Archive » August 3, 2007

 

Freedom to Bamboozle

 

There is a lot of conversation these days about freedom of speech which is one of the most sacred rights of the citizens of the United States. We are a very diverse group of people who have an enormous amount of different opinions on virtually all subjects. This is one of the most important differences between us and the rest of the world. Even in Santa Barbara County and in the Santa Ynez Valley, many different religious, ethnic, and cultural groups exist harmoniously side-by-side. One of the benefits of this diversity is the plethora of restaurants featuring foods from many lands. Another benefit is the variety of personal experiences gleaned from a worldwide view based on living in different parts of the world. This affords us a perspective that is broader than the average community which is a huge advantage to us. With this comes an equally wide variety of opinions on every topic which also makes our world richer. It is truly wonderful to have so many opinions and it is equally wonderful that in our society we are allowed and, in fact, encouraged to voice our opinions.

What we do not have the freedom for is to what I call “bamboozle.” As a trained linguist with graduate degrees in the subject, I take the liberty occasionally to use words in a way perhaps not always correct in a formal way. I don’t know if “bamboozle” is in the OED (Oxford English Dictionary), but means to me, in this case, to deliberately tell the public either misinformation, leave out pertinent information, or to lie. Time and time again, these days, we hear stories of reporters who have made up events to suit their particular way of looking at things. It appears that this is an ever-increasing phenomenon in media of all types. With the 24-hour a day input of information to us all via radio, television, written material and the internet, we are constantly assaulted with the latest bulletin on whatever the favorite topic might be.

I fear that this barrage of news has become the ideal medium to “bamboozle” the public into having opinions which may not be justified by actual facts. I mentioned last week the state of the economy which, as far as the Dow is concerned has taken a correction in stride which is a normal thing to do. New investors may be skittish after last week, but long time investors have experienced this numerous times and know that corrections and profit-taking occur periodically and the market will soon rise again. It always does. It did even after the Great Depression which most of us are not old enough to have lived through but have only heard about.

So, what kind of world is it today where facts mean nothing? I have a friend, and I am sure I am not alone, who is highly educated (is that why?) who is simply not interested in facts. I find it astounding that he will vigorously argue his point, being very well-versed in the English language (we were linguistic students together) but will absolutely deny facts which I know to be true because they do not agree with his view of life. I have heard it said that people from San Francisco are totally out of touch with reality which happens to be where he lives but it is mind-boggling that reality checks are no longer a part of life for many people. If it were not such a serious issue, it would not be worth discussing but I see increasing evidence of disconnect in the various news programs I observe. One’s opinion is certainly influenced by the information one receives and if that information is severely biased by the presenter, how does one form an opinion that is legitimate? I am not speaking of differences of opinion which are certainly useful to give proper perspective to an issue and gives one something to think about, but, really, of what use is misinformation? If at noon someone tells you it is midnight and that is when the sun shines and you had no other information to tell you that this was correct or not, how are you to know if you are being told the truth? If you are not at a given location, how are you to determine what is actually happening there? Common sense tells me that you must trust your source but what if that source has not been telling you the whole story for a very long time and you were only recently made aware of that? The answer seems to be that you must look to more than one source of information, preferably one that gives more than one opinion at one location. This is fairly rare but it does exist if you look for it. Otherwise, you might assume that your information could be suspect.

 

Food Safety

 

In this day of instant recalls of food products, as a producer of food, I worry often that we are not doing enough as a society to keep our food safe. I am most definitely not advocating eating any certain thing or groups of things as I firmly believe that individuals have individual needs but I think most people not in the food business may be swayed (read that as “bamboozled”) into thinking that certain foods or food groups are more hazardous to their health than others. I think that there are general principles which may be applied here.

First, I think it is good to make sure that those people who are in charge of inspecting food are honest and have the proper tools and time to do a proper job. Ranchers have for years asked that more inspectors be hired to inspect the beef products that are consumed by millions. We want to know that the products we produce are handled in the safest way possible so that a clean, healthy item is offered to the public. Second, information about differences between pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics and growth hormones should be thoroughly disclosed so that people understand fully what has gone into the production of what they are consuming. Although this topic will be addressed in a larger article later, suffice it to say that most people do not realize that when they purchase “organic” it does not guarantee that no chemicals have ever been applied to the item. A statement that something is antibiotic-free does not mean that it is free of disease, just free of antibiotics. Do you remember the part in biology class where there was a discussion of the short, yellow pea plant being crossed with the tall, green pea plant? This is genetic engineering- scary? I don’t think so but it has been so politicized that no one knows what it means anymore. And what about foods that we import which we have no control over how it is grown? What about all of the recent problems with products brought in from China? How do we make sure that there is not a recall a day? I am not trying to raise anything more than a question about our priorities and how we keep our food supply safe. Would it not make sense to keep most of our food supply local or at least within our borders? If we have adequate regulations in place and listen to suggestions from our food producers who probably know more about their product than most, perhaps we will retain the distinction of having the safest and cheapest food in the world.

 

Colony Collapse

 

Have you heard about colony collapse? Do you know what it means? I have heard over the last two weeks that the honey bees that pollinate fruits and vegetables have been disappearing. In fact, as much as one quarter of the bee population have vanished due to unknown reasons. One third of all fruits and vegetable we normally see at any one time could totally disappear off our grocery store shelves.

For people who are allergic to bees, this might be welcome news since stings from them can result in anaphylactic shock and death, but even they will miss the huge variety of fruits and veggies that we have all become accustomed to all year long. Growing up in California, we are especially blessed with a bounty of items running the whole range of colors and flavors. We would miss a lot if scientists are unable to determine the cause and correct it.

 

August Holiday

 

This is the month that many families finally have the time to take off to the mountains, the beach, some foreign land or just to hang out in the back yard to relax. School starts soon and the weather in many parts of the world will soon begin to cool to an unpleasant level not conducive to relaxing in the outdoors. This is not to say that winter vacations with all of the attendant snow activities are not equally wonderful but those usually occur during Christmas or early spring holidays.

August, on the other hand, is a time to go to the lake, the ocean or the cooler mountains. Not so this year, fellow Valleyites! Your wise Board of Supervisors has decided to spare you the expense and the accompanying potential for injury from hiking, biking, swimming or sunning by planning a breakneck schedule of public hearings, all during the dog days of August to keep your minds nimble, your fingers tapping on your computers, and your cars running from one public hearing to another. Please notice the variety of local topics you will be asked to express your opinion on. It is very important that if you cannot attend to voice your opinion that you do so through a representative. There are numerous Valley groups who will be speaking at these meetings which will form the basis for legislation which will affect us for the foreseeable future. If you yourself cannot attend a meeting, please send a letter, email or phone call to someone who can. Do not let your voice go unheard. Those with agendas will certainly be there and if they do not speak for you, your wishes will not be known. And here’s a thank you, in advance, for taking the time and effort to participate in the future of your Valley.  Have a great holiday!