Low Information People
How the legacy press uses its historic prestige to keep its dedicated readers ignorant.
At dinner with a couple of old and dear friends a few nights ago, the topic of “conspiracy theories” came up, which led into review of various major events since September 11, 2001. Both are dedicated readers of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Both are educated men of high intelligence. As the conversation proceeded, they revealed that they are simply in the dark about many of topics that I cover in this newsletter.
The conversation reminded me of a thought I’ve frequently had in recent years—namely, that legacy papers like the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post have used their prestige to keep their otherwise educated readers ignorant about the activities of the U.S. government and its influential cronies in finance, the Military-Industrial Complex, and the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex.
It reminds me of my experience when I was 36 and I rewarded myself for my first major book deal by buying a (used) Porsche 911 of the 996 Series. Ever since I was a little boy I’d dreamed of owning a Porsche, and at last I had the money to buy one. To be sure, it was a fairly cool car, but only later did I realize that my perception of prestige had caused me to overlook its many shortcomings.
In the summer of 2006 I spent a weekend on Germany’s Nürburgring, and it was then that the deficiencies really started to become apparent to me. The power, handling, and braking just weren’t very good. Hanging out in the track’s paddock, I got to be chummy with a bunch of rich racing enthusiasts, including an Englishman who owned the latest model of the Porsche GT3. On one lap we entered the track together and I tried to keep up with him, but got smoked in the most humiliating way.
“It’s not entirely your fault, mate,” he told me back in the paddock. “The 996 series wasn’t a brilliant era for Porsche.”
“What do you mean, it wasn’t a brilliant era?” I asked.
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings mate, but your car is rubbish,” he said.
A few nights ago at dinner, I was tempted to tell my old friends that “the New York Times is rubbish,” but I knew they wouldn’t believe me. They are still blinded by their perception of the paper’s prestige.
John Leake is always one of the most interesting men in the room. A Canary with a fresh perspective makes reading his articles a delight. Best wishes to you and Peter for 2025 and thank you both for your informative “Courageous Discourse” channel.
I get it. Out of approx. 20 golf buddies overall in Florida, all college BS degrees or better and conservative mostly, I got blank stares or looks of incredulity when someone brought up the next pandemic might be bird flu and I mentioned GOF research being very concerning. One or two understand everything, a few have asked questions but mostly get nervous and /or defensive. The “citizenship” needs better info and intel.