We all understand that making good decisions depends on having relevant information.
If we are asked to have an opinion or make a choice, the more relevant information we have will make it better and the less we have will make it less valid in the face of that information.
If we are given only certain pieces of the information and told not to listen to certain people or other pieces of information we are being propagandized in some way. Someone is trying to manipulate the information so we will make decisions or form opinions that agree with theirs. If our access to all the facts and information is restricted, we are being manipulated.
If we simply step aside and let others decide, for whatever reason, we are giving our tacit consent to whatever decision is being made, or position is being taken. If we make a decision to support a decision or position because someone has told us to, or we simply do not have enough information to make an informed decision, we are giving the tacit consent of the uninformed.
Because we live in a nation that is polarized, we restrict our likelihood of being informed if we refuse to consider information from "the other side" or from fact based sources like science and research.
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If we hope to function as citizens who insist on being a part of an American future, we really need to know. The mass media has lost much of its credibility in its rush to serve special interests in exchange for access and funding.
We are left with doing the hard work of citizenship. That work is ferreting out dependable sources of real information to avoid simply being counted as one more voice in the tacit consent of the uninformed.
Bob Passi
Baxter
