Memes of Misinformation: Federal Spending

"In 'Memes of Misinformation' Julio Castañeda strives for that rapidly diminishing real estate on the collective mind map of America: the middle ground. The reader gets a sense that he is presenting not so much a set of facts as a methodology for developing independent thought; for formulating views based on one's own research.

His love/hate protagonists, Tanner and Skye, are not fools, but they have been sucked into that emotional vortex where winning an argument using a clever meme matters more than fact checking and unbiased investigation. Here is where Castañeda's engineering background and his calm, well-reasoned approach to discerning fact from distorted wishful thinking comes into play.

One layer below the thoughtful analysis of topics as disparate as "The Fed, Gold, and the Debt Ceiling" and gun control in Australia, there is an implied message:

America, in all of its diversity, represents not a single truth, but a collection of truths that vary as broadly as the vastly colourful patchwork of its citizenry. The truth of gun control for an East Coast city dweller may be vastly different than the truth held by a rural Idaho resident. The nature of what defines "entitlement" varies between an unemployed Ohio steel worker and a San Francisco-based M&A specialist.

What never varies, however, are the facts. Facts fed through the filters of our emotional human nature form our beliefs, and our personal truths, but we all need to start with the same facts, regardless of our personal bias.

Castañeda's first in what I truly hope will be a series of writings is a solid step in the direction truth based in fact. A common ground where we can all meet to debate respectfully, and work together to form an unbiased view of the world that will serve us all in our various pursuit of our own truth."

Vince Turcotte,

Managing Director, Head of Futures & Options Asia Pacific, Nomura

"'Memes of Misinformation' is an easy read and will appeal to a broad audience. It has the perfect blend of statistical facts and conversational explanations. The author stays politically neutral and debunks many preconceived notions about Presidents that have either been blamed for a crisis that was not their own doing, such as GWB and the 2008 recession, or to the idea that democrats are solely responsible for the US debt problem. Finally, he lays out a plan, which seems obvious after reading, to deal with the exploding debt problem, i.e., “quit taking money from other government agencies, especially Social Security”. I look forward to Castañeda’s next book in this series showing the bias relationships that exist between the media and each political party."

Noah Shaffer,

College of Charleston