AmazonTania
09-30-2013, 08:41 AM
I've watched this video over at CNN, and it was about Obamacare 'experts' going door to door and explaining what the new law entails. Through the video, it cites a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation explaining that 43% of Americans are unaware about Obamacare. Let that sink in for a moment: There are people who have never heard of Obamacare. Very difficult to believe that citizens are this ignorant, but it's true. If you thought 73% of Americans being ignorant about Quantitative Easing was bad (http://thepoliticalforums.com/threads/16750-What-The-Average-American-Knows-About-Quantitative-Easing), imagine what this lack of knowledge means about the American citizenry. Either way, I really need to get the fuck out of here...
Jose Menendez: I have a question. Who created this affordable health care plan that you’re speaking of?
Reporter: This was passed by Congress.
JM: Oh, Congress! And I’m just wondering, as a citizen of America, how come I did not hear of this? Is Obama forcing Americans to get this insurance? Because it sounds that way.
http://yourmoney.blogs.cnn.com/2013/09/27/obamacare-at-your-door/?hpt=ym_mid (http://yourmoney.blogs.cnn.com/2013/09/27/obamacare-at-your-door/?hpt=ym_mid)
I know it's perfectly rational to be ignorant about politics, but I really don't understand how anyone could have possibly missed this. Let alone 43% of Americans. Obama care has been talked about for several years. There have been major political battles specifically about Obamacare. You've seen commercials about it on the telly. You hear about it on the radio. There have been Supreme Court decisions on Obamacare. There have been congressional votes, over and over and over again, on Obamacare. Hell, there was even a movie based around the new Health Care law. Every time you turn your head, you're going to have at least some mention about the new Healthcare law.
So, what can we learn from this:
1. All Public Opinion Polls (http://thepoliticalforums.com/threads/17088-CNN-Poll-GOP-would-bear-the-brunt-of-shutdown-blame?p=379978#post379978) Should Usually be Taken With a Grain of Salt.There is a concentrated knowledge among the public and the way you convey the message matters. The way you explain your message determines the amount of support or opposition you can drum up for anything. Don't believe me, just look at the amount of blokes Penn & Teller got to sign their petition to ban water by referring to it as 'Di-Hydrogen Monoxide.' The same thing applies in this particular instance. If you refer to a bill or law as 'Obamacare' you may not gain enough support for it, or find people who are pretty skeptical about the new law. On the other hand, if you refer to it as 'The Affordable HealthCare Act,' then you're more likely to drum up support for it. After all, who could be against affordable health care?
2. You Shouldn't Use The Government To Dictate Many Aspects Of Our Lives. You're inevitably going to have people who are uninformed about particular issues, compared to others, dictating the decisions of other lives. As I have said the first point, politicians and policy makes know that simply changing the wording of a particular bill or law you can get people to support it when they otherwise wouldn't have (i.e. Patriot Act, Jobs Bill, Violence Against Women, etc). You can create a bill which will increase taxes on Middle and Low income households, but if you call it 'The Get America Out Of Debt Act' you're bound to find many of these low information voters who will support such an initiative.
As F.A Hayek once brought up (http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/hykKnw1.html), there is decentrailised knowledge all over the world, and it is impossible to centralise that knowledge all in one location, especially when you have these low information voters. These people are particularly knowledgable on other things and it's perfectly fine if they make their own decisions according to what is best for their life, but I don't want these types of people making decisions about my life or their neighbor's life. These people exist, they vote and the give opinions on particular issues, regardless of one's own aptitude.But I guess only in America, people are actually encouraged to give an opinion or have an opinion, even when you don't know enough about a particular topic.
Jose Menendez: I have a question. Who created this affordable health care plan that you’re speaking of?
Reporter: This was passed by Congress.
JM: Oh, Congress! And I’m just wondering, as a citizen of America, how come I did not hear of this? Is Obama forcing Americans to get this insurance? Because it sounds that way.
http://yourmoney.blogs.cnn.com/2013/09/27/obamacare-at-your-door/?hpt=ym_mid (http://yourmoney.blogs.cnn.com/2013/09/27/obamacare-at-your-door/?hpt=ym_mid)
I know it's perfectly rational to be ignorant about politics, but I really don't understand how anyone could have possibly missed this. Let alone 43% of Americans. Obama care has been talked about for several years. There have been major political battles specifically about Obamacare. You've seen commercials about it on the telly. You hear about it on the radio. There have been Supreme Court decisions on Obamacare. There have been congressional votes, over and over and over again, on Obamacare. Hell, there was even a movie based around the new Health Care law. Every time you turn your head, you're going to have at least some mention about the new Healthcare law.
So, what can we learn from this:
1. All Public Opinion Polls (http://thepoliticalforums.com/threads/17088-CNN-Poll-GOP-would-bear-the-brunt-of-shutdown-blame?p=379978#post379978) Should Usually be Taken With a Grain of Salt.There is a concentrated knowledge among the public and the way you convey the message matters. The way you explain your message determines the amount of support or opposition you can drum up for anything. Don't believe me, just look at the amount of blokes Penn & Teller got to sign their petition to ban water by referring to it as 'Di-Hydrogen Monoxide.' The same thing applies in this particular instance. If you refer to a bill or law as 'Obamacare' you may not gain enough support for it, or find people who are pretty skeptical about the new law. On the other hand, if you refer to it as 'The Affordable HealthCare Act,' then you're more likely to drum up support for it. After all, who could be against affordable health care?
2. You Shouldn't Use The Government To Dictate Many Aspects Of Our Lives. You're inevitably going to have people who are uninformed about particular issues, compared to others, dictating the decisions of other lives. As I have said the first point, politicians and policy makes know that simply changing the wording of a particular bill or law you can get people to support it when they otherwise wouldn't have (i.e. Patriot Act, Jobs Bill, Violence Against Women, etc). You can create a bill which will increase taxes on Middle and Low income households, but if you call it 'The Get America Out Of Debt Act' you're bound to find many of these low information voters who will support such an initiative.
As F.A Hayek once brought up (http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/hykKnw1.html), there is decentrailised knowledge all over the world, and it is impossible to centralise that knowledge all in one location, especially when you have these low information voters. These people are particularly knowledgable on other things and it's perfectly fine if they make their own decisions according to what is best for their life, but I don't want these types of people making decisions about my life or their neighbor's life. These people exist, they vote and the give opinions on particular issues, regardless of one's own aptitude.But I guess only in America, people are actually encouraged to give an opinion or have an opinion, even when you don't know enough about a particular topic.