Inside the work-a-day world of PC science

I woke up this morning to hear a radio commentary on the latest driving while intoxicated report issued by Big Nanny. In short, this report breaks down state by state the percentage of the population that admits to DUI. The commentator obligingly spewed a few “facts” from this study and then concludes that we obviously need tougher enforcement.

All right, I said to the only person that ever listens to me, I guess it’s time to do the DUI rant I’ve been bottling-up for so long. So, while rummaging through the web this morning looking for DUI related stuff, I eventually came across the report that prompted the aforementioned wakeup commentary. Two minutes later I decided the rant can wait. Instead, I want to show you a textbook example of social engineering masquerading as scientific inquiry. This is the work-a-day world of politically correct science.

First you do your federally authorized/mandated/funded study. Then you package it nicely. Condense it down to nice little soundbites. Put it all on a friendly little website. When that’s all ready, issue your press release. Don’t worry about peer-review. All your peers will love it. From there it quickly spreads across the globe. The press loves it. It’s cheap “news” with a lot of playability and ripe with attention-getting facts. Safety-freaks of all sorts love it. It gives them ammunition for their endless war on danger. Blogs across the world will be lamenting this terrible state of affairs, calling for more, better, tougher legislation. More, better programs, policies and propagandas. Politicians and policy-wonks in Washington, and in every state across the land, have already added this data to their files, ready to use when the time is right. Most of all, the health and safety bureaucracy loves it — job security.

Some will say this isn’t science. I agree, but it certainly fits within the criteria required of PC science. Either way, the data from this poll (that’s all it is) will certainly be given the status of “fact;” and it will unquestionably be used to strengthen the Nanny State’s grip on timid America.

Just for fun, pretend you’re a reporter doing a story about this survey. You’ve seen the press release from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration. Now you want to see more. So you go to the SAMHSA website shown on the press release. There you find a list of “Highlights” and a link to The NSDUH Report: State Estimates of Persons Aged 18 or Older Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Illicit Drugs. It’s an easy read, a few paragraphs and a couple maps.

Is that all? Can’t be. Look some more. Then you find National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) conducted by SAMHSA’s Office of Applied Studies (OAS).

I’m not going to drag you all over this site but I challenge you to take an hour or two and look through this place. Look hard enough and you’ll find the actual Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings. Here you’ll find a plethora of drug and alcohol facts gleaned from this poll. You can also find the questionnaire itself. Look through that and tell me you wouldn’t need a drink or two just to get through it.

When you’ve had enough, ignore all the questions you probably have about accuracy of results or honesty of subjects. Instead, suspend disbelief and ask yourself: Even if all this is true, is all this really necessary just to tell me there are people who do drugs and alcohol, and some of them might even get in their cars and drive while under the influence?

It is if the goal is something other than Liberty and Justice for All.

Phil