Perspective in the News

Here is a good illustration of what I mean when I warn about not depending on the news media for a sense of perspective.

On the same day, early in the morning and around noon, I caught two news reports.  The first came from CBS This Morning.  It was promoted as, “what the car companies won’t tell you that may be a danger to your family.” Later, when the story aired, the headline read:  “’No excuse’: Safety experts say this car defect puts kids in danger.”  It featured a family whose child was severely injured when their car was rear-ended; and the father, who was driving, was propelled back into his son in the back seat.  The force of the crash caused the front seat to fail and break.  Although the seats met federal safety standards, the auto company was found partially liable for not having stronger seats and faces a verdict of over $120 million.  (Included in the video but omitted from the text was that the father was not wearing his seatbelt and the child was not riding in a safety seat.)

The report went on to say:  “CBS News investigation has identified more than 100 people nationally who were severely injured or killed in apparent seatback failures since 1989. The majority were children. Seventeen have died in the past 15 years alone.”  At the end of the piece the father urged viewers to contact their representatives demanding stricter standards.

The second report was a national story presented on the local news.  They reported that the number of pedestrian fatalities was up in 2015 partially as a result of texting while walking. 

“The [Governors Highway Safety Commission] report showed one of the biggest factors in the past few years, has been smartphones. More and more people are texting or on social media while they’re walking.”  They showed pictures of several people walking down the sidewalk while absorbed with their cell phones and conducted a few interviews.  The whole presentation was serious but had some light-hearted notes with people saying they weren’t surprised because nearly everyone was paying less attention while walking.  One interviewee joked about walking into a garbage can once while he was distracted by his phone.  According to the Associated Press, “2,368 pedestrians [were] killed in the first six months of 2015.”

So we have two news stories on the same day:  one with people wringing their hands and demanding changes to federal regulations to avoid about 100 deaths or injuries in 25 years, while the other calmly presented how we should try to reduce over 4700 deaths per year.  Now deaths and serious injuries, especially to children, are sad and important, but look at how out of proportion the first story is to the second. 

The lesson here is that we only have enough time and energy to worry about a limited number of things.  Don’t rely on the news media to help us sort these things out or set priorities.  They want us to be equally upset by everything they present, whether a problem results in a couple of deaths a year or thousands they are given the same import.  The exception is that deaths or injuries to one or two Americans usually get much more attention than to hundreds of Africans or Arabs.  Their job is to inform and entertain in such a way that allows them to sell viewers to their sponsors not to sort things out.

500

For almost 5 years I have made the case for personal responsibility, accepting that most of our problems arise from our own behavior and that most of our societal problems are merely the accumulation of these poor choices.  This is the 500^th posting on the subject.  Time for a review.

In 1961 the President inspired Americans with the words, “Ask not what your country can do for you.”  Later in that decade a popular chant was, “Power to the people.”  In the past 50 years we seem to have forgotten those messages.  Today Americans stress about the next election, thinking that if they can only elect the right savior, all will be well.  Meanwhile the candidates try to buy votes by promising more government solutions and more government benefits.

We have strayed from a belief in active involvement to one of passive acceptance.  The barrage of crises and national epidemics that dominate the media and political discourse explains this change in part.  We hear that all these problems are too big for us to solve on our own.  The playing field is not level.  The odds are stacked against us.  We need help from politicians and advocates to take on the inequities and massive challenges.  What choice do we have?

The rest of the explanation to this passivity lies in the fact that Americans have forgotten or never understood a basic principle of life:  Behavior has consequences.

These crises and challenges that we constantly hear about do not, for the most part, originate with government.  They are the consequences of individual behaviors that over time build up into those crises and epidemics we keep looking to others to solve.

People got sloppy about their diets.  Food became more plentiful, especially fast and convenience foods.  Laborsaving devises and sedentary jobs kept Americans less active.  Obesity in America grew from 13% to 36%.  This results in increased healthcare costs that are now shared by everyone.  Is this a problem for government to solve?  If we say yes, we relinquish some of our freedom.

Similarly, Americans make spending choices in reaction to hype, scare tactics and emotional appeals.  They fail to distinguish between wants and needs, then reach retirement age with inadequate savings.  Americans spend more money on unproven dietary supplements and other unscientific faux-remedies than on all legitimate healthcare costs.  Instead of setting high standards for their children, parents defend them against teachers’ criticisms, as first generation children of Asian and African immigrants that teach different values outperform them in the same schools.  Forty and fifty years after the Surgeon General’s initial warning, they blame (and sue) tobacco companies for tricking them into smoking and getting addicted, playing the victim, and not understanding that any award or settlement is really money coming from all of us with tobacco or insurance companies acting only as intermediaries.  Failing to take the time to do simple calculations and not reading the fine print leaves them financially overextended.  They trust and defend erroneous medical and nutritional advice gathered from social media.  None of these are governmental problems.  They are personal choices that have spread and morphed into a society headed in the wrong direction.

