JailBreak

If you’re a daily reader of The Seattle Times like I am, you might guess that the two major newspapers in the US are the New York Times and Washington Post. (Actually, not. See the list below.) When the Seattle Times prints a national or international news story the source of the story is usually either the New York Times or Washington Post. They also seem to be the two top liberal-leaning newspapers in the US. But are they, especially the New York Times, reliable news sources?

Let me start by quoting Sgt Schultz: “I know nothing”; but I do have an internet connection and I invite you to do a Web search on your own. I find lots of stories alleging lies by the New York Times, including several from reputable, non-partisan sources:

• New York Times’ botched Kavanaugh story the latest in series of blunders from Opinion section
• Times’ handling of Kavanaugh story draws widespread criticism
• Times Makes Major Correction That Undermines Its Big Brett Kavanaugh Story
• The New York Times’ wild lies about Hudson Yards subsidies

Of course, there are also stories from news sources that I identify as right-leaning:

• A rather large New York Times correction
• Pulitzer-Winning Lies
• The Flagrant Distortions and Subtle Lies of the ‘1619 Project’

Finally, there’s an extensive Wikipedia article titled ‘The New York Times controversies’.

I was also interested in comparing what internet search engines return when queried about lies by the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. See this short video on YouTube.

The bottom line
There is reason to question the status of the New York Times as a reliable source of news. I’ve already written about their tendency to ignore the distinction between news and opinion. It’s notable that Washington Post also gets some criticism for being untruthful, and that both of these big papers are recognized as left-leaning in their opinions. The relative lack of accusations against the Wall Street Journal is also notable.

Before the coronavirus it was a time of relative prosperity in our country. Two of the leading Democrat candidates for President chose to debunk the good times by claiming that the American Dream was either slipping away or already dead.

Look at what the two candidates, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, said.

Senator Warren
According to a story published on the web site Politico.com, Warren “slammed Republicans on education, job creation and other economic policies, warning Wednesday that ‘the American Dream is slipping out of reach…We must fight back with everything we have,’ Warren told a gathering hosted by the Center for American Progress in Washington. ‘The game is rigged but we know how to fix it. We know what to do. We tested the Republican ideas and they failed. They failed spectacularly there’s no denying that fact.'”

Senator Sanders
As recently as March 15, 2020 Sanders’ official site hosted on Senate.gov hosted a video recording titled ‘What Happened to the American Dream?’. In the recording Senator Sanders was speaking on the floor of the Senate. He focused on inequality and the evils of oligarchy: “This great country is evolving into an oligarchic society…We have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth…The top 1% in our nation owns 38% of the financial wealth of America…More and more income goes to the millionaires and billionaires.”

Every word that Senators Warren and Sanders said may be true, but it has little to do with the American Dream. The American dream is not actual achieved prosperity, a single family home with a picket fence, or justice and equality. The American dream is opportunity: the chance to achieve prosperity. Look it up.

I don’t know how the type of deception practiced by Warren and Sanders is defined in guides to tactics for argumentation and persuasion. Straw man? Bait and switch? Whatever it’s called, it’s fairly common. Take a favorite attribute like justice, equality, or fairness; then attach your own convenient definition to that term and accuse opponents of supporting unfairness, inequality, or injustice.

The Facts
People vote with their feet. The reality is everyone wants to come here, and once they’ve arrived no one wants to leave. The American Dream is right here, alive and well. Look at the numbers.

First, the US is still among the world’s most-popular destinations for immigrants. See the chart below, using UN data.

Second, and more important, the US ranks at or near the bottom in rate of emigration. Looking at the rest of the world from a perch inside the US, America looks pretty good. See the chart below, copied from an OECD source. Note that the data is sliced four different ways, and the US always ends up with the lowest emigration rate or very near it.

Is it the relative prosperity? Probably not; my guess is that other countries rank higher in prosperity. It’s because we offer the best shot at achieving your dream, regardless of whether you’re Asian, African, European or from the South Pacific. (The gentleman who installed a new heating system at our home last month had a British accent, and was from Fiji.) Everybody gets their shot. That’s the American Dream.

The Bottom Line
Unequal results don’t implicate the system. Where and when was it ever promised that America would deliver equality in wealth? The promise is equal opportunity, not equal results.

People looking for something better believe in the American Dream. I don’t know of any good metrics for opportunity, so I can’t prove them right or wrong; but they vote with their feet. They come, and they stay.

We forget what the past was like. No matter that we actually lived the past, the realities of how people felt and believed are lost, and we move on. We focus on today; but there are clues we can unearth to show us how much has changed, and how far the changes have gone.

There is a song ‘Crying in the Chapel’, which was a hit in the year 1953. This song is known to me only because it was included in an R&B anthology on CD which I bought and ended up in my regular rotation. ‘Crying in the Chapel’ was re-recorded often enough by other artists to become “one of the most covered of 1953”. Elvis recorded a version in 1960, and it became a million-seller, one of his biggest hits in the 1960s, and was included in the RCA greatest hits compilation “Gold Standard Series”. See here a selection from the lyrics of ‘Crying in the Chapel’:

“You saw me crying in the chapel
The tears I shed were tears of joy
I know the meaning of contentment
I am happy with the Lord

Just a plain and simple chapel
Where all good people go to pray
I prayed the Lord that I’ll grow stronger
As I live from day to day

I searched and I searched but I couldn’t find
No way on earth to find peace of mind

Now I’m happy in the chapel
Where people are of one accord
Yes, we gather in the chapel
Just to sing and praise the Lord.”

Shocking, isn’t it? You may laugh, but the evidence is that those were common sentiments at the time. Today these lyrics are likely greeted with hoots and howls, but in the 50s and 60s they were mainstream. So, page forward to today: we here in Seattle recently experienced what was described as a “ghastly downtown event”, summarized here:

“three men, apparently street gang members, got embroiled in a rush-hour gunfight at the crowded intersection of Pine Street and Third Avenue. A 50-year-old female, described by the Seattle Times as a “joyful woman who lived a rich life,” was killed, and seven others were wounded, including one of the shooters. After the melee, police found some 20 shell casings at the scene.”

Modern popular culture forms the context. Recently I did an Internet search using the string “most popular rap songs 2019 list” and came up with a list, and at the top of the list was “I Said Me” by the artist 2 Chainz. A selection from the lyrics follows:

“Yeah, my daughter asked me what a drug dealer was
I said me, uh
When the lawyer asked me what a fuckin’ killer was
I said me, uh
When the bitch asked me what a real nigga was
I said me, haha, yeah
Overseas in a yacht, they askin’ who it was
I said me
I get high if it’s the right amount (Yeah)
I get a buzz checkin’ my account (Alright)
I get tipsy eatin’ red pussy (Tell ’em)”

You think this is an outlier? Remember, my search engine passed it back to me as top of the list in popularity. One critical review called it “his most cogent and organized album by far, and his most thoughtful one.” Another reviewer wrote:

“We need more for the next tape. This album feels like a new beginning for 2 Chainz; he talks about his veteran age, how his actual drug dealing is all in the past, how he’s a washed up ball player… it feels like that’s all he’s got going for him now. The foundation is there, but we need more for things to be as interesting as they could be.”

I’m not making it up.

The 50s hit “Crying in the Chapel” speaks from a Christian point of view, but I don’t endorse Christianity in particular. My experience is that the other major religious faiths equally reject the self-absorbed and violent views of the artist 2 Chainz.

The Bottom Line
I believe we’re experiencing a loss of consensus about what is right and wrong, and a loss of community standards enforcing sensible values.