Perceptions, reality not equal
Students in my introduction to psychology course learn that perceptions do not always correspond to reality: memories can be inaccurate; biases can create strong convictions that are incorrect but impervious to change; and gut feelings that something is true may just be indigestion. I’ll call these gaps between perception and reality, perception errors.
In addition, people often fail to consider baseline conditions — starting points and trends — when interpreting data, which I’ll call baseline blindness. If your third-grader got a 10 on her spelling test, you’d need to know “a 10 out of what” and how well other students scored to understand her performance.
Many Americans believe our economy is bad. Is there a gap between perception and reality?
The economy may feel bad. We just want things back to normal. I wish we had a magic wand that would make our economic challenges disappear. But wanting to feel better isn’t evidence of a bad economy.
Inflation hit the U.S. hard over the last couple years, but also the rest of the world (BB). We suffered along with our high-income peers, but much less than developing countries. Worldwide inflation was caused mostly by supply chains broken during the pandemic, not the policies of our government. If policies were the culprit, we’d have seen large discrepancies among rich countries. We didn’t. Thankfully, inflation in the U.S. is now decreasing, not increasing as some have claimed (PE).
And the recession that was sure to follow never came.
The U.S. also demonstrated strong GDP growth last year (2.1%), comparable to or better than most G7 peers (BB). Our economy is not shrinking (PE).
Unemployment is not up, it is down (PE). Unemployment in the U.S. has been below 4% for 22 months.
Some have worried about U.S. dependence on foreign oil. In fact, the U.S. is more energy independent today than ever (PE). Also, former President Trump did not create energy independence but was fortunate to be president when the import and export lines crossed, a trend that began in 2005. Trump simply rode the trend (BB), just as he rode the trend of an improving stock market that started with Obama following the Great Recession of 2008.
On the world stage, some have suggested that President Biden weakened the U.S. in the eyes of friends and foes alike. But Biden rebuilt alliances strained and broken by Trump (e.g., NATO) and emphasized the importance of diplomacy and shared national interests. Modern history supports the efficacy of this approach in contrast to nationalism and the unilateral assertion of power. Since the creation of cooperative international economic and political organizations (e.g., United Nations), and military alliances (e.g., NATO) following World War II, our planet has been spared from wars between world powers, a common occurrence before these institutions.
Two years ago, President Biden
STEVE BACON quickly built alliances among many countries (NATO and non-NATO, about 50 to date) to support Ukraine following the unprovoked Russian invasion. What was expected to be a two-day rout by Russia became a valiant, contained fight between Goliath and a broadly backed David.
President Biden has also been criticized for the chaotic end of the US war in Afghanistan and the loss of 13 American servicemen. Critics suggest this weakened our international reputation. Of course, these losses were tragic, but has the US had any clean exits from extended wars since World War II? From Korea (we are still there)? From Vietnam? Do Biden’s critics remember that 56 American servicemen died in Afghanistan under Trump’s watch, even as the war was winding down (BB)?
Finally, one way to know how other countries feel about the US is to ask them. Pew researchers did just that. Residents of 24 countries, including African and Asian nations, were asked who they viewed more favorably, the U.S. or China, our greatest international rival. Twenty-two favored the U.S.
Using evidence to challenge perception errors and baseline blindness can be applied across many situations. Can evidence be applied to disprove perceptions like “Trump is an innocent, persecuted victim of multiple biased prosecutors and judges,” “the last election was stolen from Trump,” and “January 6 was a peaceful demonstration?”
I believe that it can and it has.
A posting is circulating on Facebook that asks the question: “How many of you will share to keep the American flag in the classroom?” I am shocked that this question even has to be asked. A similar question could be asked about our Pledge of Allegiance.
These questions illustrate how much ignorance and hate that liberal progressives, mostly Democrats and their mass media propaganda machine, have already embedded into our country. Hitler and Lenin must be laughing somewhere in a very warm place. If we are to survive as the greatest country ever created by man, we must banish the scourge of liberalism from our government and all public spaces. It’s been tried, it is destructive, and it doesn’t work.
