"Everyone Knows..."

by Herbert I. London
January 4, 2011 at 4:00 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/1779/everyone-knows

There is a claim from hordes of progressives which starts with the words "everyone knows." For example, everyone knows the Tea Partiers have a racist agenda. And, everyone knows patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.

Presumably if everyone knows, evidence to buttress one's argument is unnecessary. Dissent is a function of those conservative know-nothings, the grass-roots mob wallowing in ignorance. If the Tea Partiers display none of the characteristics attributed to them, the labels still persist. After all, "everyone knows." If demonstrators avow their loyalty to the nation, but disavow President Obama, they are scoundrels. Who does not know that?

This natural order to opinions can be seen in what elitist ideas embrace. Free speech is desirable until you say something elite opinion-makers disapprove of. Suppose you say homosexuality is related to nurture, not nature; observe how the upholders of free speech use their free speech placards to beat you into submission. When "everyone knows…," dissent is beside the point.

It takes courage to stand up to the bromides masquerading as current truth. Until the environmental movement was unmasked over global warming, those who challenged the prevailing sentiment were perceived as cranks. That tag has not vanished despite evidence of wrong doing by the so-called environmental scientists.

Similarly, Mayor Michael Bloomberg invokes libertarian principles when he wants to burnish his liberal credentials, then considers it appropriate to impose his view on what New Yorkers should eat and drink. While he does not quite say "everyone knows," it is implied in his public commentary: "Everyone knows transfats are bad for you." Even if they are, is it his right to tell us what we may eat?

President Obama is not inoculated against this condition: his economic policies are usually defended as "everyone knows." Everyone knows something had to be done to save the nation from financial ruination after "the destructive policies of the Bush administration."

It is also axiomatic that everyone knows steps had to be taken to control the increase in healthcare expenditures and to provide insurance coverage for the uninsured. The fact that Obamacare increases healthcare expenses and imposes insurance on those who may not want it, is merely a disagreeable critique.

The experts in foreign affairs know that everyone knows: the U.S. cannot afford to play its traditional role of stabilizing global influence. Of course defense spending is 4.5% of GDP -- infinitesimal compared to entitlement expenses, but not everyone knows that.

There is little doubt that "everyone knows" is a conversation stopper: it it puts the naysayers in the penalty box. It says: You cannot possibly have an informed opinion.

That there may be other points of view, that no one has a monopoly on the truth, are conditions rarely considered by those who reflexively invoke "everyone knows" in argument. Needless to say, the reliance on this phrase is not an argument, but for those who assume their positions are in the orbit of natural order, it is likely that this phrase will be rolled out.

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