct the path of the world. They have strong emotions, an opinion and certainty of their righteous cause. The problem lies in that many of these sages are half-witted fools. I have examples.
Let’s go back a few years to the Bush administration. I remember when the Country Music group the Dixie Chicks decided to expand their horizons from entertainers to political pundits. They criticized President Bush and bad-mouthed all the aggression associated with the war effort. Of course the left leaning press was delighted to give them all the face time they craved.
What troubled me was that no one questioned why we were hearing singer’s opinions about the war. Certainly, they have a right to an opinion; as much as I do actually.
But they had a level of recognition most folks do not have. Because of that, it was presented as “Divine Truth” on the war effort. I was waiting for an opposing view that questioned the credentials these gals held that elevated them to ‘War Strategist’ expertise. It never came.
Think for a moment; have you ever been in an elevator, barroom or a café and overheard someone say: “This is a really complicated and convoluted political issue, I wish I knew where the Dixie Chicks stood on this problem… Their insight and experience could really clear it up for me”? No, me neither.
Soundstages aren’t the only place where this madness occurs. It’s alive and well in Hollywood too.
Back in March of 2010, actor Tom Hanks made a comment stating essentially that WWII was racially motivated. Because the Japanese didn’t look like us, we had a “Kill them all” mentality. The minor Pearl Harbor thing must have slipped his mind; or maybe we just used that as a good reason to kill lots of innocent people for fun.
Either way, the remarks got a lot of coverage because America was slammed by someone most people would recognize. And doesn’t the press just love to trumpet any smear against our nation; without regards to accuracy or qualifications of the source?
I like Tom Hanks… as an actor. I would love to have his autograph (to sell on E-Bay). It offends me that playing an officer in “Saving Private Ryan” somehow qualifies him to spit on the Greatest Generation. Playing the role of a soldier on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines is not the same as actually doing it! The enemies were also actors, the bullets were blanks and he was never in danger. He retreated to air conditioned trailer and had a latte if things got too rough. The war was very real. Thousands died, millions suffered. To assign credibility to Hanks is an insult to a nation that literally saved the world from tyranny. Perhaps Hollywood has wider doorways to accommodate the egos of these spoiled brats.
But to see hubris taken to a whole new plane, you have to go to Washington D.C. One example out of a thousand took place back in February of this year. Toyota Motor Corporation was the focus of Congressional hearings regarding the safety recalls of their cars. Transportation Secretary Ray La Hood and members of Congress grilled Toyota executives for days.
The questions went something like this: “What failures occurred that led to these issues? Why weren’t they caught sooner? Why were the recalls so slow in coming? Have you covered up your knowledge of the safety concerns? What is being done to prevent future problems?” These are all legitimate questions unless one approaches it from a different perspective. The ones asking with such a tone of self-righteousness and indignation are all elected or appointed officials. They are not engineers or architects. Most have never run a business, designed a product or manufactured anything. But they do have one major accomplishment; they won an election.
Yet they look over the rims of their reading glasses and scold the executives like misbehaved children. As if to say, that when they ran an industrial giant, they never had these concerns. I half expected someone to roll up a newspaper and slap them on the snout.
I fantasized that an executive would snap back to the effect of “I believe we would all be better served if the Honorable Congressman would look to the Congress with the same diligence and attention to detail that he has given to Toyota. You are steeped in a culture of corruption that makes it humorous that you ask us about cover ups. While Toyota has millions of satisfied customers, Congress’ approval ratings are in the single digits. We responsibly operate on a balanced budget while the nation’s deficits are at an all time high due to reckless spending. If a business fails to make a good product for a fair price, it will eventually go bankrupt. Congress has no such pressure since it can print money if it runs out and there is no pressure to be responsible.”
That’s what needs said but won’t be. We as Americans seem to be intimidated by loud, cocky voices that we sense are wrong. Sometimes bags of hot air can speak so convincingly and with such authority that we dismiss our gut signals to get out the barn shovel.
Congress doesn’t hold the patent of arrogance/ignorance exclusively. The President shares it too. A black professor was arrested by Cambridge, Ma. Police in July 2009. When asked to comment, Barack Obama first admitted he didn’t know, wasn’t there and didn’t see all the facts but pronounced that the police acted stupidly. Wait a second. You don’t have the details, don’t know the facts but you know which side of the controversy was right. That’s pretty interesting for a Harvard lawyer to pass judgment without facts.
Maybe it’s a gift that this administration has. Homeland security head Janet Napolitano hinted that she may file a lawsuit against the State of Arizona over their new immigration law. When pressed on the issue, she admitted that she hasn’t read it yet. But she knew she would oppose it.
Could it be that the facts don’t count as much as political agenda? There seems to be a prevailing, collective opinion that many people adopt automatically. I don’t need to think for myself, the people that I trust already thought it through for me. And that is how I feel too. Aren’t these the radicals from the sixties who always talked about questioning authority and not accepting the status quo? Now they are led around by the nose and seem quite content with talking points. My! How the mighty have fallen into line.
