IM
(an American citizen with an inquiring mind):
Gadfly, just before you arrived, I bumped into a good, progressive
friend. I asked what he thought about
today’s labor report, and he said, “Obama’s policies are working—unemployment
rates are down.”
Old
Gadfly: Doesn’t he have a good argument?
IM: I showed him the following graphic that I
retrieved from the Bureau of Labor Statistics just this morning. I suggested that this graphic is a much
better picture of the current job situation, because it’s a better measure for
the percentage of the employable population that is actually working.
I
continued, “Politicians spin the statistics despite the number of real people
affected. The illusion of a lower
unemployment rate does not account for the number of previously employed people
that have dropped out of the job market.”
Old
Gadfly: How did he respond?
IM: He was in a daze, looking right through me
with no facial affect and eyes glazed over.
Old
Gadfly: What happened next?
IM: I said, “Look at this spreadsheet from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics that I downloaded just this morning.”
I then
raised my voice a little more and said, “Listen. Since December of 2006, Bush’s last month in
office with a Republican-controlled Congress, there now are 4.9 million fewer
people working in America. Sure, there
have been job gains, but there have been job losses as well. What these numbers do not tell us is how many
of these new jobs are full-time with healthcare benefits, especially with
concerns about the mandates and costs of Obamacare? Frankly, the current job situation means
significant loss of esteem for many American workers and their families, and
major increases in income inequality.”
Old
Gadfly: Wait a second. AM (a seasoned combat aviator with an
inquiring mind) just walked in. “Good
morning, AM. IM and I were just talking
about this morning’s labor report. Are
you familiar with it?”
AM: Yes. Remember,
numbers and stats can & DO LIE. We have been in trouble now for too many
years, and NO, “things” are NOT getting better, but worse, with the next big “down-turn,”
just around the “corner” with mandated changes in 2014. One can LIE so much, it becomes “truth,” but
with that kind of “truth,” nothing will ever get better
Old
Gadfly: Thanks, AM. I would add to what you said the notion that
numbers are simply data. Statistical
methods can provide some useful information with the data, provided the
approach is well-designed. When statistics
support a false reality, it is because the statistician was incompetent or the statistical
“spinner” deliberately distorts reality.
Your
observation is on target. It reminds me
of a conversation IM and I recently had on Spin
in the No Spin Zone.
IM: Welcome to the conversation, AM.
Old
Gadfly: You were pretty blunt with your
progressive friend so early in the morning, IM.
How did your friend respond?
IM: He said, “I cannot hear you because my
forehead is bleeding.” And then he
stormed away.
Old
Gadfly: Your friend appears to be a Copernican
drone.
IM: Perhaps so. But, he’s a good friend, and I’m
hoping he’ll rationally engage in a future conversation on this and other
topics.
AM: What’s a Copernican drone?
IM: Believe me, AM. You are not one of them because you listen carefully
to counterarguments and can explain how you arrived at your position on issues.
Old
Gadfly: AM, knowing that you are a
seasoned and highly decorated combat aviator with over three decades of service
to our nation, I truly understand you dedicated your life, not to mention the extensive
sacrifices on the part of your family, to protecting the American way of life. Your thinking is deeply grounded in insights
regarding the meaning of the American way of life and the risks our nation
faces.
IM: Amen to that!
Old
Gadfly: Let’s meet again soon, IM and
AM, to discuss many other issues that threaten America’s way of life.
AM: Thanks.
I look forward to it!
IM: Me too!
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