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The Myth that All Opinions are Equal [1]

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Date: 2023-04-07  

I don’t want to write this diary. I don’t have the time. I promised I would tackle other responsibilities today. Even if I take the time to write, I should be working on the latest of two books I have been working on. Hardly anyone will read this. I’ll be lucky if both recommend it. Still, this idea has been weighing heavily on my mind for that past few days and won’t let go. Two days ago, I decided to write this diary. When I couldn’t find online the video where I was interviewed by the WYFF TV, I decided that without the proper visual embellishments, my diatribe would come across dry and pedantic. Nevertheless, I feel I need to express an idea that needs to be said: some opinions are vastly superior to others.

Yesterday, I was arguing with a good friend who usually expresses the same Democratic progressive principles that I support.

“Are you trying to be antagonistic?” my friend challenged me.”

“No,” I retorted, “I’m not being antagonistic; I’m being obstinate.”

“What’s the difference?”

“When you’re antagonistic, your goal is to provoke and annoy the person you are arguing with. The payoff is getting them upset. When you’re obstinate, your goal is to change the other person’s mind. The payoff is proving your point is correct.”

Opinions are like assholes; everyone’s got one, but some stink worse than others.

It began last Tuesday. We were assembled on Main Street in downtown Greenville for our weekly anti-Trump, pro-progressive protest we call Tell Them Tuesday. We’ve been doing this every Tuesday for over six years. About twenty of us showed up. A good number lately (we used to have about thirty protestors,) but it was a beautiful spring day and politics was in the air. This was the day Trump was arraigned in New York. The weather was also warm and sunny in New York, and as someone quipped, “Warm and sunny with a chance of jail.”

The press was there (one woman from the local TV news) since Trump had predicted America (meaning thousands of MAGA Republicans) would protest vehemently, perhaps even violently, against the crooked justice system that conspired to torment him for his political views by indicting him for crimes he committed.

Problem was, there was no Trumptorian protest. Only the lone deplorable counter-protestor, who has been standing on the opposite side of the street for several weeks was present—wearing a MAGA hat and t-shirt displaying an automatic weapon witht he words, “Black Guns Matter.”

But the press didn’t interview him. Instead, the woman stood near him and filmed us from across the street. Later she came over and asked if any of us would like to speak before the news camera. The founder of our group agreed and spoke into the camera for a few minutes. Not able to hear what she said, I wasn’t sure if I had anything valuable to add. But the news woman asked me if I wanted to say anything about the arraignment that day. She made it clear that was the only issue she wanted me to comment on was Trump’s day in court, as some of us were holding signs advocating for gun control. Indeed, my sign I read MORE GUNS, MORE DEATH on one side, and PROTECT CHILDREN, NOT GUNS on the other side.

I was nervous but had run for office and speaking before a camera was nothing new. Only I hadn’t prepared any remarks and would have to speak off the cuff. Fortunately, everything I said came across very well. I said that the indictment of Trump and his arraignment was a good thing because it proved that in America no one was above the law, regardless of how rich or powerful they were.

Later, I was told me the interviews would be aired, at Five, Six, and Seven o’clock on channel Four. Now, it’ not that I’m not egotistical. But the reason I spoke on camera was simple math. Far more people would hear what I had to say if I was on TV, than if I just held a sign for an hour on Main Street. Nevertheless, I still wanted to see how I came across on TV.

Only instead of watching the local news that evening I decided to keep my plans of playing Table Tennis with some friends from Five to Seven. Besides, I had already paid to play with them. So to be perfectly honest, I really don’t know if I was ever on TV or not.

Arriving at the recreation center I first saw another good friend, Gene, who I have known for years. Not only do I play Table Tennis with him, but recently he joined our group to play an advanced variation of Spades I developed. Gene is excellent at both cards and Ping Pong. He has a great personality and cares about other people. Recently he has been bragging that he has “adopted” a family from Ukraine, who I believe are his cousins, who have taken refuge here in America. Whenever I ask Gene how he is, he replies, “I’m reasonable.”

But not when it comes to politics. My first clue was when Gene generously invited me to his beach house, not far from a Table Tennis tournament we entered in Charlestown. There, in his living room, was FOX News Fiction on an extra-wide screen, playing all day like a neon light engulfing the room.

I have reluctantly learned not to talk Table Tennis to my political friends. If I do, their eyes glaze over in boredom after two minutes. Even my own family has to shut me down. For Xmas my oldest daughter gave me a custom-designed metal drink container. My name was displayed on one side. The other side read, “WARNING! May Start Talking About Table Tennis!”

I have also reluctantly learned not to talk about politics to my Table Tennis friends. One time a young player asked me where Ben was, an older player who I refused to play with during Covid as he refused to get vaccinated. I told the other player I didn’t know, but maybe he caught Covid and can no longer play. Considering his age, I said he might even be dead. Realizing I had inadvertently crossed the political line, I asked, “You’ve been vaccinated, haven’t you?”

“Oh, no,” he replied. “I don’t believe in vaccines. I believe God will protect me from Covid.” Like I said, some opinions stink much more than others.

Of course, we all believe our opinions are right, and correspondingly other opinions are wrong. But we are also told that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and we should respect the opinions of others if we expect them to respect ours.

This is wrong! We need to respect the other person for being worthy of respect; we don’t need to respect their opinion when it is full of shit.

This doesn’t mean we should be rude and eschew diplomacy. Once, when Gene and a couple of other players were together for Table Tennis, another player asked Gene, “What do you think of Trump?” This was in the midst of Covid when Trump was claiming Covid would be over by Easter, wearing masks was a foolish liberal idea, and was promoting worthless dangerous cures for Covid. In spite of the fact Trump’s lack of proper leadership resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, my friend replied, “I think Trump is doing the best he can.”

