“A lie can travel halfway across the planet in the time the truth is still putting on its trousers.” — Winston Churchill
Anyone can say anything negative about modern agriculture and have it be believed. Correcting erroneous beliefs is a much greater challenge. You will be surprised at some of these issues that we believe to be factual, but may not be.
What would an individual or organization have to gain by creating a misconception? They may be well-intentioned and believe what they are saying or not so well-intentioned. Their purpose may be far from obvious.
Manipulation of fear may drive their success. If they can use public fear or outrage to gain attention, they are viewed as credible, more people join their efforts, and more money is raised. They gain in many ways. Interest groups use fear to generate funding and membership support.
The mass media feed into this cycle. They want headlines to gain readers and viewers. How many people would wait anxiously to the teaser, “Tune in later, the world is safe, the environment healthy, everyone is well fed.”
Lastly, most of us accept what we read or hear without further questions because that is the easiest, most passive thing to do. Then we get on with all of the more important stuff in our busy lives.
— passage from Addressing Misconception About Agriculture from American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture
Whether it be the elections or agriculture issues, I think those words above are something to take into consideration.
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill
