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June 24, 2006 Amazon.com doesn't print every review submitted to them. I wrote a review of John Stossel's new book, Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity and they did not put it on their site. I gave the book one star and though they do print one star reviews, I suspect they don't print too many and most books have inflated values. They also did not run a bad review I wrote of Jimmy Carter's The Hornets Nest (a miserable insulting bore). All the content of my review of Mr. Stossel's book is here and because this is an article, I'll be able to expand on my commentary. It was rather startling to discover that a consumer reporter for the television series 20/20 is a pro-business fascist. I mean ABC is supposedly part of the liberal media. Also surprising is the total lack of facts in his arguments. Instead, he heavily relies on anectodal evidence--a methodology conservative radio talk show hosts live and breath on. I'll go over some of his opinions one by one, but I think this first one best illustrates his method. He says: Myth: Polygamy is cruel to women. Truth: The women aren't complaining. His great proof is one polygamous family he interviewed for an episode of 20/20. One woman who was defending her lifestyle (wouldn't she be biased?) claimed to be happy. Of course, Mr. Stossel didn't interview those twelve year old girls forced to become wife number seven of a fifty year old man, because those creepy cultists who practice this kind of polygamy would never let him near them. He says: Myth: Government makes rules to protect us from business. Truth: Competition protects us, if government gets out of the way. Myth: A higher minimum wage helps workers. Truth: A higher minimum wage helps some workers but hurts more. These two go together because they reveal Mr. Stossel's liberterian mindset. What liberterians don't realize is that we already had their system--it was called Laissez-Faire economics and it led to the great depression. An unrestricted free market leads to a greatly unequal distribution of wealth. A large class of people become unable to buy anything and factories shut down. Mr. Stossel uses one example of a town in California that raised minimum wage to $12.25 an hour. He was unable to find anyone who was actually hurt by the increase in minimum wage, although he interviewed on small businessman, a pizza parlor owner, who was exempt from the law anyway. He did not bother to learn what has happened in the 122 other communities in the U.S. that have raised minimum wage. In none of those cities has unemployment increased as Mr. Stossel claims would happen. It really irritates me when rich media stars state their opposition to increasing minimum wage. We all know what would really happen, if there was no minimum wage. Just like in the days of Laissez-Faire economics, businessmen wouldn't even pay money. Instead, they'd own all the stores and housing, and they would pay script only redeemable for rent or goods in their stores and the workers would work twelve hour shifts, all the while going into debt to the businessman. He says: Myth: The U.S. lacking price limits on drugs, cruelly harms the poor. Truth: Price controls harm the poor and sick. Mr. Stossel's brother works as a research scientist for the pharmaceutical industry--a hint that Mr. Stossel might have just a little bias here. Once again, he uses no facts but cites one example of twenty million dollars that Biogen sunk into finding a cure for cystic fibrosis. The project was a dead end. That twenty million dollars is far less than the salary of one corporate executive giving himself a golden parachute. The drug companies can invest money in research and development without price gouging the public like they do. He says: Myth: Price gouging is evil. Truth: Gouging saves lives. Mr. Stossel uses no facts to support this argument. He tries to explain his position by saying supplies will run out in emergencies unless for example a businessman is allowed to charge $30 for batteries. How illogical? If there is a shortage of something, the supplies are going to run out anyway. He says: Myth: Women earn less doing the same work. Truth: Women earn less because they want different things. The only fact he uses supports the myth. Women are paid 78 cents for every dollar a man makes working the same job. He supports his argument claiming businesses would never hire men, if women worked for 22% less. Obviously, they do. See previous fact. There aren't enough women in the work force to fill all the positions out there. He says: Myth: The EEOC will make America less sexist. Truth: The EEOC will torment people and enrich lawyers. Once again he cites one example of a bad case. But for every bad case the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission files, they file at least twenty good ones. He says: Myth: Sweatshops hurt people. Truth: Sweatshops help people. He didn't interview a single worker. The only person he talked to was an African trade representative (and he probably was on the payroll of sweatshops). What does a trade representative want to do? Increase trade. And that's why he called American college kids who were protesting goods made in sweatshops stupid. Stossel is stupid, if he bases his opinion on what this guy says. He says: Myth: Environmental regulators are dispassionate scientists. Truth: Many are radical activists. Many? How many? He only cites one example. Again, hardly scientific. If there were many, I would think he could come up with a long list. He says: Myth: Disabled people are happy. Truth: The disabled are as happy as anyone else. No facts. He interviewed one paraplegic who happens to claim happiness. I live with a disabled person. She was severely depressed until we discovered that wonder drug--Prosac. This point is further proof that John Stossel is a one trick pony. He finds one case that supports his twisted worldview and then generalizes it to be an all inclusive rejection of what liberals believe. In the back of the book John Stossel denies being a conservative but laments how he was ignored by liberal media outlets but welcomed to debate on conservative media outlets. Of course, he was welcomed by people who agree with him, but his whine about this isn't even true. He says he was on Fox News Channel. He admits, however, that he was invited to be with Robert Redford, and he was on then Alan Colmes radio show and on Al Franken's show and Larry King's show. So he actually listed more liberals than conservatives. On the back cover of the book Stephen J. Dubner says Stossel is an equal opportunity offender. This is a myth. The truth? he doesn't attack a single conservative position in the entire book. ------------ About the author Mark Gelbart: My book, Talk Radio, is a black comedy about a radio talk show host who gets kidnapped and psychologically tortured by a loser. www.mark-gelbart.com Email: agelbart@aol.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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