Ignorance and Fear

We are all well acquainted with the rights we have as American citizens. Our Founding Fathers started a grand experiment that gave people control of the government and spread Democracy throughout the world. The continued power of their ideas is evidenced in current events from the Arab Spring to battles over immigration.

Unfortunately, people seem to forget that the continued success of our country depends on the fulfillment of our responsibilities. Our Constitution guarantees us a trial by an impartial jury, but the first thought that most people have when they receive the jury summons is “how am I going to get out of this?” We have the right to vote for our leaders, but only 56.8% of the voting age population voted in the 2008 Presidential election. We should be informed about the issues and candidates that we are voting on but in too many cases we also fail at this responsibility

Obamacare is one example of an area where Americans do not have a basic understanding of the issues. A recent poll found that 42% of Americans do not even realize that Obamacare is still in effect. This included people that thought that Congress has repealed the law (12%) and those who believe that the Supreme Court had invalidated it (7%). Opponents still refer to the law as Socialized medicine or government run health care, although it is neither. There were versions of health care reform that would have fit these descriptions, but these were not what passed.

Health care spending in the United States currently accounts for 17.9% of our GDP and our aging population will only create more demand. Keeping Medicare solvent will depend on reigning in the expected escalation in costs. Implementation of reform is a massive undertaking that even supporters fear will be a “train wreck” if not handled properly. For all of these reasons, the issue needs to be debated. But debating requires knowledge of the subject. Instead, we seem satisfied regurgitating talking points that have no basis in reality.

Even worse than lack of knowledge about the issues facing our nation is letting this ignorance breed fear. Once this fear exists there are ideologues who stand ready to use it to push their agenda.

Nothing drives fear more than change and, as a country, we are in for some big changes. By 2042, whites will lose their majority status within the United States. California is one of four states where people of color already outnumber whites and by next year Latinos will become the largest ethnic group. Some Caucasians have reacted to their change in status with xenophobia and this has worked its way into the debate over immigration reform.

Those opposing immigration reform sometimes argue that Obama has “dismantled immigration enforcement.” In a recent poll, 60% of the respondents believe that deportations have either decreased or stayed the same under Obama. In reality, Obama has deported a record number of illegal immigrants. This came at a time in history where this population was already in the process of self-deporting, due in large part to the economic collapse that occurred during the end of Bush’s second term. A 2012 analysis of census data by the Pew Hispanic Center found that “the net migration flow from Mexico to the United States has stopped and may have reversed.”

By definition, people who are here illegally have broken the law. In some cases, this can have dire consequences. The 19 hijackers on 9/11 had overstayed their visas and were, therefore, in the country illegally. However, most immigrants come to our country for a chance at a better life for them and their children. For this reason, I think that it is a mistake to cave into fear and think of them as common criminals.

The Obama administration has walked this line carefully in executing the President's immigration policy. For the most part, the increase in deportations has been due to an expansion of the the Secure Communities (SCOMM) program. Under SCOMM the Department of Homeland Security is better able to flag for deportation those arrested for crimes. At the same time, the President issued an executive order protecting from deportation undocumented residents who were brought here as children and met specific conditions.

The Right is not alone in using ignorance and fear to manipulate the electorate. The Sandy Hook and Aurora shootings refocused the public’s attention on gun violence, but crime is usually a subject that is on America’s mind. In a 2011 Gallup poll 76% percent of those surveyed thought that crime had increased or stayed the same as the year before. 82% of respondents to a recent Pew poll thought that gun violence had either risen or stayed the same in the last two decades. If you have read this far, you already know that I am going to tell you that the respondents were wrong. Violent crime fell 3.8% in 2011 and property crime hit a nine year low. Between 1993 and 2010 the gun homicide rate fell 49%.

Gun violence is still a serious issue in our country. Only Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and Thailand have more gun homicides than the United States. Over 31,000 deaths a year involve guns. However, to have an intellectually honest debate, we have to have at least a basic understanding of the facts.