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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)
America Needs Strengthened Mental Muscles To Recover From Flabby Decision-Making
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you have to concentrate on." (President George W. Bush, joking at the Gridiron Club Dinner, 2001.)
Are you among those on whom former president Bush might have concentrated? I would include nearly all supporters of the so-called Tea Party and the Republican Party.
About ten years ago, a freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High in Idaho Falls, Idaho won the top prize at a science fair by demonstrating how easy it was to fool people. He collected signatures on a petition demanding strict control of dihydrogen monoxide. He listed the hazards:
- It can cause excessive sweating and vomiting.
- It is a major component in acid rain.
- It can cause severe burns in its gaseous state.
- Accidental inhalation can kill you.
- It contributes to erosion.
- It decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
- It has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients.
He also asked respondents if they would support a total ban on the use of this chemical. Forty-three of fifty favored that idea, six were undecided and the other, recognizing that the chemical dihydrogen monoxide is water (H2o), declined.
The title of the prize-winning project was "How Gullible Are We?" The answer to his question, I submit, is "quite." And not because of a willingness to ban something needed for life or failure to recognize the chemical name of water, but because of the nature of politics in contemporary America. We are becoming an intellectual third-word country with regard to the development of our capacity for reason and critical thought in the vital sphere of economics and public policy choices.
Consider the extent to which Republicans and Tea Party activists seem genuinely worried about socialism, tyranny and the like. Bizarre issues, like Obama's birth certificate, alleged secret government plans to kill grannies and countless conspiracy theories constitute an endless pile of rubbish, served up by mountebanks (e.g., Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin and nearly all Republican leaders), embraced by otherwise normal citizens—by the millions. How can so many be so easily fooled by comic book characters? I submit it is only because their decision-making processes have gotten flabby from disuse or lack of development. America desperately needs a stimulus package that would provide massive aide for mental fitness training, vigorous exercises for the mind that will boost the effectiveness of the public's capacity for clearer, more rational thinking. Reason is in desperately short supply. If things get worse, the kind of Republican message we hear 24/7 on Fox News could sweep the demigods into power—and that would be the end of REAL wellness based on reason, exuberance, mental athleticism and liberty.
A lot of the irrationality in plain view is due to economic and other fears brought on by massive unemployment, the wave of foreclosures, the depleted retirement accounts and all the rest. A large segment of the population has been fed a story line that explains everything from a hard right Republican perspective. As a result of the Republican message, people are thinking so back-asswards that they see solutions in buying ammunition, hoarding gold and stocking up on survival food. Mass insanity is not such a stretch. Instead, it is a phrase that closely describes and explains the over-the-top opposition to health care reform and other extreme resistance to the Administration's programs that sensibly address national problems.
The nation is in desperate need of critical thinking lessons, reminders, tips and resources. Too bad these elements were not in the health care reform package just passed. All are needed much more than greater access to and payment plans for pills, potions, prescriptions and providers of medical care.
So, what do you think about your own vulnerability to being taken? Are you easy prey, or do you view Tea Party petitions, labels, advertising and conspiracy theories with doubt, skepticism and reason?
How can this country's leaders who are not focused on scaring people into voting Republican persuade consumers to empower themselves with reason? How can we persuade more Americans to learn effective decision making principles and develop a greater resistance to purveyors of simple solutions for complex problems?
I'm sure you agree that effective decision-making, the "reason" in REAL wellness, is an invaluable skill area. For supporting positive lifestyle in democratic societies, it a quality that must be shared if high life quality is to be widely valued and realized.
Be well and look on the exuberant, skeptical, ethical, responsible and enjoyable REAL wellness bright side of life.
Note: An earlier and different version of this essay appeared here on May 20, 2001, then entitled "Assess Your GR (Gullibility Risk) Level."
Domain: mentalSubdomain: effective decisions
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