Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity - a book review

Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity by John Stossel is subtitled "Get Out the Shovel - Why Everything You Know Is Wrong". And the cover indeed shows John with a shovel ready to dig away the BS that he is exposing. It's just too bad that he doesn't include himself in the "everything you know is wrong" phrase.

Mr. Stossel cites scores of "myths" in categories such as media, gender roles, business, government, schools, consumer affairs, lawyers and legal issues, experts, beliefs, health, parenting, and even the pursuit of happiness. For each "myth", he has a corresponding "truth". Sometimes, he's even right. But just as often his "truth" is based upon one-sided opinions as much as the "myth" is that he's attacking. Any data which could help decide between the two is woefully lacking. He usually cites one or two anecdotes, often quoting a carefully scripted or edited discussion between himself and a supporter of the "myth". That is supposed to convince us that his "truth" is indeed true.

It quickly becomes obvious that Mr. Stossel is a Libertarian. At the end of the book he confesses to this fact but somehow makes it out that people have a hard time understanding what a Libertarian is. No politician or media specialist worth their pay (wait a minute, that may be an empty set) should fail to identify a libertarian. I don't know why he thinks he is so misunderstood. But at any rate, he is a true believer in the "invisible hand" of Adam Smith and, for the most part, thinks that pure capitalism will solve all the world's problems - if government, media, and lawyers would just get out of the way.

My suspicions about Mr. Stossel's "facts" were confirmed in the section on polygamy when he failed to identify an active polygamist as an ex-Mormon or splinter group Mormon and even failed to get the name of the Mormon church right. If he's sloppy in one area, he likely is sloppy in other sections. Another section which bothered me was his defense of DDT. In saying that DDT saves lives, he completely ignores the more complex issue about using dangerous chemicals in ways that minimize harm to the environment while still obtaining the benefits possible. Overreaction may be the only thing that promotes action and inaction may be worse than overreaction. And, finally, there was the question of global warming which he dismissed so casually that you feel almost embarrassed to have considered it a problem. He doesn't even seem to know that a huge body of research has been assembled defining the potential for global disaster. It's only the timing and whether or not anything can be done about it that remains in question.

Still, he's right on a lot of items and he's certainly "right" in questioning conventional wisdom and demanding justification and dialogue. Neither the conservatives nor the liberals, scientists nor religionists have immunity from his questioning. I would think they would jump at the chance to use facts to punch holes in his "truths".