Another essay

Here's another essay, from 1995, from Englsh 1A at RCC. My teacher was a perfect dimwit and I dropped out because I couldn't take it anymore. Had I finished this class, I would be walking around today with an Associate of Science Degree in Electronics in my back pocket and my hammer in my hand. As it is, I just have this hammer in my hand...

The Cult of Confusion

These days, it seems, a clear-thinking individual is hard to come by. As more and more issues surface where there seems to be no clear-cut answer, the result is often confusion. Like cancer, confusion in one matter seems to spread into others. Now, we have in America a society of scholars who have accepted a clear and simple task; to keep an ever-vigilant eye on our government and our society, in the hopes that the greater flow of information can keep America on course. Im speaking, of course, of the news media. These people are supposed to be the elite, the cream-of -the-crop. I know they have all had at least one course in logic. How they let confusion reign when they have the power and means to shine the light is beyond me.

The media likes to hide behind the fact that they must stay objective, however, objectivity does not mean you cant take a position. For example, if I say The sun rises in the west, you can take the position that the sun rises in the east and still maintain objectivity. If I say Liver and onions tastes horrible, there is no position you can take which will be objective. The point here is that there is such a thing as Objective Truth. Between Objective Truth and Subjective Opinion lies a gaping chasm and bottomless pit. This is where confusion, befuddlement, disorder, distraction, perplexity, and discord lie in wait for the hapless philosopher in each of us.

Much like a puddle, in which it only takes a second to stir-up all the gunk at the bottom and hours to settle back down to clarity, once you fall into the chasm of confusion, its hard to get out. Since you obviously made the mistake of falling in there, you may not have the tools to get yourself out. Too often, people reach into their mental tool bag and grab Emotion, leaving the dusty tool of Logic behind. Emotion is great, but you cannot laugh or cry your way out, you must use reason. The puddle will only settle if it is left completely alone. This is where the media fails us. It seems to me, every time a confusing issue comes up, the media keeps poking the finger of confusion into the puddle, never allowing it to settle, when a few carefully chosen words, expressing Objective Truth, would have sufficed and the confused among us might have figured it out.

Case in point: A lady goes to McDonalds, gets coffee, drives off and spills it in her lap, burning her badly. No-one bothered to tell her, If you dont want third degree burns in your lap, dont spill it there. Coffee is HOT! Why the hell were you driving around with hot coffee in your lap?!!? Was there any opinion in the statement above? Sure it could have been said more sensitively, but when such a ridiculous matter has the potential of affecting real people, there is no time for sugar-coating. The people, already confused after years of subjectivism, awarded her millions of McDonalds hard-earned money. Even after the fact, there should have been an outcry from the media but all we heard was, A lady got millions for spilling coffee in her lap. How does this make you feel?

Another example, this one from our textbook, Voices and Visions: A Texas cable company cancels MTV in response to complaints about content. Many letters expressing concern on both sides of the issue were received by both the cable company and the local papers, Im sure. However, the letters chosen to be included in our textbook were fine examples of irrationality and confusion. One letter called it censorship. Another said he had the right to choose what to watch. This confusion could have easily been avoided had someone simply said, If you want to watch MTV, go buy a satellite dish and get it yourself. This Cable company has the right to choose what programs it offers. No-one is restricting your right to choose. In the ensuing frenzy of confusion over whose rights superseded whose, every Americans rights were called into question and the only result was more confusion.

It all seems to boil down to rights. Everyone is confused as to where his/her rights end and yours begin. The words sorely lacking from the media are, You have the right to pursue happiness. You also have the right to get lost in your pursuit. You do NOT have the right to find it. You have the right to be a jerk and I have the right to protect myself from jerks. You have the right to not work. You also have the right to starve when you cannot buy food. If someone wants to, they have a right to help you as they see fit. You have the right to speak freely. I have the right to not have to listen to you. You have the right to buy coffee and spill it in your lap. These words, and more along the same lines, would do much to dispel the mass confusion afflicting this country. The end result of all this is that our rights get taken away. How our rights, granted by God to all human beings and protected by our elected government, can be taken away by men is unfathomable. This could only have happened in a climate of confusion. The media is asleep at the wheel, or in knowing complicity. They are either perpetuating or fostering confusion, and since we can assume they are scholars and learned men and women who would not be likely to fall for such simple fallacies of logic, we can safely assume it is the latter.