When someone accuses me of being biased in one of my opinion
pieces, I do not read the word bias; what I read is,
”
I surrender
”
because that’s what they are really saying.
When someone accuses me of being biased in one of my opinion pieces, I do not read the word bias; what I read is, “I surrender” because that’s what they are really saying. They cannot come up with a satisfactory argument so they surrender and revert to the charge of prejudice by accusing me of being biased. The more effective I am in making an argument the more the opposition accuses me of being biased – it’s the perfect barometer.
The word bias as a noun means “a particular tendency or inclination, especially one that prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question.” Prejudice means “an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.”
I don’t believe I’m biased – but almost no one believes they are biased so I’m in good company. I have many unfavorable opinions, but my unfavorable opinions are rarely flighty – I like to think that they were formed with some knowledge, thought and reason. I often go into many facts about my positions and everyone is free to disagree, but that’s hardly bias.
Even so, you do not have to put your hand on a hot stove 10 times to prove that you are not biased against being burned, and one can form a knowledgeable, thoughtful, and reasoned opinion after being burned just once. I hate dirty or deceptive political campaigning and the organizations that repeatedly use it, especially about local issues and in local races. Should I have to reevaluate every piece of dirty campaign material to prove I’m unbiased? I don’t think so.
One of the great ironies is that the charge of bias often comes from those with a financial self-interest in the opposing view. We all know that financial self-interests are some of the strongest biases that exist in human nature. Some folks will sell their soul for a dollar or a vote that equates to a dollar. They will find a million justifications to soothe their conscience – but the real driving force will be money or sometimes power. Is that cynical? You bet. But anyone who is not cynical these days is just fooling themselves.
Other good measures of effectiveness are the fake challenges. “If you’re so smart why don’t you run for office?” they say. The answer is that I believe, at this time, that I’m a lot more effective writing a column. The persons issuing the fake challenge believe the same thing or they would not bother trying to get me to do something else. The way the city council is currently organized means that three votes are needed to do anything. The way my column is organized only one vote is needed – mine. No one is less effective than a politician who is constantly outvoted. Politicians do not need additional sycophants; their trapping of power draws toadies like flies – they need honest critics.
Most politicians, self-interest groups and partisans have very selective memories. They immediately forget the support and compliments they received, but they never forget the opposition or criticism. I could give you chapter and verse where I supported the city council, the board of supervisors and even the unions, but why bother? They would only forget it all the first time I penned disapproval.
Besides, consider at all the money I’m saving the totally unbiased organizations and partisans that would oppose me, as long as I don’t run they do not have to buy any campaign ads attacking me. But save those Political Action Committee funds folks. You never can tell.
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident.
