Numbers without context

 Years ago, I put the CTV News App on my phone.  The idea was to get Canadian news.  At that time, I thought CTV was a neutral source of news.  But then the Covid panic and overreaction occurred, and I saw how CTV was feeding it.  What they were doing was posting Covid case numbers without context.  They were trying to create the impression that a black plague like epidemic was happening by posting numbers saying 125 cases here and 100 cases there.  There was no explanation of what these numbers meant in terms of severity, use of hospital resources and if they were unusual compared to other flu seasons.  Disgusted, I deleted the app.

Now, there are people trying to explain away the inflation in Canada by blaming it on greedy corporations.  Someone told me that Loblaws had made 800 million profit in the most recent quarter.  By quoting the number, they were trying to prove that a company was gouging consumers.  My first reaction was to ask how much profit are they allowed to make and what the number meant.  They made 800 million on how much revenue? One billion?  One hundred billion?  And 800 million is a drop in the bucket for most government departments.  How big is the government deficit this year? 300 billion?  Aren’t those numbers proof of Government gouging tax payers and causing inflation?  Any who.  Numbers without context.  People not being able to think for themselves.

And don’t assume I am shilling for corporations.  The corporatization of much of our lives is not something to be desired.  But the people governing this country are the cause of this country’s troubles.  Their blaming of the corporations is a deflection tactic which the corporations often play along with because they know the government is covering its ass and not really interested in changing existing power and economic arrangements.