To fix or not to fix

It was quite some time ago that Mark Twain, the American author and humorist, wrote “If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.” In 1910, the year of his death, television would have been considered a pipe dream. If he were writing today he would probably put it something like this, “If you don’t watch TV you won’t know whose dancing with the stars; and if you get your news from Twitter you won’t have the slightest idea what is true and what isn’t.”
       I went to Snopes the other day to find out what they thought about a certain story circulating on the Internet and discovered that over two-thirds of the material regarding the president was false. It seems as though once a person takes a position on a political issue, all evidence is regarded as true or false on the basis of whether or not it supports that opinion.
        What we are seeing is a breakdown of rational discussion, especially on issues of genuine significance. Someone said that “truth is the first victim of war” and that is true both on the battlefield and in national debate where something is “true” only if it helps to win one’s point.
       I am in no way hesitant to identify myself as a conservative. We conserve those things that have proven themselves over time. To bargain away what works for what might work is not a good idea. It is when what is said to work no longer works, that we look for better ways to accomplish the same goal. There is no problem with risking a failed procedure with a new one that holds promise. But to roll the dice on life is no sign of intelligence or bravery. The question is, does our economic, social, and political system need a fundamental change? A comparison with other systems around the world will lead the mature intellect to reject such a alternative. Does the existing system need tweeting? To be sure. “Fix it,” not “Exchange it,” should be our response.