If ignorance were only bliss

In January of this year I wrote a piece for the Mankato Free Press entitled "Electricity: The 21st century solution is here". It was a very noncontroversial article, I thought. Nevertheless, I received in the mail shortly thereafter an unsigned letter, to wit:

Aside from being factually incorrect — I didn't spend my whole life in government — and full of misspellings, this kind of letter shows a woeful ignorance of reality. Contrary to what this writer thinks, we all know that governments are heavily involved in energy markets, whether they be fossil fuel or renewable. And there is no argument that government policies have served to keep fossil fuel prices down since they first replaced wood and whale oil in the 19th century.

Ignorance may be bliss, but ignorance has also led us into the political quagmire based on a total disregard for facts we find ourselves in today.

— Leigh Pomeroy