The 499 previous posts (and many more to follow) present clear and specific examples from the news and advertising of these types of behavior.  Ill-advised behavior leads to unfortunate consequences. In today’s interdependent society, everyone shares in these consequences.  The only way to succeed as a nation, the Real American Solution, is to improve behavior in the five key dimensions, personally and individually, while discouraging, not rewarding or tolerating, the destructive behavior of our neighbors. 

Feeling Sleepy?

Most areas of discipline become a conflict between simple and easy.  To lose weight is simple – eat less and exercise more.  Is it easy? – Certainly not.  To avoid being ambushed by unexpected bills and to ultimately retire comfortably and securely is simple – don’t spend more than you earn.  That too is not easy for most people.  That’s why the initial challenge of discipline is so often compounded by those smooth sales pitches about some magic formula, pill or secret the banks, credit card companies or Wall Street don’t want you to know.  These scams prey on people who understand the simple answer but decide it’s too difficult to carry out.

The dimension of discipline is often associated with diet, finances, smoking, drinking and gambling.  But there are so many other simple things that we find excuses for or just skip rather than just doing:  applying sunscreen, buckling seatbelts, flossing, etc.  Another often-overlooked area is getting enough sleep.  Here again the answer is simple for both adults and children – have a regular bedtime and stick to it.

The news media reminds us that once again Americans struggle.  This NBC story (among others) reports:  “More than a third of Americans say they're not getting enough sleep, putting themselves at risk of obesity, heart disease and other issues.”  This particular warning comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  “CDC experts looked at health surveys covering more than 400,000 Americans.”  That is a very large sample size, which is good; but the data comes from self-reporting, which is not as reliable as observation, and it may be exaggerated in either direction. 

Nonetheless, here is another problem area related to discipline.  The researchers give the answer:  “Lifestyle changes such as going to bed at the same time each night; rising at the same time each morning; and turning off or removing televisions, computers, mobile devices from the bedroom, can help people get the healthy sleep they need."  And how many other proposed solutions to health problems begin with the words “lifestyle changes”?  This is the discipline link.

A separate study from the University of California at Irvine just a day or two earlier linked lack of sleep with the use of social media.  The sample was much smaller and limited (76 students), and they were not trying to blame Facebook for the problem.  They just point out how easy it can be, when someone is very tired, to find refuge in such an undemanding, lightweight distraction.  Furthermore, the light shining in your eyes is more stimulating than relaxing.

But the CDC's main concern is about the big-picture problems.  “Sleep deprivation has ripple effects through an economy, leading to greater incidence of workplace accidents and car crashes. If experts…can better understand how sleep deprivation affects people, better products and better technology can be utilized to alleviate it.” 

Yes, there are those societal consequences, plus lower productivity.  Yet here again we have experts turning to technology to fix a problem that is simple (but not easy) for us to solve ourselves.  The magic technology will take care of it and we don’t have to do the hard work.  Is going to bed at the same time each night; rising at the same time each morning; removing the electronics from the bedroom really hard work?

Say Cheese

Here is another example of how the news media tries to stir us up and how the lawyers play on that emotional peak to their own benefit.  Last week a second set of headlines appeared, building on the original headlines from the middle of February, which were the result of a three-year-old investigation. 

Let me explain.  In November 2012 FDA investigated complaints about Castle Cheese, a family-owned business in Pennsylvania.  They found that the company was adding excess cellulose to their grated cheese as a cheap filler to keep costs down.  Cellulose is a safe additive, and an acceptable level is 2 to 4 percent.  Their findings led to a wider investigation.  “Essential Everyday 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese, from Jewel-Osco, was 8.8 percent cellulose, while Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Great Value 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese registered 7.8 percent, according to test results. Whole Foods 365 brand didn’t list cellulose as an ingredient on the label, but still tested at 0.3 percent. Kraft had 3.8 percent.”

In the middle of last month the news resurfaced as Castle Cheese Company admitted wrongdoing and Universal Cheese & Drying, Inc. and International Packing LLC also pled guilty to “conspiring to introduce misbranded cheese.” Each corporation faces a $500,000 fine, and one Castle executive faces a large fine plus jail time.  "The Department of Justice prosecutes people and companies who introduce adulterated or misbranded food into interstate commerce.”

