22 May 2013
Writing for The Washington Post on Monday (Austerity and Keynes Can Coexist), Post editorial writer Charles Lane asserted the following:
“Nobelists may be better qualified to describe the issues than the average voter, but they are no better qualified to decide them.”____________________
Here in America, we live by the belief that any amateur’s opinion (especially one’s own) is equal in all qualities to that of any expert’s knowledge-based views. But did Mr. Lane truly mean to assert this belief? Or was it an byproduct of flattering his readers? One does not usually expect to read such a limited point of view from the staff of one of America’s leading daily newspapers.
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Most Americans agree that our educational system is challenged to keep up with others throughout the world. Our educational challenges are supported by this belief that my opinion beats your expert knowledge. Any nation that does not value learning and education—and facts—is not likely to do to well at teaching its children how to excel in those regards. When even the bulk of our school teachers read no challenging books in their off time, is it any wonder American education is suffering?
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If a paid-professional writer such as Charles Lane asserts that his readers opinions are valid equally to his or anyone else’s, why would any of us want to be reading newspapers in the first place? Especially The Washington Post.
Regards,
(($; -)}
Gozo!
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