Misinformation is true terrorism

Last week was a great one in the history of our little community. After many years of delays and controversy, the reality of a brand new, much larger Knox County Public Library has broken ground for construction.

The path to Friday’s groundbreaking has been incredibly frustrating. I began covering the project in 2018 with the purchase of the land on which the new library will sit. Since then, our world has undergone significant changes. Through political turmoil, a global pandemic, and increasing civil unrest, a lot has happened.

When the gears started to turn in favor of getting the project started, new developments curtailed the plans for about a year. Funding questions and legalities became talking points, and I wrote several articles outlining the facts of the situation. Did anyone read those words? If they did, they certainly let conspiracy theories and preconceived ideas take root over the truth.

Here we are with the library now under construction. Local people on social media still seem unaware of how the library construction will be funded and where the money came from. I’ve determined you can’t fix stupid. I have all but given up trying to inform people of the facts of the story, because as we see in all other aspects of daily life, especially anything relating to government or money, people will only hear and believe what they want to believe.

In an age where information can be freely obtained, how did we become increasingly ignorant and misinformed? Is it because bad actors here and abroad figured it out? Did they realize the path to terrorism wasn’t a bomb or a crashed airplane? Did they learn all they had to do was tap into the psyche of the population and play upon our biggest fears, prejudices, and notions? I believe so.

Who figured it out, we may never know. But someone did. Every passing day, I see comments made by community and business leaders, who are knowledgeable people by all measures, who hold tight to lies and bigoted ideas. Maybe the problem isn’t a problem at all... perhaps the terroristic act of decrypting the minds of about half the nation wasn’t programming, but instead just allowing people to let their guards down and be who they really are.

I choose not to be programmed by others. I believe in facts in front of me, and if facts change with circumstances and situations, so does my understanding of the facts.

The fact of the matter is that our library will be of great benefit to our community. It already is. No new taxes will be created to pay for this project. Because it’s now within the scope of the library’s savings, taxpayers have prepaid for the project over the last few decades. No new taxes, and a benefit to everyone. Those are facts that I am happy to report to you, the reader.