Daily Fix
The Good, The Bad,
& The Ugly
T. SHER SINGH
We live in a world blessed with instant information. But, it’s also a world cursed with instant obfuscation. There is transparency, but it quickly gets clouded by a cataract of misinformation.
Thus, we have lost faith in polls, ever since they became tools in the hands of spin-doctors. A word here or there, strategically placed in a question being polled, can subconsciously swing the answer by the same person from one option to a completely opposite one.
No wonder, we are reminded at every turn with the witticism: there are three kinds of lies -- lies, damned lies, and statistics.
And that’s exactly what current-day polling -- a multi-billion dollar industry has become: an efficient way of manufacturing statistics. By carefully manipulating it in the media, they get us to buy a particular product, or vote for someone or something, or steer us away into sympathy or empathy for a cause.
I marvelled the gall of it, therefore, when I recently came across a poll conducted recently on who in society is trusted today, or who isn’t.
Irony of ironies: polls can‘t be trusted, but they can tell us who we trust, and who we don‘t?
To be fair, this particular poll didn’t appear to be askewed, or designed to move us in any particular direction. It merely sought to hold a mirror, albeit a crude one, to our biases and prejudices.
Moreover, since it was commissioned by the Reader’s Digest, it appeared to be honestly exploratory, its sole purpose being to provide us with food for thought.
Which it did.
Called the ‘Trust Poll’, it sought to identify the “most and least responsible, credible and all-right people, professions and institutions in the country” -- the country, in this instance being Canada.
But, given the shrunken globe that we live in, though limited to one small segment of humanity, the poll does give us a bit of insight into how we look at the same questions the world over.
Interestingly, the five most trusted individuals are figures in the media: a TV news anchor; a TV reality-show host who exposes shoddy workmanship; an eco-activist who’s been starring for decades in a TV show on the environment; a young TV talk-show host; and a TV comedian who loves to lambaste politicians.
Interesting, because they are all creatures of the media, which means that their public personas are carefully and meticulously cultivated.
Then, then are those at the bottom of the list: the country’s prime minister, the opposition leader, the mayor of Toronto, a TV business news talking-head, and a former corporate giant who recently spent considerable time in a US jail.
Thus, the manufactured and cultivated image wins, but those who blatantly and unabashedly exploit the media for nefarious ends don’t.
Turning to institutions:
The list of the most trusted ones is topped by -- Canadian Forces, Parks Canada, Supreme Court of Canada, Bank of Canada, Health Canada, RCMP, Canada Post, Elections Canada and the Toronto Stock exchange.
The most distrusted?
The Houses of Parliament.
How about the professionals?
The most trusted include firefighters, pharmacists, airline pilots, nurses, general practitioners (GPs), and teachers.
Progressively, much further down the list, are the police, judges, and academics.
And the most distrusted of them all, the roll call of ignominy?
Financial advisors.
Religious ministers.
Journalists.
Mechanics.
Taxi drivers.
Lawyers.
Real estate agents.
And, right at the rock bottom, are fundraisers … politicians … psychics.
* * * * *
Not a scientific study, by any stretch of the imagination. But still, it gives us a lot to think about and to be wary of.
Fascinating, isn’t it?
Those entrusted with the most power and responsibility appear to disappoint us the most: our leaders, both political and religious. Those who are given power to assist and protect us -- police, journalists, lawyers.
There’s the rub. It’s our law-makers and the guardians of the law -- both worldly and other-worldly -- that let us down most.
I don’t think the pollsters dared to include them in their questions, but I bet you, if they had, even prostitutes would’ve fared better.
It’s a topsy-turvy world we live in where, sadly, it is the cynic who is best equipped to navigate through the minefields. But, here’s the really bad news:
All that I have told you applies to one of the most decent, civilized and sophisticated nations in the world.
If this is the best, pray, where stand the rest?
October 18, 2013