It’s good that they were caught.  Consumers should be able to believe that what’s on the label is what’s in the package.  It’s a common enough problem with dietary supplements, but you should expect more from the dairy industry.  Most grated cheese packages do list cellulose as an ingredient to reduce clumping, but look at how the first sentence of this article reads:  “If you’re like most of us, you were devastated to learn that packaged parmesan cheese — beloved and generously sprinkled by many — is probably at least eight to 10 percent wood pulp and other fillers.”  Devastated? – Get a grip!  It’s only cheese – and not beloved cheese!  Notice also how they reword cellulose as wood pulp to get an extra emotional response.  It makes it look like you are eating the leftovers from a sawmill.  However, this other website points out that parts of trees, including “wood, bark, roots, leaves, flowers, fruits or seeds,” are used in many traditional and modern medicines.

Apparently some were devastated, devastated enough to call lawyers or respond to calls from them.  Two short weeks later the Chicago Tribune reported that lawsuits were flying in.  On February 26, an Illinois woman filed a class action lawsuit against Kraft Heinz claiming violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.  Suits against that company had already been filed in federal courts in three other states.

When filing class action lawsuits, you can’t forget Wal-Mart! Another plaintiff “claims he was induced to purchase Great Value's ‘100% Grated Parmesan Cheese’ at a premium price because he believed it was, indeed, 100 percent cheese.”  Wal-Mart is accused of deceptive business practices because the cheese allegedly contains 7 to 10 percent cellulose.  The attorney in this case says that it “isn't about consumers getting sick…people are still buying the product based on the label, and families are being put off. Imagine giving that to your kid with their pasta..." 

Imagine that!  It’s not even about people (or children) getting sick.  We are supposed to be shocked by the idea of all the suffering that results from being induced to buy substandard cheese, especially if we are jurors.  (I remember when children used to eat the paste in art class or put bits of paper in their mouths to make spitballs.  And isn’t paper made from wood pulp?)  All that doesn’t matter.  If you have no perspective, you immediately react to these things, as you are urged to do by the media and the lawyers, and find it outrageous calling for some compensation to the poor consumers, the victims of this deception – and, of course, compensation to their attorneys.

If you have no economic understanding you don’t get how the companies primarily involved have already been punished and how further action merely shuffles around money adding absolutely no value to the economy.  It’s a waste of time and resources, and likely increases our costs as these defendants and their insurance companies pass costs along to their customers.  Then we wonder why the economy and jobs are not booming.  America's lack of perspective and economic understanding may be contributors.

By the way, Castle also made Market Pantry cheese sold at Target also at 3,400 stores controlled by Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc., based in Kansas City, and both those companies have “deep pockets.”  So stand by for more legal action (more distribution and more waste).

Don't Ask Your Doctor II

Back in November 2012 I wrote a piece called “Don’t Ask Your Doctor.”  The primary message was that problems with discipline lead people to seek out easy answers, in this case, the pills instead of the lifestyle change.  That behavior makes them particularly susceptible to the advertising of drug companies featuring the healthy-looking actors portraying cured patients enjoying good times with their families and friends as the required warnings and side effects stream along the bottom of the screen.  It’s typical advertising playing upon our insecurities and fears.

I concluded with another important reason not to ask your doctor.  “When we ask our doctors, we put them on the spot.  The drug may not be the best choice.  At this point the doctor can give us the lecture about how we should take better care of ourselves, or else take the easy way out for them by writing a prescription.  They must choose between disappointing or angering a patient or just giving in.  The drug companies count on this pressure, betting that some proportion of doctors will choose to avoid the often-fruitless argument.”  When the doctors cave the drug companies win. 

Last November, three years after I wrote that, the AMA called for a ban on direct advertising to consumers for yet another reason.  A spokesman for the group said, “Today’s vote in support of an advertising ban reflects concerns among physicians about the negative impact of commercially-driven promotions, and the role that marketing costs play in fueling escalating drug prices."  Only two countries do not ban direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs, the United States and New Zealand. “Advertising dollars spent by drug makers have increased by 30 percent in the last two years to $4.5 billion,” and economic understanding tells us that all these costs must be baked into the final price of the drugs.

Last week the New York Times expanded on the issue pointing out that these ads generally emphasize high-cost drugs and “big-ticket treatments like joint replacements and cancer care.”  It is not just the drug companies, but the entire healthcare industry driving up costs with slick advertising.  “The health care industry [overall] spent $14 billion on advertising in 2014, according to Kantar Media, a jump of nearly 20 percent since 2011.”  This trend raises concerns within the medical profession that the practice will increase prices of all treatment by encouraging patients to seek out more expensive and possibly inappropriate treatments.

So there are at least four good reasons not to ask your doctor and to let him or her help you make the best possible decision without outside interference.  I know it would be hard to mute or ignore an ad that seemed to be addressing a cure for some condition making me miserable, but the alternative (as we wait for a legal ban) is to watch the prices of all treatments, and drugs in particular, continue to escalate.