The Ignorant Wish to Stay Ignorant

Contrary to the popular notion that people who don’t know any better simply don’t know any better, I don’t believe that. At least not around here, the enlighted and progressive San Francisco Bay Area where information flows freely and there is plenty of opportunity to avail oneself of it and get to the truth of any political scenario. And yet if one wishes to be a one-source news receptacle and ignore an opposing viewpoint, I suppose that is certainly possible, but that is a choice, not a limitation.

Case in point. My own brother-in-law, who sat in my living room the other evening fast asleep on the couch. His 10-year-old daughter, my niece sat at a table nearby eating ice cream and cookies, and sitting there quietly, out of the blue said, “Uncle Mark. Daddy says that Barack Obama says it’s okay to let babies die.” I was absolutely stunned by this comment, and responded, “Well, does that make sense to you?”

She very thoughtfully said, “Well, he does have two daughters, so no, I don’t think it makes too much sense.” I told her that it was not true and that her daddy was listening to something that he believed and should have known that it couldn’t possibly be true. It is refreshing that a bright 10-year-old can be more introspective and intuitive than her own 50-year-old father. And this is why I postulate that ignorance is a choice, not a permanent restriction and condition.

When my fabulous brother-in-law woke up from his brief snooze, I informed him as to what his lovely daughter had told me and asked him whether he actually told her that or whether she had somehow misunderstood him. He told me no, that he had told her that. My sister immediately gave him a good whack in the arm and chided him for saying that to an impressionable young girl who would most likely believe her dad.

Choosing to be as well informed as I can be and not mired in complete ignorance, I told him that I knew of the misinformation that he had heard and chosen to believe and that it is not only not true, but a complete distortion of a piece of legislation that Barack Obama had sponsored when in the Illinois legislature. I further told him that this piece of legislation to the best of my knowledge simply advised the doctor that in late term pregnancies, the health and safety of the mother is paramount, and if the mother’s life could be spared in a crisis, the doctor was allowed to concentrate on the mother and not put her safety behind that of the baby’s.

My sister, not being particularly well-informed herself, listened intently to what I was saying, and then turned to her husband and asked him if he was listening to me. Also within earshot of this conversation was my niece, who I thought at that point was bright enough and old enough to comprehend our conversation and could take it all in.

I immediately thought of another lie being put out by the McCain-Palin wing of the Right Wing smear campaign. I said to my brother-in-law, “So I bet you also think that Barack Obama advocates teaching explicit sex education to kindergarteners.” He responded, “Yeah. I heard that, too.” I said, “Well, do you believe that’s true, as well?” To which he said, “Well, that’s what they said on the radio.”

It doesn’t provide me with a lot of pleasure to be better informed and more curious than my brother-in-law, but it does make me pleased to get him the information that he needs. But I have no doubt that my brother-in-law still believes what he chooses to believe. Ignorance isn’t just bliss; it’s a choice, and that’s all we can all try to do is make sure that the truthful information is available to everyone. In the end, It is an individual’s personal choice to avail themselves of the information and be well informed. If they choose ignorance, then ignorant they’ll be.