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Making [bleep] Up, or Facts Have Biases
Feb. 2nd, 2009 08:49 amThere is a very irritating trend in modern political discourse. I speak of the trend to just Make Shit Up, or invent "facts" that conveniently support the author's argument.
For an example, see today's Wall Street Journal, where a pair of economists argue that FDR's New Deal prolonged the Great Depression. Well, this is flat wrong. First, see this site. Note please that the nation's GDP fell about 25% during Hoover's administration, and steadily increased under FDR's, except the period 1937=1938, when FDR backed off of his stimulus package. Regarding the bogus employment claims of the Wall Street Journal opinion piece, see this post.
ETA For a line-by-line de-bullshitting of the Wall Street Journal post, see here. Shorter post: Hours worked is not a good measure of economic recovery.
Now, making up facts is not solely a Republican thing. ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arguing that he couldn't call witnesses at his impeachment trial. Wrong - he could, but chose not to. There were certain witnesses he was not able to call, but that list also applied to the prosecution.
Allowing people to roll their own facts is a dangerous thing, since rational people attempt to make decisions on facts. Garbage In, Garbage Out - bad facts equal bad decisions.
Here's the kicker - people Make Shit Up because facts have biases. It's a fact, for example, that the Republican party controlled the Federal government from 2000 to 2006, and government was tied from 2006 to 2008. It's also a fact that the Federal budget went from surplus to massive deficit. When you state those facts, the obvious implication or bias is that the Republicans caused the deficit.
Similarly, it's a fact that over the same time period, the economy has had two recessions: 2000-2001 and 2008-present. Again, in as much as the government controls the economy, the implication is obvious. Most folks get this - can we say "President Obama?"
Much like everybody's favorite ex-Governor, allowing these facts to stand put the Makers of Shit Up at a serious disadvantage. Thus, new "facts" must be created. And when new "facts" are created, rational people need to call out the inventors.
For an example, see today's Wall Street Journal, where a pair of economists argue that FDR's New Deal prolonged the Great Depression. Well, this is flat wrong. First, see this site. Note please that the nation's GDP fell about 25% during Hoover's administration, and steadily increased under FDR's, except the period 1937=1938, when FDR backed off of his stimulus package. Regarding the bogus employment claims of the Wall Street Journal opinion piece, see this post.
ETA For a line-by-line de-bullshitting of the Wall Street Journal post, see here. Shorter post: Hours worked is not a good measure of economic recovery.
Now, making up facts is not solely a Republican thing. ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arguing that he couldn't call witnesses at his impeachment trial. Wrong - he could, but chose not to. There were certain witnesses he was not able to call, but that list also applied to the prosecution.
Allowing people to roll their own facts is a dangerous thing, since rational people attempt to make decisions on facts. Garbage In, Garbage Out - bad facts equal bad decisions.
Here's the kicker - people Make Shit Up because facts have biases. It's a fact, for example, that the Republican party controlled the Federal government from 2000 to 2006, and government was tied from 2006 to 2008. It's also a fact that the Federal budget went from surplus to massive deficit. When you state those facts, the obvious implication or bias is that the Republicans caused the deficit.
Similarly, it's a fact that over the same time period, the economy has had two recessions: 2000-2001 and 2008-present. Again, in as much as the government controls the economy, the implication is obvious. Most folks get this - can we say "President Obama?"
Much like everybody's favorite ex-Governor, allowing these facts to stand put the Makers of Shit Up at a serious disadvantage. Thus, new "facts" must be created. And when new "facts" are created, rational people need to call out the inventors.
