By Phil Kabler, Charleston Gazette-Mail
“You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.”
— Daniel Patrick Moynihan
“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.”
— Harlan Ellison
•••
One of the most befuddling aspects about covering politics these days is realizing how many members of the electorate have such a wildly distorted, funhouse mirror perception of reality — a perception that is 180 degrees removed from empirical evidence, facts and figures.
That came to mind with the release of a recent Guardian/Harris poll, which was revealing in that it shows just how completely misinformed those polled are about the state of the U.S. economy.
Fifty-six percent said the economy is in a recession. Actually, the national economy has grown 3% in the past year, and the U.S. hasn’t experienced a recession since the height of the pandemic in 2020.
Similarly, 49% believe unemployment is at a 50-year high. It’s actually at a near-50-year low. The same percentage believe the stock market is down this year, when in fact, the S&P 500 went up 24% in 2023, and is up an additional 12% this year, and Dow Jones and Nasdaq have hit record highs.
