Information Malpractice

We Know We’re Right – Don’t Confuse Us With Facts

Physicians are ethically and legally required to obtain a patient’s complete medical history. A specialist might focus on the treatments for one disease and ignore any problems caused by the interaction between treatments the patient receives for this problem and another. The formal term is contraindication. There are “good Samaritan” waivers at an accident scene, but generally, a physician who does not look for possible contraindications is committing malpractice.

Governments and societies in the Eurozone and Anglosphere are in a crisis because self-appointed or anointed “healers” have cures for society and the planet and are practicing a different type of malpractice.

They quote Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” This quote about facts is, in fact, not a fact. Moynihan was referring to falsehoods, which are not facts. But in another sense, he is wrong. We always choose.

Given the volume of facts in the universe, we are always aware of some more than others. That doesn’t mean we choose lies or false information. We select different sets of facts. Sometimes, our choices overlap. At other times, they differ entirely. We select information sources to help us choose our set of facts.

The famous “All the news that’s fit to print” must also mean “all the news that fits.” A publication, reading schedule, or even the human mind has limited space. We are always choosing between facts. Sometimes, the choice is relatively benign because we are doing our best to be informed. We can, of course, lie by omission and refuse to deal with facts we don’t want to hear.

Everyone has a narrative or worldview that guides or, in some cases, narrows their selection of allowable facts. In other cases, they may be in a social group with a clear understanding that only certain opinions and facts are acceptable. This framework is known as an “Overton Window,” which sets a border around what can be discussed in polite company.

Thomas Sowell describes a split in society in The Vision of The Anointed, where he explains that a group of self-declared saviors see the need to save the rest of the population, which they consider “Benighted.” In their view, they have the answers, and there can be no contraindications.

The Overton Window of the Anointed allows only affirming information. The reality of life for the rest of the population is called misinformation. A “complete information history” is not permitted.

The Anointed are determined to save the planet from global warming, climate change, or whatever it will be called next. They talk about plans like Net Zero and 30 by 30. The initial environmental goals of cleaner air and water made sense to the public and were not all that costly. But now things are different.

Cheap energy powers industry and a better lifestyle. It also powers what keeps us comfortable and preserves our food. Artificial intelligence, cell phone apps, and everything we do online are handled by vast “server farms” that use vast amounts of energy.

Any increase in the cost of energy ripples through the economy and shows up in everyone’s budget. I recall a survey asking how much people would pay monthly to “save the planet” from climate change. Support virtually disappeared by the one hundred dollar level.

Yet the Anointed seem utterly deaf on this point. They are determined to increase the price of energy to “teach those people a lesson” about the need to use less energy. Really? Our societies are facing a decrease in the standard of living as a result of this strategy. The public is angry, and any attempt to complain is “misinformation.”

Do the Anointed understand that “renewable energy” sounds like the fantasy of college sophomores in a 2 A.M. dorm room session? Any power source that doesn’t run 24/7 and depends on the sun or wind seems insane to the “unenlightened.” The lifetime costs of digging up the materials to produce and transport these devices and dealing with them when they expire are absurd. They also take vast land areas, threaten birds and sea life, and need backup sources when inactive. Other than that, they’re fantastic.

Many people can’t afford the increased cost of energy and energy-dependent products resulting from the net-zero movement. It is their ultimate contraindication, and their leaders need to change gears. Yet they see their pain barely reported, and their leaders don’t care. Even worse, the German Green Party forced the country to shut down nuclear power plants that produced relatively cheap electricity and had no CO² emissions.

Increased energy costs are lowering living standards and job opportunities, and the Anointed refuse to see it. Even worse. They refuse to hear anything that contradicts what they want to hear. That is why all their governments are in crisis. “Let them eat cake” is a dangerous phrase.

Voting is a civilized, non-violent way for the public to send a message. People are voting for “populist” or “right-wing” parties to do that. What is the message? They’re not voting for the parties on the right simply because they don’t want the parties on the left.

It is more than right and left. The public votes for the parties on the right to tell the Anointed they are wrong.