Liberalism must be replaced by conservatism and patriotism. We must conserve freedom, conserve liberty, conserve the Constitution, conserve American greatness, conserve patriotism, conserve the flag, conserve the Pledge of Allegiance and conserve America by putting America first.
A very good place to start is the 2024 election. I hope and pray that this election will be free and fair and honest and that voters will realize that there is only one candidate in that election who wants to conserve America and will put America First. God Bless America!
— Wilbur Wells, Tehachapi
NEWS MEDIA CAN’T IGNORE TRUMP
Steve Cronquist penned a well-written, thought-provoking Community Voice, “How to beat Trump,” Jan. 18. I’m doubtful that his solution (for the news media to ignore Trump), is very practical, given that Trump is running for president and is far ahead for the Republican nomination. Newsworthy.
Moreover, parts don’t seem to make sense: “The goal [of indicting Trump] is to paint Trump as a poor choice for president.” Huh? Trump was indicted by grand juries because of evidence that he broke the law.
“Not everyone who supports the idea of Making America Great Again is pro-Trump.” Sure, not everyone who wants to make America great is pro-Trump, but I think it’s safe to say that more than 99% of folks with capital letter MAGA signs, hats or bumper stickers are.
“The news media, and the left, have tried to tarnish Trump in every way they can.” The media reports news. It’s not its fault if reporting what Trump says and does tarnishes Trump’s image. He’s the one doing and saying those things. Don’t blame the messenger.
“Liz Cheney lost her seat in Congress [trying to tarnish Trump].” Really? In fact, didn’t a very conservative politician from a very conservative family give up her seat because she thought it was important to oppose someone she believed was bad for America? Tarnish Trump’s reputation? It should destroy it, if even Liz Cheney tells how bad it is.
— Jay C. Smith, Bakersfield
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION MUST BE BETTER
The crisis with the border and electric vehicles. How are those two issues connected, you might ask? Well, watching the news this past week it highlighted two different scenes from Chicago and elsewhere across the country.
First, an overabundance of migrants are looking for a place to sleep, and second, Tesla drivers are looking for a place to charge their frozen cars. While both issues may turn out to be acceptable ideas in the long run, various government agencies have let us down significantly with a lack of proper planning and infrastructure development.
We just can’t open the border to millions of migrants seeking asylum without a plan in place to house them, feed them and help find employment. Mandating electric vehicles be purchased in the near future without sufficient charging stations and without resolving cold weather issues with the batteries made in China also seems like a prerequisite. Mr. President, Mr. Governor et.al.
It’s not that you have really bad ideas, it’s just that you have to do a better job of planning and project implementation in order to be successful — good luck.
— Jim Wood, Bakersfield
ANOTHER UNREPORTED REALITY
What gives me comfort and confidence today is an observation no one in the national media (to my knowledge) has yet reported.
It’s how quickly the Trump administration will be able “to hit the ground running” and turn around our constitutional republic quickly and effectively. The full restoration of our constitutional freedoms, liberties and national borders is long overdue.
Any other administration will require considerable time to confront typical obstacles and problems Trump worked through eight years ago — but won’t again.
Trump’s vision will have been clearly articulated during the campaign so no unwelcome “surprises” should be experienced at any level — other than perhaps the cordial demeanor he’s demonstrating now.
Finally, he will appoint only people he’s already confident he can trust.
In the interim, we can only pray next Jan. 20 will arrive well before our enemies head our direction with an ElectroMagnetic Pulse based on their nuclear capability to destroy our electrical grid and then worse!
This opportunity exists for China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — those most likely to exploit our current administration’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Only prayer can prevent this terrifying and all too real EMP risk between now and next Jan. 20 — a full year from now!
This risk does not give me comfort and confidence. In God we each must trust — yet, at the same time, we also each must prepare.
— John Pryor, Bakersfield