On Reasonable Discourse

Growing up, my parents used to tell me that you just can't reason with the unreasonable. The phrase usually arose during any discussion of domestic criminals or foreign enemies, with the implication being that you have every reason to dispose of them. I was recently reminded of the phrase during a discussion with my mother about health care reform, not because my mother is a criminal or a tyrant; rather, she has simply become unreasonable through years and years of exclusive media consumption--conservative talk radio during the day, Fox News programming at night. This poisonous combination has been described by some as constituting a "noise machine" and an "echo chamber," and in my experience, I find the characterizations to be apt.

My mom, like many others in this country, believes that the current plan proposed by the Democrats will kill her, literally. She worries that the Democrats wish to transform this country's exceptional health care system into a socialized nightmare in which the government has a vested interest in putting people to death. No doubt, she has gotten this impression from listening to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Newt Gingrich. But during the course of our discussion and my attempts to allay her misplaced and irrational fears, I realized just how powerful and effective the right-wing noise machine has become.

I responded to my mother by pointing out that, according to UN data, the health care system in the United States is far from the best: The US ranks in the 30s when it comes to life expectancy and infant mortality rate (IMR), which are the two most commonly used metrics for assessing health care quality. Her response? "Oh, of course the UN would say something like that. You expect me to believe statistics that come from a corrupt organization like the UN?" She continued, without a tinge of irony, by citing statistics relayed by a Republican congressman on Fox News about the dangers posed by the proposal in the House.

It was at this point that I realized that the right-wing noise machine has succeeded at far more than merely the reinforcement of partisan positions. It has succeeded, more insidiously, in dismissing and subsequently discrediting all sources of information that could be used to refute its claims. Sure, movement conservatism has long detested and demonized the "mainstream media," represented by such reputable outlets as the New York Times and the Washington Post. But it was only at this point in my conversation with my mother that I realized just how potent this demonization has become.

Unless someone pulls from an "appropriate" source--read: a source sanctioned by Fox News or movement conservatism--the data are inadmissible. As a result, the only possible refutation of a position must come from a source that does not--indeed, cannot--exist. Thus, people most deeply embedded in the "noise machine," i.e., those who consume media from no other source (e.g., my mother), become insusceptible to reasoned discourse. It has indeed become impossible to reason with the unreasonable.

I nevertheless sent my mother a lengthy email debunking the claims she had heard. I ended my email with an impassioned plea for her to stop watching Fox News and listening to talk radio. I doubt she even read the thing, but despite the apparent hopelessness of the endeavor, I felt obligated to do it. She is my mother, after all.