Just saying it don’t make it so. For those who like to read or hear what they want, rather than the truth about a situation, it must be a wonderful time to be alive.
World leaders, more than usual, can lie about anything they like. Their aids can counter any reality monger’s assertions to the contrary by saying they are providing “alternative facts.”
As farmers, the war on facts and science is close to many of our hearts and wallets. The truth about food production, both its science and the business of being primary producers, is constantly being undermined by those who have ideological axes to grind.
Genetic modification is destroying foods’ nutritional values. Glyphosate is causing a widespread cancer epidemic. Factory farms owned by multinational corporations produce most of our food. Government subsidies to wealthy farmers are destroying the abilities of the small family farm to compete. If only all farmers would convert to organic production there would greater yields, global food shortages would be averted, soil would be healthier and sustainability would grip the land — you get the idea.
All of these are non-science, but there are large swathes of the public that are willing to believe, even if only a little bit of the time, at least until they are challenged by a credible advocate or trusted source.
The Western Producer is a trusted source. Most people who are familiar with the publication know that it relies on professional journalists and, despite some limited speculation to the contrary, doesn’t get large multinational chemical and grain companies to approve its copy just because they advertise in its pages and on producer.com.
There is a real danger in listening only to those you agree with, reading what doesn’t challenge your assumptions and voting for those who tell you that, “whatever it is, it’s not your fault.’ ”
The growth of talk radio was built on those ideals. The internet is now full of fake news, but the folks who sell it and the politicians and opinion leaders who exploit it proclaim it’s the professional media who are creating it.
It turns out, despite reporting the contrary, that Russian operatives did influence the American presidential election and that wheat is safe to eat. Where does your news come from?
mike.raine@producer.com
