Perspective

I recently received some terrifying facts from a friend about a troubled area of the world. I was shocked that these statistics were not being exposed by the national media in spite of their serious nature and the ramifications involved. I have therefore decided to write my own headlines on these issues in the hopes that through exposure of what can only be considered a conspiracy to hide the truth, the facts will finally come to light. Be prepared to be shocked and appalled!
 

600 RAPES PER MONTH COMMITTED IN REGION, WITH NO END IN SIGHT

$20 MILLION PER DAY REQUIRED TO HOUSE PRISONERS

4,000 DIE PER YEAR ON ROADS IMPROPERLY PATROLLED

GUARDS WATCH AS INMATES RAPED

170,000 PRISONERS HOUSED IN TROUBLED AREA

GUARDS RAPE UNDERAGE PRISONERS

BORDERS CONSIDERED UNSECURED TO TERRORIST INCURSION

Now I know that based on recent news stories, you would think that all of these stories are related to abuses committed as part of the war in Iraq. WRONG! In fact these are all stories relating to the great state of California.

This is not a knock on California. While this state can be a little weird, and it does indeed constitute the "left coast" of the US, the sad truth of the matter is that it's not any better or worse than the rest of the country. (Besides, most of my favorite vineyards are there, so I am willing to cut them some slack.) The comparisons to a country are certainly not as outrageous as they might appear. California's population of 35 million is slightly larger than the 26 million of Iraq and the GDP (gross domestic product for those who don't read the financial section of the newspaper) is larger than all but seven countries in the world. The only significant differences that I can see is that Iraq has the excuse of being a nation whose religious zealots are at war with occupying troops as well as themselves; while California (at least in theory) is at peace; and of course that the media has chosen not to cover any of the issues that I have listed.

We all make assumptions on the world based on our individual perspective. Those assumptions provide us a lens through which (for better or worse) we judge the information on the world that we receive. Having made those judgements, we settle on our views or opinions of the world and deal with it accordingly. It's sorry enough state of affairs that assumption and judgement are part of this process, as the vagaries of their use does not lead to accuracy or consistency, if the information being used is also skewed, the result is bound to be one that is hopelessly flawed. Well guess what boys and girls, that information is skewed! 

Whether we are talking about the newspapers, TV, or even talk radio, the headlines that are written and stories presented to us each day are what is "chosen" for us. Those choices are made through the limited number of corporate owners in the media, whatever their agenda is, and what marketing people think might be entertaining to us and retain us an an audience. It doesn't matter here whether we are talking about ABC / Disney or Rupert Murdoch and Fox. Their agenda may differ, but their methods do not. Both can be as far from presenting the facts as a wayward husband making a 2AM apology to the patient wife waiting for him at home. 

This is not an indictment of all media (or wayward husbands for that matter), though it probably should be. It is merely a statement of fact that though there are a lot of high-toned postures about seeking the truth and journalistic responsibility, ultimately each of these outlets is a business which must cater to its audience in order to make a profit. So what do we do? We since we cannot change what the media chooses to present to us, so we need to be more vigilant with the what we do have control of, our assumptions and judgements. Be careful about what you assume is fact, it's often no more than the presenter's opinion. Be even more careful making judgements, few of any of us has been trained on doing it properly and even the pros make mistakes. Be always questioning of the "facts" before attempting to draw conclusions.

On the other hand, maybe we should take what I have just presented as facts, pull the troops out of the Middle East and redeploy them in California to bring it under control. (Oops sorry, the "Posse Cumitatus Act of 1878" prevents any such deployment.) OK, if that won't work, maybe we can get some of the movie stars in Hollywood to shift their gaze from Darfur long enough to straighten out the mess in their own backyard.

This information for these headlines came from "Eye of the Beholder" by Victor Davis Hanson. Mr. Hanson is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution,Stanford University, a Professor Emeritus at California University,Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services.