Yesterday, I mentioned how lies seem to dominate the American political landscape. And nowhere are these lies so blatantly obvious as in an area where politics really should play no part. I am of course referring to the area of science, which many politicians who are, frankly, unqualified in their field, still nevertheless want to loudly proclaim their opinions and seem to demand that these opinions be respected and considered.
The only problem is that they are not worth being either respected nor considered.
The latest example that I just casually ran into last night - without researching (honest!) - was this perfect illustration of a politician who even admits to not being qualified to talk about the science behind climate change, yet instead of opting to remain silent, chose instead to make some ridiculous comments to suggest what might be the cause of rising temperatures globally.
His name is Scott Wagner, and you will surely be shocked to learn that he s a member of the GOP, right? He represents the 28th district in Pennsylvania, and is running in this year's gubernatorial race, as well. And like many Republicans, especially in this era of Trump, he seems to have a strange relationship with climate change that seems to disregard the facts.
Well, actually, as far as Republicans go on this issue, Wagner is actually quite ahead of his time. he does believe that climate change is real, and even concedes that some of it is caused by human activity, for that matter.
However, he did not leave it there, of course. He decided to go ahead and offer some other alternatives about what might cause, or at least contribute to climate change.
According to State Impact, an NPR affiliate, Wagner stated:
"I haven’t been in a science class in a long time, but the earth moves closer to the sun every year -- you know the rotation of the earth. We’re moving closer to the sun."
"We have more people. You know, humans have warm bodies. So is heat coming off? Things are changing, but I think we are, as a society, doing the best we can."
So, the Earth is moving closer to the sun, even though scientists will quickly point out that the rotation of the Earth around the sun every year also pulls us further back from the sun. So, that is not a relevant argument. And the body temperature thing? Seriously?
Well, he was right about not having been in a science class in a long time. Too bad that was what he chose to show off when it came to his supposed expertise in what might cause climate change. This might have been the perfect opportunity for him simply to remain silent and not speak out. That is how you learn about science, whether in a school classroom, or in general. Perhaps Wagner might want to listen to the real experts on this issue, instead of focusing on making sure everyone hears his own beliefs, which sound...well, a bit ludicrous and very unscientific, frankly.
Here are the links to the two articles that I used in writing this particular blog entry:
GOP Candidate Scott Wagner Explains Climate Change: ‘We’re Moving Closer To The Sun’ OCTOBER 17, 2018 BY MICHAEL STONE:
PA GOPer’s climate change theory debunked: Nope, not getting closer to the sun By Anna Orso on Friday, March 31st, 2017:
Part of me wonders whether people like Wagner are truly as stupid as they appear on the surface, or if they're merely pretending to be that stupid so as to manipulate their willfully ignorant bases. Granted, as a former coworker of mine used to say, "It could be a little of Column A and a little of Column B", i.e. they're not mutually exclusive. Not that it really matters: the people who vote for these clowns are definitely not "pretending" to be off-the-charts stupid. They're the genuine article.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't believe that these elected officials are necessarily this dumb. In fact, I believe that they go to such extraordinary lengths, even humiliating themselves by looking stunning stupid, in order to keep their big polluting corporate sponsors. The sad thing is, as you say, the level of support that these crooked politicians continue to get, because as you said, their supporters are not pretending to be this stupid by any stretch of the imagination.
ReplyDeleteIt's more than a little disheartening. I've known for quite some time, as you undoubtedly have, that there's a lot of rampant stupidity out there, and people in the political and corporate worlds who take full advantage of that in order to advance their agendas. But the last two years have shown that it's even worse than I imagined.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, I have long suspected that someone like Trump was inevitable in this country, although admittedly, I did not believe it would be Trump himself. I mean, how is it possible that a miserable billionaire elitist is someone that many true idiots feel that they can relate to, and vice versa? It seemed to me clear as daylight that this was a miserable fucking human being back in the 1980's, when I first heard of him, and I was just a kid at the time! You just know that there is something wrong with a spoiled brat billionaire who never seems happy. But, when I stopped to think about it, there is an element that makes sense, and which I perhaps should have foreseen better.
