Misinformation

by John Stumpner

Misinformation is usually defined as telling others false or misleading information about something. People can also be misinformed when they are not told everything to know about a particular thing. Misinformation is often used to get a group of people to do something or act in a way that they normally would not if they had all the facts.

In the early history of the United States, there were three armed revolts against paying taxes. The third and smallest revolt was the Fries Rebellion. In 1798, the United States was facing the possibility of a war with France. Congress passed a bill to collect a tax to build up the army and navy. Each State had to pay a share of this tax, and most states collected from their citizens based on the value of their property. In Pennsylvania, this tax was collected based on the value of a property owner’s buildings. To determine the value of buildings, tax collectors would count the number of windows in a house. Glass was expensive, the more windows, the more valuable the house. Pennsylvania also had a large population of poor, German speaking farmers. Most of them were veterans of the Revolutionary War and did not like the tax collectors tromping through their farms and communities. Not understanding what was going on, they armed themselves and chased away the tax collectors at gunpoint. The militia was called out, the rebellion put down, and the proper taxes collected. President Adams later pardoned all the farmers involved in the Fries Rebellion because they were only “obscure, . . . Germans, as ignorant of our language as they were of our laws,” and had been misinformed by some of the “great men” opposed to the possible war with France.

Influential people in government and the news media today still use misinformation to try to get their way. One of the things they try to influence is the use of so-called renewable fuel sources such as ethanol made from corn. While gasoline mixed with high amounts of ethanol can work in some vehicles, it burns differently than gasoline and will damage some engines. Most older cars, lawn mowers, boats, recreational vehicles and especially motorcycles must use gasoline with small amounts of or no ethanol in it. ABATE of Wisconsin is working against any misinformation about ethanol by asking our Wisconsin legislature to make sure that all gas stations sell the types of gasoline that all of us can use, not just the high ethanol blends with limited use.

Opposing misinformation and insuring we can always get the right fuel are just other ways that ABATE of Wisconsin continues to help preserve the freedom of the road. You can help with these efforts by giving others the whole story about renewable fuels such as ethanol so they too can be informed.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

John