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BBHQ Boomer Essays: Perception is Reality?

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Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays.

[Editor's note: Hershel wrote this essay in April 1998. President Clinton has, by now, left the Oval Office; but this essay is as relevant today as it was in 1998.]

I am in the midst of a debate with a BBHQ visitor. I do not want to offend people who come to our site, but I like a good debate; so I am willing to engage her. After reading one of my essays, she wrote, "I was just wondering if every week was bash Clinton week or if I just happened to pick a week that was anti-Clinton." I wrote back that I was confused, because I had not "bashed" Clinton in nearly a month. She replied, "I was reading through the archives and noticed there that it seemed as if every week was a week in which Clinton was attacked unmercifully."

Now I had something to go on. I did a little research, and reported to her that only 5 out of the 16 "This week" essays in the archives even mention the president. So, no, "every week" could not possibly be "bash Clinton week." I can hardly blame President Clinton for my difficulties in getting a plain hamburger at McDonald's (February 16).

But I guess that didn't matter, because in her mind, every week at BBHQ is bash Clinton week. That's what she perceives, and there are no facts I can provide that will convince her otherwise. Her mind was made up, the facts be damned. Her conclusions are apparently based on her feelings, not the overwhelming and undeniable, factual evidence.

Now I understand why she is such a big supporter of President Clinton... because the facts don't matter. All that matters is what she feels or what "seems" to be true. She "feels" the president is doing a great job. Case closed.

I gotta' tell you, I'm having a real problem with that.... not the bash Clinton issue... the facts issue. Our debate revolves around facts; I won't debate feelings with anyone. I just don't know how to debate a factual issue with someone who denies or ignores the facts. And this apparently true of a lot of boomers. That is why I bring it to the table here. I don't remember my parents telling me how they "felt" about an issue; I remember them telling me what they "thought" about an issue.... and the facts and logic behind why they thought that way. That was how I grew up.

But there appears to be a pervasive attitude in our society today ignoring facts. We seem to be less interested in the facts than the perceptions and how we "feel." We don't watch the news or read the newspaper; too many facts get in the way of how we feel. Jerry Springer: good; Dan Rather: bad. Jenny Jones: yes; Ted Koppel: no. Maybe it's the result of too many "feeling" songs in the sixties and seventies. Is that what we're teaching our kids? You bet it is.

So let's suppose, for a moment, that the facts don't matter... it is just your perception that counts; it's whatever you feel.

"You should see: what a lovely, lovely world it would be......"