DeleteI know, that's what kills me. I mean, taken out of context, there's actually a part of Trump-supporter alienation that I wholeheartedly identify with and enthusiastically support.
ReplyDeleteTHEM: "We're tired of arrogant, out of touch, elitist politicians who pretend to care about us!"
ME: "Hear, hear! I couldn't agree with you more!"
THEM: "That's why we support Donald Trump!"
ME: [...]
THEM: "You got real quiet-like all of a sudden. What's the matter?"
Me: [...]
I mean for fuck's sake, these people are supposedly fed up with arrogant elitists, so they vote for the POSTER BOY for arrogant elitists. A guy who's lived a life of pampered luxury from day one, who can't possibly relate to people in the real world and, more to the point, couldn't give less of a rat's ass about them. THAT'S their idea of a salt-of-the-earth man of the people who pulled himself up by his bootstraps, of an empathetic figure who shares their concerns? Someone who'll champion their cause? I remember posting a comment on Yahoo once challenging Trump supporters to cite any empirical evidence that Trump actually cares about anyone other than himself, and the best anyone could come up with was "Well, his casinos create jobs." Right, Trump was thinking of cleaning the rooms, making the beds, preparing the meals, serving the drinks and repairing the broken slot machines himself, but then selflessly decided to hire others to do those jobs instead. I'm reminded of some interview of Bill Maher from a few years ago, in which the person interviewing him quoted him as having described Americans as stupid. The interviewer basically tried to give Bill Maher an out – a chance to backpedal and say "I didn't really mean that, that was taken out of context". Instead, he essentially responded, "Yes, that's what I said, and I stand by it. Americans are stupid." Sadly, there are vast legions of assholes out there who make it exceedingly difficult to disagree with him.
Yes, I feel the same way. I can totally understand how sick of elitist establishment politicians are who ae for the status quo. But Donald Trump has always been the ultimate pampered elitist, and he most certainly wants to maintain the status quo. What he does, however, is he packages it in a rebellious, arrogant, cynical biting comment style that appeals to the working class people, and if there is genius to him, it is in selling this. They feel like he is speaking his mind, which reflects their prejudices (literally). And since he is not that smart, they can relate, as well. I saw a cartoon recently about how Trump is planning to take away their healthcare, and one of his followers turns to the person next to him and comments about how he loves the way Trump pisses off the liberals. Indeed, in a country where anti-intellectualism is likened to liberal "elitist" policies, being anti-liberal and/or anti-intellectual appears to be something that working class people feel that they can trust, even though time and time again, they actually vote against their own best interests in so doing. It's a ridiculous cycle that's more than a little frustrating to watch and, as you said, it's the reason why Americans have "earned" a reputation around the world for being stubbornly stupid often times. Things like the Iraq war and the 2004 and 2016 elections also do not help alleviate that image, and the recent spike in hate crimes and huge publicity of hate groups adds a very dark element to that willful stupidity.
ReplyDeleteYou used the word "cycle", and to me that's a very apt way of putting it. When I was younger, I felt that people overall were getting smarter, and that progress was linear, by which I mean, once something improved in any meaningful, tangible way, there was simply no going back. How quaintly naïve I was to think that. I realized long ago that for every improvement in the living conditions of people who aren't at the top of the socioeconomic hierarchy, there are always going to be people determined to turn back the clock by relentlessly undermining and circumventing them. They find and exploit every conceivable loophole. It's a never-ending struggle. Given your fondness for Greek mythology, I'm sure you're familiar with Sisyphus, eternally condemned to push a boulder up a steep hill, only to have it roll back to the bottom, at which point he has to start over again. That's what it starts to feel like – endless strife and struggle to achieve some modicum of progress, while fighting a quixotic battle to keep would-be saboteurs at bay. It's one thing when said saboteurs are powerful people with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo, it's another when, as you accurately point out, powerful people convince the not-so-powerful to adopt a mindset that's clearly self-defeating. The 1% must piss themselves laughing, actually – "This is too fucking easy, it's like taking candy from a baby."
ReplyDelete