June 19th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
My wife brought home from the bookstore John Stossel’s latest book, Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel—Why Everything You Know is Wrong.
Stossel’s book is a collection of ideas challenged while working as a correspondent for ABC. He currently works on the show 20/20, a show that bored me to tears when Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs were the main draws. I probably need to check back in and see if it’s improved. 
Within chapters on gas prices, public schools, global warming, government, parenting, stocks, and other topics, Stossel has broken up his writing further into sections with a Myth/Truth block and an explanation around a page long. This format may be fine for ADD sufferers, but it made it hard for me to build any momentum reading the book. It was too easy to put down; I had to finish it on the plane today.
Other than the format, the author’s writing style is good and down-to-earth. Sometimes he would start research for a segment with a set of preconceived notions only to be refuted by the facts. Contrary to journalists with a set agenda, though, those facts would change his mind and lead him to ask new sets of questions.
The author goes into areas other than the standard fare for those who venerate personal liberty. The chapter I found most intriguing was the chapter on parenting. There were some good tips that hit home, especially with my older daughter who is quite independent. The last chapter in the book, also quite intriguing, deals with how parents can overcriticize each other and cause the other to back off in some areas.
Stossel argues that one can find “experts” for anything. Some care for their work and as a result are honest, but others will become an “expert” in something on order to push an agenda. One case in point was one expert who ties childhood violence with video games. In congressional hearings and in other places of debate, they continually cited this one person as the expert.
Some writers like Thomas Sowell start with theory and move towards observable behavior; Stossel works the other way, often ending in the same result. Both are classic liberal/libertarians. Whatever your political stripe, this book is quite good. It is chock full of interview snippets, some silly, some informative. The stories are often entertaining even though they are short. This one’s worth picking up.
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