White Lies That Do Mean Something

            For my non-fiction book, I chose Joel Best's Damned Lies and Statistics. It is a book that delves into the world of political and social statistics. Best elaborates what statistics are used for and what we don't see. He notes that even though statistics are believed to be truths, they really aren't because their reporters bend them to benefit their agenda. He refers to these as "bad statistics" and accurate numbers as "good statistics". Because numbers seem to be the skeleton of reasoning, we want to blindly accept them.
Unfortunately, groups know this and corrupt them for benefiting their cause. He makes the case of activists exaggerating numbers to make their problems they were addressing seem more large while the authorities down played their estimates to seem like they were doing a good job. By making lies out of statistics, the lying side bolsters their argument significantly. Best states that the innumeracy, the inability to comprehend numbers, in people makes this easier to get away with.
           I would like to make much more relevant example of what Best is trying to convey. In the recent debate between President Barack Obama and opposing candidate Mitt Romney, they discussed the economic policies. Romney attacked Obama regarding his green power investments. He claimed that Obama's investment in the clean energy companies still ended up with half of them ( there are about 3 dozen of them, he does not specify how many there were) in bankruptcy. However, that was a complete lie considering only three were  bankrupt, yet Obama did not call Romney's bluff. By doing so, Romney added this to what spectators believed was his victory in the debate. Before reading this book, I would have regarded Romney's made up statistic as a white lie. Now, I realize the extent of his lie and what it caused. It proved his point of Obama being an inferior president, helped him win the debate in many spectators' eyes, brought him many voters to his side, and made the green power business seem like failures. All of this happened because of some number he made up.
          I picked up this book for the sake of enlightenment and it does its job. What I like about it is that it explains the thought process behind people who make up fake statistics.  I find it fascinating to learn a truth that isn't so apparent. More or less, it also provides the reader a great reason to be cynical.