Me

Me

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Dichotomy of Truth

    My masters thesis consisted of 113 pages, contained 322 footnotes, which were all garnered from 38 different sources. Now all of this was just for my simple little masters thesis, which took me a little less than one whole year to complete and subsequently defend. The thesis is of little to no consequence to anybody but myself and possibly my advising professor, thought I am sure he has already forgotten about it. However, it was what is required of many people who go on for advanced degrees. It proves we can manufacture an original idea, or thesis, and do the work required to back it up and defend it, which is the ultimate proof that we are not that crazy. But, here is the little secret, when you sit down to really do it, finding and doing the research is actually enjoyable and not that hard. The fact that your research contributes to the evidence that you are not completely insane with your thesis, makes it all the more rewarding. It is with this thought in mind that I am politely requesting our politicians to please stop outright lying. No, I am demanding it.

     Had I been disingenuous or dishonest with my research I would have failed, period. Two years of studying down the drain, years of tuition money wasted, and more importantly my reputation damaged beyond repair. I could never return to another "reputable" school. Not to mention I have a conscious. So, as I stated before, all of my work is of zero consequence to anybody but me, how come if I mess up I have a higher price to pay then lets say Michele Bachmann? Beginning simply, a quick Google search of John Wayne or Waterloo, Iowa for that matter would have given her ample proof that, in fact she did not have the correct information when she stated the famous western star was also from Waterloo, Iowa. Somebody in her camp should have been fired, or she should have been discredited. Further proof of her inability to tell the truth was her ludicrous statement that the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation. The John Wayne lie, or misinformation, was just a plain little white lie, no harm, no foul. The HPV vaccine lie has the potential to harm many young women's lives throughout the country. If I ever contributed to a lie that could potentially cause the death of one person, I could not live with myself. But, then again, as also stated earlier, I have a conscious.

     Going back to my original point, why are we letting opportunistic politicians make false statements that have the potential to cause great harm? Is it because some of us just plainly do not want to hear the truth? Those little truths that might add a little inconvenience to our lives are so repugnant to many, is utterly mind blowing to me. Which brings me to the Rick Perry phenomenon. I would love to see the research for his book, when I say research, what I mean by that is the notes he wrote on his research before he wrote his damning book filled with claims about Americans being lied to. It is just as near as the bible to some people, who take his word as seriously as the gospel. Then again, he tells the certain population out there what they want to hear, double for his debates. Lets take his claim that many scientists are now questioning the claim that climate change is caused by human beings. Now, I believe that got just a "False" rating on politifact, but it should have gotten a "Pants on Fire" rating in my opinion. If you read the research that politifact does for you, you come across the 2010 study by the US National Academy of Science. Their study found that out of the 1,372 climate researchers a gigantic 97-98% of them have recently written that they in fact do believe climate change is caused by human beings. Why can he make that claim without any repercussions?

     Now to get down to it, I am a moderate. You search moderates, Jon Huntsman, our president, and people like David Brooks or Paul Krugman (who admittedly is very liberal, but I do love him!), do they have "False" claims, yeah, but nothing outrageous that puts the health of people or the world at stake and in grave danger. Honestly. I did 15 minutes of research for this post and realized that no, not every politician does this. In fact, many of them do not. Why are we letting the quack jobs and nut-bags (do not get me started Palin) take over our political rhetoric. As an American I am totally ashamed at what comes out of there mouth. As a moderate I am confused as to why someone like Jon Huntsman is not taken more seriously, when he is the most contentious of what he is saying. As an over-educated waitress, I am becoming increasingly bitter that politicians who are not even qualified to take orders at McDonalds are continually looked up to and actually encouraged to behave the way they do. But then again, as I said before, I have a conscious. 

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