I have several comments to make in regard to much that has gone on in this thread. First and foremost would be that the Dope’s motto is “Fighting Ignorance,” not assailing it! We are all ignorant of far more than we know. Does this render us worthless as human beings, or does it just mean there is far more knowledge to be had than can be absorbed?
Secondly, Dopers in the main are pretty much an elite (and sometimes elitist) bunch. They tend to be very involved both emotionally and intellectually in the issues of the day, and they seem to have more time available to spend researching the issues that resonate with them. To a certain degree they live in an ivory tower that most people in America – or the world, for that matter – simply don’t have time for. Most people are involved with jobs and bosses and finances and children and errands, etc., and simply don’t have the time nor inclination to pursue the issues that come up here as thoroughly as do many Dopers. Many get their impressions of an issue based on what they read or see on television, and if no one refutes the things that are said, there is absolutely nothing to trigger the idea that it should be looked into further. Let’s take the issue of whether or not Terri’s husband is the only one who said she didn’t want to be kept alive artificially. This is only one of a great many assertions or statements made in the course of a thirty minute or one hour television program. Is one to sit there with a stenographer, take down every word that is spoken, and then set about to research its veracity?
Of course not. Unless somebody calls bullshit on it (and I’ve seen that assertion made all over the media, not just Fox) it simply doesn’t occur to most of us to look into the statement further. It would be totally unworkable to try to verify every statement made on these shows.
This does not mean that the viewer does not have a right to an opinion, and it doesn’t mean they are to become a source of rage and/or assailed when some aspect of their opinion turns out to be in error.
In regard to my own case, my lack of knowledge regarding Shiavo was the result of time allocation regarding news stories and other items of interest. When I turn on the television, read a magazine or go to an online news site, I’m confronted with a virtually unlimited number of things to read or listen to. Since I can’t get to everything I want to find out about, I weed out the things that I either have no interest in or feel would be too complex to get into at the time. The latter is the case regarding Terri Shiavo. There seemed to be too many conflicting aspects to it, and whatever the result it was bound to be an unhappy ending, so I pretty much avoided it given that there was nothing I could do about it anyway. Still, I was left with the impression that her husband was the only one saying she would have wanted to die, and since I’d heard nothing to the contrary, it never occurred to me that it should be looked into further.
Which brings up the subject of court rulings. Many say “You should have known, given court ruling after court ruling, that there was plenty of evidence that she had told others she wanted to die.” Part of the reason I didn’t is due to what I explained in the paragraph above, and part of it is due to the fact that courts themselves often disagree on these things. What one judge will accept as fact will be thrown out by another and so on. Therefore, I simply haven’t developed the habit of looking to the courts for definitive answers on things.
Thirdly, I see an awful lot of judgementalism going on in this thread. “I know such and so, you fucking tool, and therefore you should know it as well or you better not open your yap!” Well, there’s quite a problem with that if you don’t happen to be a mind-reader. And of course, this type of attitude really boils down to a demand for self-imposed censorship. People are entitled to their opinions and they are entitled to speak those opinions. If it turns out they are in the wrong, this should be brought to light, but not with the snide, self-satisfied and judgemental type of attitude so prevalent throughout this thread.
And forth, there seems to be an awful lot of smug superiority at work here at the Dope. Take eleanorigby’s comment below:
"As to the OP–sadly, I think he’s right. America has the attention span of ADD afflicted 2 year olds–what will be remembered is that the Right tried to save a life and the Left (those demon people) tried to end it.
God, I wish I lived in a smarter country sometimes." <snip>
I’ve always thought one of the main tenets of liberalism is that we are all human beings and we are all equal in terms of intelligence and ability. Blacks and women are no different than men, and the people of any one particular country are no better in such terms than the people of another country.
Yet here we have such smug and superior comments about the people of America and no one contests it. In fact, this “America is stupid” and “America sucks” mentality is routinely guite prevalent throughout many threads in both the Pit and GD.
When I was younger, I couldn’t wait to get out of the unsophisticated, hick midwest and get to where the cool people were and where the action was. Then, when I got older and was able to get out and around in the world, I found out it was just the same everywhere. Local news programs were just as stupid, commercials were just as stupid, people still drove like idiots (or worse)…and even worse, there were things about my new locations that were worse than where I’d come from.
So perhaps it’s just a quality of youth – this disdain for America and its people --but it certainly doesn’t lend much credibility to the ignorance-fighting aspects of these peoples’ posts.
So in short, I’d say I would like to see a hell of a lot more of a live-and-let live attitude prevail around here, one where people could be made aware of it in those cases where they are in error on this subject or that, without it being made into an elitist mob-mentality attack on the person in error wherein the attempt is made to tear them apart.
If this were a jungle and not cyberspace, I’d be in tiny little pieces by now. And that’s not right, especially on a board where everyone aspires to a higher standard than the norm.