Your local school board wants to make everybody happy. So they make the classes easy, tell the kids that they are all superb students, and tell you that your child is in the top 5% of his class and can read at a college level. The facts are that your 17 year-old child is reading at a third grade level. Oops. Well, maybe he can get a high paying, secure job where reading skills are not important. Perceive that to your heart's content.   The president says he has never told anyone not to tell the truth. "Never; not once." But there is a tape recording of him telling one of his "bimbos" to "deny, just deny" their relationship. "All you have to deny it, and nobody will know." But we still believe the president because the Dow Jones is at 9,000... and after all, he is such a hunk.   You're not paying attention to your speedometer this lovely, spring day. So you boogie on down the highway at what you perceive to be.... oh, about 50-55 miles per hour. The friendly police officer clocks you at 80. "But I had no idea, officer," you whine. Tell it to Judge Ito; maybe he'll perceive it your way.   The president is in favor of a balanced budget (well of course; who isn't?); it is the cornerstone of his economic program. But in fact, he opposed the balanced budget amendment; he called it irresponsible. In 1996, his 7-year budget projected deficits into the next century. He never talked about balancing the budget until the political opposition won both houses of Congress and actually proposed a balanced budget plan of their own. Now... it's all his doing; his entire economic policy revolves around it; it was his idea. That's the perception.   It is late summer, 1962: U.S. photos show something omminous on the ground in Cuba... could it be... nuclear missiles? Naw; just your imagination. The president perceives them to be merely giant umbrellas. The Russians would never do something like that.   The presidential candidate tells you that his economic plan includes a tax cut for the middle class. But in fact, he plans the largest tax increase in history, affecting everybody. He says we are in the worst recession we have experienced since the 1930's. In fact, the growth rate is over 3%, indicating a healthy economy. Never mind; the end justifies the means.   You order that SuperBurger with the low-fat sauce, thinking that it will keep you healthy and trim. In fact, the SuperBurger (even with the low-cal sauce) has 65 grams of fat in it. So you stop weighing yourself, because you perceive that you are getting thinner. But all of your clothes fit tighter. Must be something in the water.   It is 1964: the president has suppressed the report from the surgeon general on the effects of cigarette smoking because he does not want to alarm the public. So the tobacco industry continues to run its commercials telling us how smooth, clear, and refreshing cigarettes are. (They really did this; they are still doing this in foreign countries.) They actually coat your throat with a fine mist and thus make you healthier and resistant to disease. So by 1998, 90% of the public smokes, including 75% of children between 13 and 18 - 2-3 packs a day. Health problems? Can't be. All that lung cancer? It's just an illusion.   The president tells the public that they have a right to know about an alleged sexual interlude he had. He says he would prefer "more rather than less, sooner rather than later." How noble. In fact, he and his lawyers use every tactic they can think of, including a claim of executive priviledge, to delay and prevent the release of information. Doesn't matter; the facts are not important. The president says he never saw Monica Lewinsky after December 25. But White House logs show she was there at 10:30 p.m. on the night of December 28; probably stopping by on her way home from Georgetown just to use the ladies' room.   It is 1967: The president says we are winning the war in Vietnam; it is just a matter of time before the enemy caves in. 45,000 American lives lost? Just a statistical mirage. Hey; we won the Vietnam war; didn't ya' know? All we have to do is perceive it.   The president says he has no idea how the FBI files of 800 Republicans got into the White House; they were never used for political purposes. And he has no idea who hired Craig Livingstone; nobody does. It was all an innocent, bureaucratic snafu. Yeah, that's the ticket.   Seat-of-the-Pants Airlines is trying to keep air fares as slow as possible to make the flying public happy. But during the busy Thanksgiving weekend last year, did they get all that required maintenance done on the older planes? Did they replace the engines as required by regulation? Sure they did, President Fulhardee beams; sure they did. At least, that's the way he perceives it. Good enough for us perception people. All aboard!   The president says he has always erred on the side of caution when preparing his income tax returns. Of course. But the facts are that he donated his used underwear to charity and claimed a deduction of four dollars a pair for his used socks. And twice he has had to make additional payments to the IRS because of discrepancies in his returns. ABC News reports that this year the first family has actually paid more than they owe. What they don't tell you is that this is not a generous contribution to the treasury on the part of the Clintons, as they would like you to perceive; it is merely an installment on next year's tax liability.   Sirhan Sirhan says he did not murder Bobby Kennedy. So... despite overwhelming evidence, including the murder weapon in his hand at the scene of the crime... he didn't; he just didn't. James Earl Ray says that despite his confession and all the evidence, he did not shoot Dr. Martin Luther King. Gotta' be a conspiracy. Everything wrong is a conspiracy... a right-wing conspiracy. Oh, yeah, and O.J. didn't do it, either. The gloves didn't fit, so they did acquit.   Americans "perceive" that they are surrendering about 25% of their income to the government. But in fact, the number is over 35%. Most Americans perceive that the money they pay to social security is going into a bank account, with funds reserved for them in their name. But the fact is that the money is not there; there is no bank account. Every penney that you have ever paid into social security has already been spent. But of course, the government much prefers for you to believe the perception rather than the reality.   There was a report last week in the news that only 20% of boomer parents think their kids have tried illegal drugs. But the facts (or at least a generally reliable survey) indicate that about 40% of teenagers have done so. So a lot of those parents are flat-out wrong. But wait... the facts don't matter, do they?

Frankly, I'm little ticked off at people who believe whatever they want to just because they feel it. I got a hunch that this is a factor in many of our social ills these days. We don't want to know the real facts because they might point back to our own shortcomings. We'd rather blame a conspiracy and look to Washington to pass a law or fund a program to solve our social problems. This is nothing but a cheap cop-out. In most cases, the problem is not a right-wing conspiracy and the solution lies not in a government program, but in ourselves. It's way past time we accept responsibility for that. The sixties are over, for cryin' out loud.

So forgive me for being a traitor to the "feel good, good time, anything goes" fantasyworld that so many of us would like to live in; but I happen to think that the facts are important. I want to know exactly what the facts are so that I can take the proper action. I expect my school board, my employer, the airline, and my president to tell the truth. I demand it, because I care about the facts. But these people get away with lying because we allow them to do so. We reward them for their lies.

You may think that this is another "bash Clinton" essay. I won't bother to argue with you on that. But it is not. It is an essay about the truth... facts. It is a critical statement against liars, fakes, frauds, and phonies... Bill Clinton just happens to be all four of those.

You have a right to your opinion. You also have a right to ignore or deny the facts. But that doesn't make you right; it just makes you foolish.

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