Facts are a liberal conspiracy, dontcha know?
Posted on February 1, 2010 | 12 Comments
The teapartiers are having their national “convention” this week. It’s certain to be a ridiculous and nasty mix of faux-populism, bigotry, conspiracy theories, and baseless whining about being “ignored” or “persecuted.”
One of the most disturbing things about the teapartiers is their assumption that their (almost always unjustified) anger is somehow evidence enough for any sort of claims or assertions that they make. This circular and painfully illogical thought process seems to be: “We’re angry about x. Therefore, we’re right about x and we’re justified in forcing our willfully ignorant and blatantly bigoted views about x into public discourse. If you do not accept this, you are persecuting us. Persecuting us makes us angry about x. Therefore,…” and on and on, blah blah blah.
Dissent and debate are vital components of a functioning democracy. But real dissent and genuine debate can only occur when both parties are willing to consider the same facts, base their opinions on these facts, and engage in reasonable, measured debate. The teapartiers absolutely refuse to do any of this, though.
This isn’t about freedom of speech. Of course all Americans have the right to speak freely and openly about their opinions and that right certainly must be protected. No, this is about which speech, claims, and/or arguments deserve respect, serious consideration, and/or a place in legitimate public discourse.
By knowingly spreading incorrect information, promulgating conspiracy theories, and refusing to engage with actual facts, the teapartiers have demonstrated that they have neither interest in nor respect for civil and reasonable debate. As such, they do not deserve a place in legitimate public discourse and their presence there only serves to distract from the actual facts of the issues under discussion.
If serious and legitimate public discourse is to survive in America’s current political atmosphere, we (especially the mainstream media) must demand actual evidence for all assertions and we must remind the teapartiers and others who are hostile to rationality that their feelings aren’t facts and that their anger isn’t evidence.
Allowing their ignorant and hateful fear mongering into serious public discourse only legitimizes and encourages their tactics. We must not permit this to happen. Although I know that it sounds dramatic, I really do think that the survival of American public discourse depends on it.
Comments
12 Responses to “Facts are a liberal conspiracy, dontcha know?”
February 1st, 2010 @ 5:20 pm
I’m glad that this is not (too) typical of political discussions in the UK!
“This isn’t about freedom of speech. Of course all Americans have the right to speak freely and openly about their opinions and that right certainly must be protected. No, this is about which speech, claims, and/or arguments deserve respect, serious consideration, and/or a place in legitimate public discourse.”
Very well put.
February 1st, 2010 @ 6:11 pm
They are a bit like the creationists or other crackpots: all they see is that their “ideas” are not taken seriously; they really don’t know why.
I don’t have a good answer; this sort of reminds me of <a href="http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp7761121.pdf"this.
You need a certain amount of awareness to recognize your own limitations. For example, when I got to graduate school in math, I groaned “I used to be good in math” because, at that more blissful time, I was unaware of how ignorant I really was.
Many of the current tea-bagger crowd is in a similar boat.
February 2nd, 2010 @ 7:04 am
Nice to read I’m not the only one!
February 2nd, 2010 @ 2:48 pm
@Steve Zara: Yeah, it definitely seems to be a particularly American thing. It’s just a nasty mess. And it sounds like their national convention may turn out to be a nasty mess, too, as there is apparently a scandal brewing regarding financing.
& Thanks!
@ollie: Excellent points! Your link wouldn’t work, though. If you have a chance, will you repost it?
@erick: Definitely! :)
February 6th, 2010 @ 9:19 am
Just to quote Hubert Humphrey
“The right to free speech does not imply the right to be taken seriously. That depends on what is said”
February 8th, 2010 @ 9:38 pm
Exactly!
September 3rd, 2010 @ 8:29 am