A voice inside me screamed. “The best he can? If that’s the best Trump can do as President, he should be removed from office immediately!” I didn’t vocalize these sentiments. I held my tongue.

“Guess what, Gene?” I said to him this past Tuesday evening. “I could be watching myself on TV, but instead I decided to play Table Tennis with you guys.” I didn’t realize I was creeping into a political controversy.

“Why were you on TV?”

“I was briefly interviewed by the local TV news when I was downtown.” I didn’t tell him I was there protesting.

“Why were you interviewed?”

“They wanted to know if I thought Trump’s arraignment was a good thing or a bad thing.”

“So, what did you say?”

“I said it was a good thing; no one should be above the law.”

It is difficult to quote facial expressions and body language, but if I could imagine the words, his reaction was sort of like, “Holy shit! You really believe Trump is guilty of anything? Don’t you realize the entire judicial system is run by Democrats out to destroy him politically?”

Gene did start to speak. He began to articulate an argument—then stopped himself, realizing there was no way he could get through to me. After all, I was an obstinate opinionated Democrat.

Just as well. Gene is a great guy. But I am right, and he is wrong. My opinion is correct, not because it is my opinion. But rather that because the opinion is correct.

The problem is, everyone thinks they’re right and anyone who disagrees is wrong. We favor our own opinions like we favor our favorite sports team. Once we take ownership of them, we forget that we could be wrong. If you live in Wisconsin, there is nothing wrong with loving the Green Bay Packers and wanting them to win. It is even forgivable if you insist they are the best team in the NFL. However, if you live in Wisconsin and voted for the Republican to be on the State Supreme Court, instead of the more liberal Democrat; your opinion was wrong! It was wrong because the Republicans in Wisconsin are hell-bent on destroying democracy, by perpetuating gerrymandering and trying to guarantee only Republicans can win elections. It is wrong because, had the Republican won, extreme anti-abortion laws would be enforced that will cause women to needlessly die.

I was watching an old movie the other day when a young girl around twelve, who played a cute hypochondriac, went to see her family physician. The doctor humored her with an examination and declared, “Honestly, there is nothing wrong with you.” The girl then replied, “I want another opinion.”

We live in interesting times. Not only is the value of truth under attack, but we have lost sight that informed and knowledgeable opinions—opinions that are based on facts—are vastly superior to uninformed and ignorant opinions. Medicine is both an art and a science. Two medical opinions by two doctors may differ, but few would argue that the medical opinion of a twelve-year-old girl is just as valid as that of an educated doctor.

Divide and conquer.

But that isn’t how we think about politics. I have studied politics, current events, and history all my life, especially since I retired and have more time to read. I have read dozens of books about Trump. I read extensively. The last three books I read were This is Our Fight by Elizabeth Warren, Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind by Duval Harari, and Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divisive Times, by Jonathan Sacks. Currently I am over 250 pages into Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, by Rick Perlstein. All of these books address a common theme: Why we are so divided and alienated from each other.

Harari argues that any large group must be united by common myths—regardless of whether or not they are factually true. Elizabeth Warren lamented that even when Republicans privately admitted she was right on the issues, they voted against her. Perlstein documents how Nixon shrewdly exploited and exacerbated fear and hatred toward blacks and anti-war protestors by using lies to get elected. The end result was an even more divided America, each side fearing the end of America as it should be, should the other side gain political power. Recently Sacks stepped in arguing that we must strive to overcome our differences if we are to survive. He laments that “news” no longer strives to report objective truth, but is tailored to fit whatever the listener wants to hear.

Google’s intelligent search, Facebook friends, and reading the news via Twitter’s narrowcasting effect rather than traditional broadcast media means we are surrounded to a considerable extent by people like us whose opinions are prejudices are similar to ours.

If Sacks is right, am I, like you, trapped in a political bubble of only hearing media that reinforces my own obstinate belief system? Possibly. After all, I am certain the reason my reasonable friend holds fast to his unreasonable political opinions is that he has been brainwashed by lies perpetrated on Fox. Yes, I get my news from MSNBC, NPR, and Daily Kos. But back when I tried in vain to stomach the other side by listening to Rush Limbaugh or watching Fox, I became disgusted with their gross hateful distortions of reality. True, MSNBC is biased. But there is a world of difference between being biased, and being fictitious. MSNBC strives to deliver the facts, which are essential ingredients to forming any intelligent opinion.

Yesterday, I tuned to Megan Kelly’s podcast on Sirius XM after hearing a promotional ad that she will only tell the truth. I figured I needed to hear the other side to escape the bubble. They were talking about the Democratic victory in Wisconsin as though it were a bad thing. The person she was interviewing commented that Judge Janet Protasiewicz even opposed requiring a driver’s license to vote—as though anyone with any common sense (which excludes Democratic liberals) knows everyone should produce a driver’s license in order to vote to prevent voter fraud. Now I have studied enough Political Science to know that voting fraud is a Republican bugaboo, a convenient myth in order to suppress black voters and thus keep Republicans in power. Poor black people often cannot afford to own cars and thus don’t have a driver’s license. Consequently, requiring a driver’s license to vote, as in my state of South Carolina, ostensibly prevents voter fraud (which is practically non-existent) but actually makes it more difficult for minorities to vote. Of course, none of this was mentioned on the Meghan Kelly radio show. After less than a minute, I switched back to MSNBC. I don’t mind listening to different informed opinions. I can’t stand listening to uniformed ignorant opinions.

IMHO, In My Humble Opinion, we need a new acronym: IMIO, In My INFORMED Opinion. Truth matters. Facts matter. Knowledge and education matter. All opinions are not created equal. Some stink much more than others. Of course, that it only my opinion.

[END]
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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/7/2162704/-The-Myth-that-All-Opinions-are-Equal

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