Myopic Communicators

From My Perspective - - -

Have you ever listened to a public speaker and asked yourself: “What did he just say? What did he mean by that?” All have had this experience and mused: “There’s a person who keeps speaking until he can think of something to say!” Such an individual can be thought of as a “Myopic Communicator.” Myopic refers to one who has an “inability to see distant objects clearly because the images are focused in front of the retina; one who is afflicted with short-sightedness…” Is there a credible example of a Myopic Communicator?

Thomas Sowell is a Communicator who writes and speaks with precision. On November 2, 2010, he wrote a Column in which he asked: “Guess Who?” The column includes: “Guess who said the following: We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. Was it Sarah Palin? Rush Limbaugh? Karl Rove? Not even close. It was Henry Morgenthau, Secretary of the Treasury under Franklin D. Roosevelt and one of FDR's closest advisers. He added: after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started…And an enormous debt to boot! This is just one of the remarkable and eye-opening facts in a must-read book titled New Deal or Raw Deal? by Professor Burton W. Folsom, Jr., of Hillsdale College. Ordinarily, what happened in the 1930s might be something to be left for historians to be concerned about. But the very same kinds of policies that were tried - and failed - during the 1930s are being carried out in Washington today, with the advocates of such policies often invoking FDR's New Deal as a model. Franklin D. Roosevelt blamed the country's woes on the problems he inherited from his predecessor, much as Barack Obama does today. But unemployment was 20 percent in the spring of 1939, six long years after Herbert Hoover had left the White House. Whole generations have been educated to believe that the Roosevelt administration is what got this country out of the Great Depression… Morgenthau saw not only the utter failure of Roosevelt's policies, but also the failure of Roosevelt himself, who didn't even know enough economics to realize how little he knew. Far from pulling the country out of the Great Depression by following Keynesian policies, FDR created policies that prolonged the depression until it was more than twice as long as any other depression in American history…”

Two things noted about President Franklin D. Roosevelt was: (a) he was an experienced…seasoned politician, and (b) his rhetoric was sometimes mesmerizing. His memorable comments such as, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” and “This is a day that shall live in infamy” are often repeated. Similarly, the words of President John F. Kennedy – “Ask not what your country can do for you…Ask what you can do for your country…” become imbedded in one’s subconscious and memory. President Ronald Reagon had some catchy and poignant phrases, such as: “Facts are stubborn things…Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them…Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other…Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

A decade ago, Charles Swindoll wrote in a devotional – Day By Day: “Communicating is like fishing. We need to provide the right lures and bait to attract our listeners. Check out Paul's address on Mars Hill - Acts 17; or Stephen's defense before the Council - Acts 7; or Jesus' Sermon on the Mount - Matthew 5-7. Funny thing about fish: They keep their eyes open even when they're bored and sound asleep. Myopic communicators tend to forget that. What is a minimum standard for communication? Ecclesiastes 5:1-5 instructs: “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen…Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it…It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin.” There are few things worse than verbal overload. Giving heed to these words of instruction in Ecclesiastes 5 will guard one from becoming a Myopic Communicator. Consider these things with me!