On the EDge: We’ve lost our truth

January 9, 2017 Utah Channel 3

OPINION – By now, most everybody understands that the Earth is undergoing a radical environmental change.

Call it global warming, climate change, whatever you wish, but it is happening and it is very real.

At least to most people.

There are still hardliners who deny it all. Of course, there are still those who believe the Earth is flat, which is why the Flat Earth Society is growing at a sluggish but steady pace of about 200 people from the United States each year.

Late last week, a group of students and educators gathered in Salt Lake City to try to persuade Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee to vote against approval of several Donald Trump nominations, particularly Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of state, Scott Pruitt for EPA administrator, ex-Gov. Rick Perry for secretary of energy and Rep. Ryan Zinke for secretary of the Department of Interior.

It must be noted that Hatch and Lee’s forward motion on climate change issues moves about as fast as a speeding glacier.

In fact, if you go to Hatch’s web page, you’ll see a rather third-grade level link titled “Climate Change 101” that is twisted up in political hyperbole that could have been written by Big Oil insiders.

The debate over global warming is best saved for another day and another discussion, however, as the dangers of The New Political Age settle upon us.

Those who approached Hatch and Lee come from intellectual backgrounds with a diversity of advanced students and instructors from the fields of science and politics.

They have background.

They also have almost no chance of having their combined voices heard over the din, even though they have education on their side and during normal circumstances would be considered experts – or at least credible sources – on the subject.

But none of that matters any more.

We have reverted, it seems, to the days of Galileo, Copernicus and the others who were considered heretics by the unwashed masses for their scientific discoveries; only today they are labeled instead as liars, losers and enemies.

If you share the dangers of global warming, you are branded as a liar.

Point out the hazard of nuclear proliferation, and you’re a loser.

Stand for alternative fuel sources? You’re an enemy.

What is lost in all of this is the truth, which has taken a back seat to the warped politics of the day where individuals and organizations once held in the highest esteem have been kicked to the curb for their valued, educated opinions.

It’s a result of the dumbing down of America, where intelligence has become a felony and inquisitive minds are viewed with suspicion.

The truth suffers.

The tone has been set to pursue personal ideologies rather than embrace our root problems.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, when discussing the incredible case of Russian influence on our last election, shrugged off the larger concern, saying, “The Russians didn’t tell Hillary Clinton not to campaign in Wisconsin.” It was more politically expedient to snap off a quick bon mot than to address the overarching problem.

And that is what we have drifted into.

There is a gross shallowness infecting our thought process. It has become acceptable to shout down opposition with ignorant catcalls and mean-spirited putdowns.

I mean, it is difficult to have a healthy discussion with somebody whose only retort is “Liar!” It is impossible to share your thoughts with somebody whose only reply is “Loser.” It is disheartening to engage with somebody who insists that your differences of opinion make you an enemy. And it is sinful to denigrate the educated for posing intellectual thoughts that just might serve us better or, in the instance of global warming, save our planet.

I remember when we turned to academia to share its accumulated knowledge to help us grow, to understand our world better, to improve our lives.

We once understood we don’t have all of the answers and turned to those studied minds.

Now we just change the channel or search the web until we find somebody who supports our flawed thinking, because heaven forbid we may just be wrong about a few things.

There is truth out there, you know.

It is, unfortunately, buried in the dung heap of populism, ignorance and fear. But the shout-down crowd has done a pretty good job at denigrating those who take up the search. They learned the lesson well that if you continue to repeat a lie, it eventually obliterates the truth. This obfuscation has served the New Right well this election cycle.

And it has placed these anointed officials in a position of self-serving authority and questionable relevance.

What other reason can you give for the CEO of Exxon to be nominated for the position of secretary of state, a climate change denialist who fought to overturn anti-smog regulations tabbed as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency and a guy who was neck-deep in the Dakota Access Pipeline project picked to serve as secretary of energy?

But that is what happens when we lose our truth, when we refuse to admit there are greater minds with something to offer beyond our meager scope.

Ed Kociela is an opinion columnist. The opinions stated in this article are his and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: edkociela.mx@gmail.com

Twitter: @STGnews, @EdKociela

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