Things we don't know

"Questions, questions and more questions. Why is it we know so little about things?"

Last night we went and saw David Barton give a presentation on the history of our government. It was factual and it was faith based. One of my favorite parts of the session was when Mr. Barton put up a picture of the fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence. He went on to say he has put that picture up when lecturing at many colleges and law schools. Almost without exception, nobody could identify more than two of the signers - Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. The rest were just unknown people in the background.

It is amazing what as a country we do not know. Some of which we don't know because we don't care to know. Other things are because we are too lazy to know. Then there are things we don't know because we have not been told enough details too know. This new trade deal, this monster TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) comes under that category.

The TPP. What is it? Why does it need to be "sold" by the Administration? Why do some hate it already? And is it really going to be a "game changer"? Will it really change everything? Questions, and then more questions. Understanding the nuances in the TPP will be quite a bit more complicated than identifying more than two signers of our Declaration of Independence. For example, how is the TPP different from the TPA? And what is the TPA (Trade Promotion Authority)?

The TPP (and the TPA) are just examples of things we don't know. The TPP is big, and it is complex. And the people we elected to represent us are going to have to vote on this thing. Which means they are going to have to understand it. And in order for us to understand if the vote they take on the TPP is a good vote, we also need to have some understanding of it. Which means, just like David Barton had to do to really understand the genesis of our founding documents, we need to do our homework.

And therein lies one of our problems. More and more people are simply checking out. Becoming part of the "whatever" crowd. The crowd that simply does not give a rip. That does not want to learn. That does not want to be informed. And more and more, does not even show up to vote.

Are we just on information overload, or is it something else? In the age of Google and the internet, one would think we could learn about a plethora of things at light speed. However, the brightest bulb stays dark unless it is turned on. I fear more and more of the light bulbs in our country are staying dark. And that is at our peril.