The Power of Ignorance: The Ignorance Trap

By David H. Swendsen

According to Webster, power is “to be able, to have the ability to act, to have the capacity to influence, and to have the authority to control others.”

Every day of the week our TVs and newspapers go nonstop telling us about the power of the press, black power, white power, and the power of the spoken word. This book is about another overwhelming power that can and sometimes does change the world we humans live in. On the pages of this book, the author, David Swendsen, who has spent his whole life protecting our natural resources, believes that the biggest enemy he and our fading resources face is the power of ignorance.

Early in this book, former state and federal officer and later university instructor, Swendsen, describes just how some of our former world leaders previously made use of the power of ignorance to accumulate a great deal of power. Swendsen states, “Having acquired and confronted my share of ignorance in my lifetime, I feel I am qualified to attempt to point out how IGNORANCE has affected we human’s existence here on this changing planet.”
The book discusses lies and liars and includes quotes that were made by former leaders. In the book, Winston Churchill’s quote is, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on.”
Being creatures of habit makes us humans vulnerable to ignorance. “Because we have always done it that way,” we don’t want to change. The book defines two kinds of ignorance and explains how many leaders use ignorance to gain the power they need to control people. Many people call this salesmanship. It appears that all leaders mostly use sales talk to lead regardless of how they sell their programs. Not all leaders use ignorance as their method of gaining a following. Some leaders promise jobs, and some promise but don’t follow through. Some vocally downgrade their rivals. Some use religion. Some use their salesmanship toward gathering male or female followers. Some promise financial gain.
George Bush used the false assumption that Iraq had nuclear weapons to justify the disastrous decisions to go to war. Those in Congress who continually disclaim the effects of climate change and those leaders, including President Donald Trump, who have claimed climate change a hoax and that human beings are not involved in our recent more violent and more frequent storms, tornadoes, floods, and overwhelming weather-related disasters, are doing so to gain money and power. In fact, their actions or nonactions are putting our planet earth in jeopardy of becoming unlivable for our children’s children.
Most human beings are born with a wonderful gift of human intelligence. This helps develop a lifelong determination to succeed in our daily affairs, such as to preserve our underlying health and to maintain our needed self-esteem. We, because of this intelligence gift, can deal with most difficult situations. But if we put our faith in the hands of any leader or proposed leader and that leader lies to us or abandons us, depression can be the result. We now may be overpowered by what I call the ignorance trap.
President Trump’s overwhelming raid on environment safety measures, attitude toward sensible gun regulations, immigration, his wall, and relaxing the protection of federal lands and waters jeopardize the lives of all humans.

The scientist suggests A-F needed changes to override the power of ignorance. End if the book describes firsthand experiences with “power of ignorance” leaders . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781984567512

David H. Swendsen

David H. Swendsen is a retired resource law enforcement officer. He was a Wisconsin Conservation Warden for eight years and retired as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Agent-in-Charge of the Six State Northeastern Region, in Boston, after over twenty years of federal service. After federal retirement, he taught resource law enforcement at the University of New Hampshire, Wachusetts Community College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for over eighteen years. From 1989 to April of 2010, he taught and directed, using over 50 selected instructors, the National Park Service’s Ranger Law Enforcement Program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. This program is only one of nine 400+ hour such programs in the U.S. It prepares its graduates to receive commissions as Seasonal National Park Rangers throughout the U.S. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Swendsen has written several resource law enforcement books, including Badge in the Wilderness, by Stackpole in 1984. His first novel, Fault Island, was published by Outskits Press in 2009. His latest novel, A Real Nightmare, was published by Xlibris in 2010.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by David H. Swendsen. 787612

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 01/26/2019

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Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1. Kinds Of Ignorance And Ignorance Quotes

Chapter 2. Liars Use Lies To Gain Their Power From The Ignorant

Chapter 3. How Being Creatures Of Habit Makes Us Vulnerable

Chapter 4. Ways That Leaders Use The Public’s Ignorance To Gain Power

Chapter 5. What Damage Has The Power Of Ignorance Caused In The World In The Past?

List Books by David H. Swendsen

THE POWER OF IGNORANCE 11/12/18 (sub title-The Ignorance Trap)

(How ignorance can create power)

PROLOGUE

Almost every day our newspapers and magazines come up with articles and statements about the eye catching expressions: black power, white power, the power of the press, the power of suggestion, the power of numbers, the power of the spoken word, and even the power of persuasion. Our unrelenting television advertisements also constantly remind us of these life entering powers that affect us all as we confront the unexpected rapid changes that take place all around us in our fast moving lives.

As important as it is that we are aware of all of just how the above powers affect our lives, I believe there is another over whelming power that affects each and every one of us, regardless of age, health, wealth, or where we might call home on this heavily populated planet earth. There have been many articles and books written, and