Untruth : Why the Conventional Wisdom is (Almost Always) Wrong

Untruth : Why the Conventional Wisdom is (Almost Always) Wrong

In Untruth , Newsweek and Washington Post columnist Robert J. Samuelson explains why our political, economic and cultural debates so routinely traffic in misinformation--popular fads that, like meteors, momentarily burn brightly in public consciousness and then fizzle out. Advocacy groups, politicians and their unwitting allies in the media instinctively create agendas of problems that afflict society and must be "solved".The problems are often exaggerated and oversimplified, and the result is that the public is misled about what is wrong and how easily it can be made right. Untruth is the first collection of Samuelson's insightful assaults on the conventional wisdom. Included are columns arguing that campaign contributions have not corrupted politics, that the "service economy" is not turning America into a nation of hamburger flippers, and that the Internet isn't the most important invention since the printing press. ruth, Newsweek and Washington Post columnist Robert J. Samuelson explains why our political, economic and cultural debates so routinely traffic in misinformation--popular fads that, like meteors, momentarily burn brightly in public consciousness and then fizzle out. Advocacy groups, politicians and their unwitting allies in the media instinctively create agendas of problems that afflict society and must be "solved".The problems are often exaggerated and oversimplified, and the result is that the public is misled about what is wrong and how easily it can be made right. Untruth is the first collection of Samuelson's insightful assaults on the conventional wisdom. Included are columns arguing that campaign contributions have not corrupted politics, that the "service economy" is not turning America into a nation of hamburger flippers, and that the Internet isn't the most important invention since the printing press. < ruth, Newsweek and Washington Post columnist Robert J. Samuelson explains why our political, economic and cultural debates so routinely traffic in misinformation--popular fads that, like meteors, momentarily burn brightly in public consciousness and then fizzle out. Advocacy groups, politicians and their unwitting allies in the media instinctively create agendas of problems that afflict society and must be "solved".The problems are often exaggerated and oversimplified, and the result is that the public is misled about what is wrong and how easily it can be made right. Untruth is the first collection of Samuelson's insightful assaults on the conventional wisdom. Included are columns arguing that campaign contributions have not corrupted politics, that the "service economy" is not turning America into a nation of hamburger flippers, and that the Internet isn't the most important invention since the printing press. < In addition to Newsweek and the Washington Post , Robert J. Samuelson's columns are syndicated to about 40 U.S. and 20 foreign papers by The Washington Post Writers Group . He is the author of The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement, 1945-1995 . He lives in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife, Judy Herr, and their three children, Ruth, Michael and John. THE STEADFAST (AND OFTEN SILLY) AMERICAN CHARACTER Every so often an item bounces across the Associated Press wire that reminds you how steadfast the American national character is. Here’s one (suitably abbreviated) that arrived a few weeks ago: ROCHESTER, N.H.—An 88-year-old woman made good on her pledge not to pay “one red cent” of a court judgment against her for taking a neighbor boy’s kickball away. Rochester District Court Judge Franklin Jones accepted a check for $30.20 from someone who sympathized with Reba Martineau rather than pressing Martineau herself to pay. Jones could have jailed her for contempt. Martineau refused to return nine-year-old Gary Campbell’s kickball after it went into the yard of her home in a mobile home park in September. She claimed she and other elderly residents had been treated disrespectfully by neighborhood children. The boy’s parents filed a small claims lawsuit to get the ball or make her pay for it. After deducting its fees, the court will give the parents, Martha and Wayne Campbell, $9.99 for a new ball. Wayne Campbell said they went to court to show their son the law cannot be broken. Now, a lot of folks think the American national character is going to pot. Time magazine recently complained in a cover story that we have become a nation of “crybabies.” We sue too often. We see ourselves as the “victims” of someone or something else. The editors at Time ought to brush up on their history. What they (and many others) deplore is simply the good old American character adapting to modern times. We may not like what we see, but—as the kickball saga will show—it’s the way we’ve always been. Americans have long lived by two propositions. Proposition Number One: You’re no better than I am. Equality is our relig