By Staff
It would be easy to be a conspiracy theorist.
My good friend Jim Meyer scolded me some time ago after I made a comment in front of him that sounded like it could have come from a conspiracy theorist.
Jim's comment was along the lines of advising me to have more faith in the good intentions of people. He was right. Most of us are after the same things, but we see different routes to achieving those goals. Maybe I need to be a little more trusting that our elected officials and others in state and national government have our best interest at heart when they make their decisions.
But, that seems to me to be an awfully tough thing to have faith in these days.
I thought again recently about what Jim had to say when I read a story about bloggers blaming lower gas prices on a conspiracy between the GOP and oil companies working in an effort to boost Republicans in the November elections.
When I first read that, I kind of chuckled. Then, I found myself wondering whether there's truth to it. Has Big Oil agreed to forego a fraction of its record profits for a period of time in an effort to keep in office those who support no regulation and tax breaks? Apparently, President Bush and, in turn, Republicans are receiving a boost in popularity from our recently-lowered gasoline prices.
I'd love to be able to blindly trust that the story is hogwash. I'd really like to think that some kind of change in supply and demand – which is what Big Oil has told us is the only thing that influences gasoline prices – had taken a turn in favor of consumers. But I think that may be more trust than I'm capable of.
We live in a world in which the truth doesn't come easily. We have every right to be skeptical.
Take, for example, the race for congress in Indiana between incumbent Chris Chocola and challenger Joe Donnelly. Have you seen anything so sickening?
Who are we to believe? Who are we to trust?
Jim was in the office recently and we discussed this bitter contest. He suggested one of the candidates should simply come out with an ad that says, "No more nasty political ads." That's the one I would vote for, too, if I could.
How refreshing would it be if our candidates would limit their ads to information about themselves, what they've done for us, what they would do for us if elected?
It's gotten all out of control. Yes, we should all read newspapers every day and watch news shows. In my opinion, it's part of our responsibility as Americans. But, what do we read? What do we watch? Fox? CNN? Is either without an agenda? I don't know the answer to that question. What I do know is it's very difficult to stay informed.
In the end, when we all have to worry about feeding our children and keeping them safe and paying our bills and planning for college and retirement, it's easier just to tune out and let others worry about it.
Unfortunately, that's the most dangerous decision any of us can make.