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lisashaffer

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How do you know what’s true?

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In my last blog post, I asked how we can be educated about important issues and feel confident that we are getting fact-based information. I have several recommendations, none of which are my own unique ideas.

  1. Check your sources. Who is writing or speaking? Instead of reading someone’s interpretation of a new policy or a speech by a public official, try to find the actual documents. Read the speech or policy yourself. It takes more time to read original sources, but it will help you understand commentaries you may find online. It will also allow you to calibrate the commentators.
  2. If you read secondary sources, ask whether they have an agenda that they might be advocating. Anonymous posts are less likely to be objective. Ask yourself why someone might be afraid of putting their name on their views. Academics aren’t inherently objective, but are more likely to document statements they make, and provide back-up references that you can check out for yourself.
  3. Look for multiple but independent sources. If you read the same thing in multiple places, it might add credibility, but often people just repeat what they read somewhere else.

It is well known that confirmation bias affects most of us – this is a phenomenon in which we tend to believe information that confirms what we think we already know, and we discount information that conflicts with our existing perspectives. It takes awareness and effort to be open to the possibility that we might not know everything, that new information might mean we have to adjust our position on an issue. That’s important, because reaching consensus and healing some of the deep divisions that exist will require people to be humble and open to new ideas.

And remember: just because you saw it on the internet, doesn’t mean it’s true, and just because a conservative spokesperson said it, doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t true.

“I don’t pay attention to politics”

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I met a young man, a recent MBA, working for a financial advisory company. In his attempt to establish a connection, he asked if I was a fan of the Golden State Warriors, since I live in California. He is in the midwest. I laughed a bit and said I wasn’t even sure what sport he was talking about. Later in an email exchange, I said “I’m not much on sports, but if you ever want to talk politics, I’m all ears.”

“I don’t pay attention to politics” was his reply. OMG. Is there a hotter hot button for me than that? Apathy? Privilege? The sense that one doesn’t have to pay attention? So I responded, perhaps a bit more bluntly than he was accustomed to.  Here’s my reply:

“If you don’t pay attention to politics, you aren’t being a responsible adult. There is some serious stuff happening in local, state, and national politics that impacts all of us, especially younger folks who are going to have to live with the consequences for longer than I will. So please DO pay attention. You don’t have to agree with me on any particular issue, but you should think critically about how different representatives have acted and might act in the future, and how their actions might impact all of us. Think about truth-telling, public safety (Michigan lawmakers occupying your capitol and threatening your governor!), voter access, racial justice, climate change, tax policy, and accountability, among many other issues. I may sound preachy, but I’m quite serious. I would not hire anyone and I don’t really want to work with anyone who enjoys the benefits of our society without taking seriously their responsibility for engaging in the political system, so please pay attention. Not just for me, but for you and your family and your community.

End of lecture.”

After a day, he wrote back, and said he had given my message a lot of thought. He said he may have misrepresented his awareness of the importance of the issues. He said he does pay attention, and he does vote for his values and encourage others to do the same.

He concluded with “I meant to say I give a lot of thought and attention to these issues without paying attention to the bloodsport that is within the political news. …I don’t have apathy or indifference towards politics in general, but rather a general distaste that leads to ‘not paying attention to’ much of the political news.”

I felt better about him, but still discouraged. How do we know what’s going on if we don’t pay attention to political news. It’s not an original idea for me to write that many sources for so-called political news are not objective, and are not driven by a desire to educate the public. What drives many of our information sources is a desire to sell advertisements, to cater to a selective audience that already holds clearly defined views, and to stir up controversy.

So how can we be educated about the issues? How do we know who stands for what? Are there sources that we can trust to be objective and unbiased? Stay tuned for my next blog post for some answers.

Jeff Bezos and me

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My book is now available on Amazon. I didn’t want to do it. I did not publish the book through Amazon, but I just released it through IngramSpark, which is a publishing site linked to independent bookstores, and it also distributes through Amazon. So you can click here you can order the paperback version. I’m told that within a few weeks the ebook version will also be available.

Amazon is a challenge for me. I teach business ethics and corporate social responsibility to college students. I believe one responsibility corporations have is to pay their fair share in taxes to support public investment and social services. I don’t like it when fully employed people need to use publicly funded health care services while their employer reaps huge profits and pays no taxes. I don’t like it when gig workers need unemployment support while Uber and Lyft pay nothing into those funds. I don’t like it when Amazon deliveries depend on the USPS, publicly funded streets and airports, and can call on public safety services if there is an emergency all, while paying nothing in corporate taxes. I know it’s legal, but it’s not right. And it was corporate lobbyists who pushed to create those legal tax breaks for corporations.

At the same time, Amazon is pretty amazing. Jeff Bezos had a better idea and he executes it well. I can simply type in the name or description of what I’m looking for and, with a few clicks, it arrives at my house the next day. I want innovation to thrive, and I want innovators to be able to reap the rewards of their innovations. The challenge is to find that balance between individualism and community; between greed and interdependence.

I don’t think we are anywhere close to the right balance yet. Recent proposals for taxing very high incomes, closing corporate tax loopholes, and maybe even a wealth tax, could make a big difference. Once you have a few billion dollars in your account, would you even notice if the government took a percent or two?

What we need (yes, my middle name should be Pollyanna) is to build trust in government, so that people believe that their tax dollars will be well spent and not wasted. Our taxes are an investment in our quality of life, and the debate should be about which elected officials will invest with the highest return, not who can lower our taxes the most and leave us struggling to meet our challenges.

We also need to (re)build a sense of connection and shared humanity – a sense that what happens to anyone impacts everyone. My thoughts on racism and social justice and privilege will go in other blog posts. In short, I believe that much of what is framed as concern about government waste, or allegations of socialism, is really a cover for overt or subconscious racism, which stems from a deep fear and insecurity, stoked by those in power who haven’t figured out that life is not a zero sum game.

For now, the point of this post is to say that my book is on Amazon and I have mixed feelings about that. I will continue to make it available through other channels as well, working to promote it to independent bookstores. If there is an independent bookstore near you, please ask them to order a copy. And if you live in the San Diego area, contact me through this website and I can offer free next day delivery without Amazon!

 

 

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