Illustration by Mike Padilla

As I drove to school the other day, I saw a revealing bumper sticker. No, not "revealing" as in displaying naked people. Revealing because it gave me a snapshot into a major problem in our society: the phenomenon of simplistic rhetoric and confused thinking. Put another way, the problem of addressing adult issues with children's logic.

The bumper sticker read, "Annoy a Liberal: Work, Succeed, Be Happy." My first instinct was to think of a counter-slogan, which might read, "Annoy a Conservative: Think, Share, Avoid Complacency." But then I realized that displaying that sticker would be hypocritical and would only compound the problem. After all, exchanging demeaning labels and categorizing people and issues don't accomplish anything meaningful.

The real reason the sticker bothers me so much is because it demonstrates a black-and-white approach to problems that have many shades. The sticker teaches us that some people who identify themselves as anti-"liberal" believe that longstanding social problems can be solved with simple formulas. These are the type of formulas unquestioningly accepted as true in elementary school - kind of like accepting Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. According to the sticker, people who don't follow a three-step formula of working, succeeding and being happy are responsible for their own problems.

Reality is much less clear. Many people do work, but aptitudes and success vary. People have different talents, resources and opportunities. Even following the "magic formula" of hard work doesn't guarantee success and happiness.

Dillon Fishman Columnist

Hiding behind slogans is an easy way to wash society's hands of those "problem people" without really examining the true reason for their plight; we just tell ourselves they deserve it and move on. The real challenge is to examine the crux of these systemic problems by suspending our prejudices.

This isn't limited to bumper stickers. The type of categorical thinking that the sticker exemplifies is pervasive; it's in the media daily. Take another example. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, media rhetoric often went like this: Either you support the president, or you support the terrorists. Gee, that's interesting - the options were limited to only one or the other. Could there, however, be other options? Suppose that someone didn't support the president - gasp! - and also didn't support terrorism. Or, maybe we could find some terrorist sympathizers who actually supported the president. The options are endless.

In basic logic, they call that logical fallacy a "false dichotomy" - incorrectly limiting the scope of answers to only two options, when many more options actually exist. Although false dichotomies are clearly incorrect, they are still prevalent in the media, which, left unchallenged, can dupe people into falsely framing issues.

Oversimplifying is popular because it eliminates the need to think - which, as we all know, is not the most popular American past time. If you simplify an issue and give people just two choices, it's a shortcut. It reminds me of the days when I used to sit in front of the television, wearing my little cowboy hat and guns, cheering on The Lone Ranger as he got "the bad guys." As children, we just want to be on the side of the guy in the white hat. The trouble is, as we grow up in life, we (hopefully) realize that it's seldom clear who is "good" and "bad" - and it almost always depends on context and perspective. That's why it's so important not to blindly accept rhetoric or to settle for facile explanations of complicated issues.

The problem spans beyond bumper stickers and false dichotomies. It's time to face the facts: The world is a complex place, and today's issues require thoughtful, novel approaches. Cheap slogans like "just work hard" aren't going to decrease the unemployment rate, reduce welfare spending or help Americans succeed. Those issues are multi-faceted and have stumped some of the brightest legal, political and scientific minds of our society for many years.

In our fast-food-craving, sound-bite-consuming, hyperactive society, it's tough to realize that easy solutions to many of our problems simply don't exist. Band-Aids won't remedy society's social wounds, many of which have developed over decades.

The key is to start an educated dialogue, rather than ascribing artless labels. Once we deliberately evolve beyond trading names and epithets, collaboration and needed change can begin.

Dillon Fishman is a third-year law student. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.