Spin Smarts

Winifred Aimes: Why Albania?
Connie Bream: Why not?
Winifred Aimes: What have they done to us?
Connie Bream: What have they done FOR us? What do you know about them?
Winifred Aimes: Nothing.
Connie Bream: See? They keep to themselves. Shifty. Untrustable.
--Wag the Dog

As previously proposed, the larger and the older the organization, the more likely it will attempt to spin information to its advantage. In the United States, there is no larger nor older organization than the federal government.

America was founded in the spirit of distrust of government. Our founding ancestors battled federal government spin and acts of domestic subversion, including the Alien and Sedition Acts, almost from the get go.

Over the years, the federal government has built a massive spinning and propaganda machine. The feds' spinning process is particularly devious because not only does it work to obscure truth but it also does so through use of force--as economic resources necessary to operate the spinning process must be confiscated from the citizenry.

Dealing with government spin requires our founders' skepticism of government--an awareness that information from government sources is likely spun significantly from the truth. The younger that we learn this, the better.

Of course, schools--particularly public schools--are the last places where children are likely to learn about the spinning tendencies of their primary supporting institution.

That puts the responsibility on the older generations to pass down that healthy distrust and skepticism to younger generations, so that we are less likely to be manipulated by government spin.