Question What We’re Fed

From Environment & Resources 2020

This documentary titled “Merchants of Doubt” is about exposing the evil truths and corruption of large corporations and their money hungry tendencies. They use strategies involving lobbyists, scapegoats, suppression of research, think tanks and more to cover up disturbing information from consumer knowledge. The less consumers know, the more they can continue to make millions or even billions off of their business. All this plays into human and environmental health and not many people are aware of these practices large corporations regularly use to trick consumers.

The tobacco industry is one of the most harmful ones there is still today for human health. They have used lobbyists to convince viewers that cigarettes aren’t bad for a person’s health. They’ve used flame retardants as scapegoats for causing house fires. The pressure was on flame retardants to reduce house fires but in reality, they didn’t work at all. The tobacco industry used dirty methods for keeping cigarettes on the shelves, such as lobbyist, Peter Sparber, who entered the National Association of State Fire Marshalls and began spying on them, convincing them to state it was furniture that was the problem for fires, not tobacco.

Lobbyists like Peter Sparber who went on to work for the pesticide, automobile, coal, and oil industry, which are all harmful to humans or the environment in one way or another. It’s public relation specialists like him who are great at distorting the truth. Meanwhile scientists like James Hansen aren’t skilled at public communication so they’re not able to get their points across as well as lobbyists. Many lobbyists like Bill O’Keefe tried spreading the idea that climate change, CO2 and pollution is good for the plants, the environment, and the planet. Some believed that environmental regulation and green movements were too close to socialism.

Another common tactic large corporations use is suppression or construing of research like cherry-picking data that might support their cause, falsifying data completely, or hiring “scientists” to fabricate studies that also support their company’s beliefs. As it turns out, some of the largest harmful corporations were funding campaigns that benefitted their products in some way like Citizens for Fire Safety that advocates for the use of flame retardants which is funded by the three largest flame retardant producers.

I find it shocking that there were ever events for the gathering of “Global Warming Skeptics” and outrageous that anyone would believe it. It’s a clear form of propaganda and ignorant people allow for corporations like the oil and coal industry to grow larger and larger. It’s angering that lobbyists such as Bill O’Keefe would rather advance economic growth than the health of the environment. Lobbyists and corporations with his ideals are toxic for the environment and in turn are dangerous for humans. We can’t keep exploiting the environment for our benefit.

I think the whole point of this documentary is one of the most important ones someone can learn, which is to question what the world feeds you. Ask questions, like why, who, when, and what and look beneath the surface; do your own research and investigating. Once you do that, you can follow the data yourself, instead of listening to politics and money-driven politicians who feed people brainwashing garbage to benefit themselves and the company they represent. We must make our own decisions after we’ve done the work of examining issues ourselves. We have to dig deeper and understand the world around us and ask how it’s come to be as it is. Classes like Environment and Resources is a great way for college-aged people to learn the importance of taking what we’re shown with a grain of salt. It’s a shame that the environment has to cause such a big political debate between conservatives and liberals. It seems every issue has a left and right point of view on the matter. I wish that people could just come together, no matter their political backgrounds and make a difference, but people have their heads too far up their bums to care.

Citation:

1. Kenner, Robert, Robledo, Melissa, Roberts, Kim. 2014. Merchants of Doubt. Mongrel Media. Sony Pictures Classics.