Have you ever heard a professional or respected individual in their field say something wildly wrong with which you were able to say nothing and only able to gaze in shock? Well I get to do that while paying hundreds of dollars for that said misinformation.
I may be being a bit harsh but as a mildly stingy person I want to get good use out of my cash. And as seeing as college is supposed to be a source of learning it makes hearing incorrect information all the more painful.
Now as a student attempting to major in history I am aware of how troublesome remembering so many dates, names, and places there can be. (Made infinitely worse by most monarchs sharing the same name.)
But at a point you leave the realm of reasonable misinformation and descend into wild inaccuracy.
During one of my economics classes my teacher (who for a miraculous change was not discussing her ex-husband) was talking about regulation. She went on to say, without hyperbole, that Ronald Reagan and George Bush deregulated the entire economy.
I have never felt that stupefied in any classroom before. Surely, I misheard her? Sadly, this was not the case. Despite how badly I wanted to challenge her statement I was too amazed to remember how to use my vocal chords.
To start with let’s take a brief look at both George Bush’s (she didn’t specify, so I shall go over both.)
-Raised taxes (So much for my ability to read lips)
-Gulf War and Iraq War
– W Bush expanded Medicare by signing the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act
-The Patriot Act and the NSA (social regulation is just as much a restriction as economic)
– Increased government spending
Hardly the complete deregulation I was told of.
Ronald Reagan was more free market in regards to both Bush’s but was nowhere near my economics teachers claim.
-Increased military spending and foreign intervention
-War on Drugs
-Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, which raised taxes
Now if she were to claim that the early United States was unregulated, she would have a better case.
Thankfully this has been the only case of majorly false information that I have come across in my time in school. It is sad though that a statement coming from a college professor can be rebutted in a few quick searches. Although this does provide us a good example of how new tools on the internet allow us to pursue information in numerous new ways.
Keep on learning and have a good day.